Each year, the Union Program Council plans over 180 events on campus for students and community members alike, featuring entertainment ranging from the annual Rocky Horror Picture Show to the recent and hugely popular Lindsey Stirling concert.
One such UPC event is the OPUS Band Competition, where local K-State student bands have a chance to showcase their original art.
OPUS is organized and executed each year by UPC’s music committee made up of three student co-chairs, each responsible for the success or failure of the event.
When planning each event, the students have to manage the budget, brainstorm promotional ideas, reserve the appropriate spaces and equipment, as well as fulfill other various tasks that may pop up.
In the case of OPUS, these factors prove to be no easy task. Frequently, event planning starts months in advance.
“We started (planning OPUS) out last May, by writing out the applications for bands and creating fliers for the event,” Zach Bailey, junior in entrepreneurship and UPC music co-chair, said. “We reached out to bands over the summer, and once school started we began promoting the event more on campus to students.”
Murphy’s Law, which states, “Anything that can go wrong, will,” frequently prevails when it comes to event planning. Between worrying about potential issues like weather conditions, waiting for emails, filling out the proper paperwork and hoping enough volunteers show up to help at an event, student event planners in UPC learn quickly to adapt to change as it comes.
To Arthur White, junior in marketing and UPC music co-chair, the most difficult part in planning this year’s OPUS was the anticipation for deadlines.
“Many of the bands this year waited until the day applications were due to turn them in, and we were worried no one was going to apply to perform,” White said.
For many students, the challenges of balancing an extracurricular event-planning life with school and work are often burdensome, but are still well worth the effort.
“I like getting the campus to come together as a community and a family,” Lauren Sokolosky, junior in social work and UPC music co-chair said. “K-State prides itself on it’s family atmosphere, and I like being at the heart of it.”
