The Schneider Board of Governors (SBOG), the student organization in charge of planning campus-wide events, has held the same Remix event for years: a “party” with music, pizza and the opportunity for Wellesley students to bring other college-age guests.
Previous years had SBOG partnering with other student organizations to create alternative programming so there were options for every student to enjoy themselves their first week back on campus. However, this year brings new restrictions, meaning Wellesley students did not get the “typical” Remix experience and instead had “Headphone Disco: the Remix.” Imogene Johnson, the Director of On-Campus Affairs, explained the changes.
“We don’t have those alternative events anymore, so we’re changing up the first back-to-school event and doing [a] headphone disco … which is usually something that we’d host early in the spring semester,” Johnson said. “We just feel like we’ve gotten such positive feedback about Headphone Disco.”
To follow regulations set by the College, there were more rules for students this year. For one, all guests at Headphone Disco needed to be Wellesley students, and no one could bring bags or outside drinks. Additionally, attendance was restricted to 500 people, and students were not allowed to re-enter. As expected for events during the pandemic, guests were required to wear masks, which could only be taken off to drink the water provided by SBOG.
According to Johnson, events such as a headphone disco may seem straightforward but can still be time intensive. SBOG worked with an outside company to rent special headphones that link to the three set channels — DJ Onyx, Iris Adé, and Isaoaysara — which took time to finalize. Additionally, the Board had to plan what volunteers for the night of the event would do, and there were a host of small tasks that needed to be kept track of.
“Parts of the planning process that started over the summer include everything from brainstorming what we want this event to look like as a board to smaller things,” she said. “You have to book lighting, reserv[e] the space, mak[e] sure that we can use the space that late into the evening, coordinat[e] water … all those things that are so small.”
However, these small things add up, and not just for Johnson. Preparation goes into every aspect of SBOG events, including promotional materials. The publicity committee, headed by Publicity Chair Abby Lucier, plans what to post and when to post it, often far before events are fully planned or announced.
“We have the main original spam that you see all around campus. But then we also just posted [. . .] a playlist. And it says, ‘Can’t wait to come dance with friends on Alumni Lawn’ or something like that,” Lucier said. “Then we just posted some other harm reduction, but in the form of, you know, the affirmations that are trending now.”
The publicity committee is not only in charge of posting this content; they are also in charge of making it. For example, Lucier made the baby-pink posters strewn across campus to promote Headphone Disco: The Remix. She also works with the other committees within SBOG to learn about future events so the committee can plan ahead and make content for their social media and posters ahead of time. However, both Johnson and Lucier agree that the work is worth it to have in-person events once again.
