BG Spirit Show
Many campuses hold special events to spread education on a certain topic, express different groups on campus, spread awareness of an issue or just to entertain those who live on or near the campus. The most common of these would be events that are educational and entertaining, such as an educational movie or performance. The event I attended was the BG Spirit Show, which was hosted on Tuesday, December 1 in the multipurpose room in the Union. The show was put on by students in the event planning/tourism leisure major for one of their classes specific to that major. The idea of the BG spirit show was for it to be treated a lot like a fashion show promoting school spirit by students wearing their favorite BG gear. Fashion shows happen all the time and all over the world. There is a lot of different fashion such as casual, dressy/formal, flashy and sporty. One big fashion show everyone knows about is the Victoria Secret Fashion show. That show was recently aired on TV on Tuesday December 8. The Victoria Secret fashion show attracts many celebrities to attend and it always has a huge fan club of people watching at home. This fashion show is always really flashy and they hire the best and most attractive models to walk in the show. The BG spirit show followed the class fashion show format that is similar in all fashion shows no matter if it’s the very high end Victoria Secret fashion show or if it is a group of young girls strutting around their living room in princess dresses for their parents.
The show was intended to help bring school spirit for the MAC Championship game on December 4. The show was decked out with Christmas lights hanging on the walls and laying on the ground creating the “runway” path. There were orange, brown and white streamers flowing from wall to wall giving the venue more BG school spirit. There was a photo booth with props for people to take pictures to remember their time at the spirit show, corn hole, hillbilly golf and goody bags for those who came to watch the event. Some cheerleaders made an appearance to lead the crowd in cheers to get them pumped up for the show and the big game that Friday. Members of a sorority walked in the show wearing BGSU clothing showing their school spirit and there was a performance by the BG Highflyers as well. The event over all was very well put together and had a great turn out. There was never a dull moment and they did a great job at keeping the audiences attention and helping spread school spirit.
This event took a new approach on conducting school spirit. The event showed BG students what those who are majoring in event planning/tourism and leisure what all goes into that major. As a spectator for the event it got me interested in a major that is far different from my current one which is Pre-PT. This event was part of a final grade for the students who ran the show, and in my opinion they should all receive A’s because the show was a lot of fun to attend. There were people from all different social groups attending this event to help support their friends who were putting on the show. In the crowd there were cheerleaders, sorority and frat members, and just normal BG students who wanted to support in the show and BG spirit. Of course those who knew each other seemed to group together and not venture to other groups. However, everyone enjoyed having a good time with the people there and being able to support their friends who put on the show and walked the runway. The large variety of people in attendance helped make the environment of the show amazing because when anything happened the room filled with applause and cheers just as it would in a normal fashion show.
The performance at the fashion show was amazing. Those who walked in it clearly are not of the top model status like most fashion shows have, but they made the crowd enjoy every minute of it. They played music as they walked up and down the runway sporting their BG gear. Some of them threw in some dance moves to get some giggles out of those in the audience. The students in the class/major did not perform in this event; however, they were in charge of getting entertainment for the event, decorating the venue, finding people to walk in the show and getting people to attend the show. They did a great job at all of these. They got the highflyers to perform at the end of the event which got the crowd very involved and excited. The entire audience had their phones out recording them perform all their crazy flips and tricks. Whenever people see average people doing crazy unbelievable tricks they tend to be really into it. The games that were placed around the event gave everyone something to do as they waited for things to get started. There were plenty games of corn hole going on and some looked like they were getting pretty intense.
The venue was perfect. The decorations tied together the BG school spirit and the lights focused on the runway made it feel just like a fashion show. The seating was placed all round the walk way that the “models” strutted down and there were goody bags placed on each seat just like the big merchandise companies put on their seats at their shows. They clearly made the venue they had look as much like a fashion show as they possibly could. The games placed around the room was a big hit for those who arrived early. There were several games of corn hole and hillbilly golf being played as everyone waited for the beginning of the show. The location was in a very popular spot on campus; The Student Union. There are always a lot of people in the union and everyone knows where the union is so they could easily find the event. Having a venue in a location that is easy to find and access usually helps to bring in a big crowd, along with the event being well promoted.
Some issues with the event were that the high flyers were originally supposed to perform at the beginning of the show, but one of their members got stuck at work so they had to change the order of the show and have them close the show instead of opening it. This wasn’t that big of a deal, however it caused the event to have a lot of down time in the beginning and that also resulted in it not starting on time. Since they had corn hole boards and other things for people to do nobody who was in attendance really realized that the show started late or that there was a change in the schedule of events during the show. This was the only problem I noticed in the event otherwise it was very well prepared and quite enjoyable.
Overall the BG spirit show was a successful campus event. It showed our school spirit as our football team was heading to MAC Championship and it supported a class/major at the University. I could easily see professors of fashion classes, art classes or event planning classes sending their students to an event either like this or just a fashion show in general. The venue of an event really ties the whole thing together. If this event would have taken place in a lecture hall or in a theater it would not have really been the same. For this event they needed a large room where they could arrange the tables and chairs however they wanted, and that is what made the multipurpose room in the student union so perfect. Fashion shows almost always have some type on entertainment. It could be a band or individual singer, for this it was the high flyers. The entertainment got everyone excited about BG spirit and was a great ending to the show. In the future I think it would be cool if they had a fashion show showing off all the sports teams uniforms. Campus events are a great way to find ways to get involved around campus and they are always a lot of fun. Sometimes these events can be educational and sometimes they can just be a great way to support a new group of people.
Works Cited
Garcia, Tonya. “‘The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show’ Is Just One Piece of a Strategic Hype Machine.” MarketWatch. N.p., 9 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.