Event Planning

In order to have a successful social event, the social chairman must have a plan that fulfills all of the necessary requirements in running an effective party. The biggest mistake a social chairman can make is to underestimate how much time and effort it takes to run a social event. Most college students have the perception that it is cool to organize and run a party. In addition, the perception also includes the myth that there is barely any work in planning an event. This perception cost many fraternities and sororities to waste their money on poorly-ran parties. For example, a social chairman is responsible for setting up an exchange with a sorority every Thursday. Each exchange cost a fraternity between $100 to $400. The cost consist of designing the location to the theme of the exchange and food and beverage expenses. If the social chairman forgets to purchase cups for the kegs then it is probable that the kegs will only go to waste. At first, this may seem insignificant but I have personally experienced what it was like to forget cups in a keg event. Everyone was miserable because we couldn't comfortably drink from the keg. If there were cups, the event would have been more fun.

In order to have a successful social year, the social chairman must plan out his or her social calendar before that start of his or her term. For example, if person A is going to be the social chairman for the fall semester then he or she needs to organize all of the fall events before the start of the semester. If a fraternity usually have an exchange once a week then the social chairman needs to set up all of the events prior to the start of the semester. Each exchange must be finalized by getting an agreement from the social chairman of each sorority the fraternity wishes to have the event with. In the case of more prestigous events such as barndance, the social chairman needs to begin planning for it months ahead of time. Big events such as barndances require several weeks to finalize because the social chairman is likely directly dealing with the owners of the barn. In this relationship, it is normal for the barn owner to take several days before responding to an inquiry of availability of his or her barn. The social chairman must recognize and plan for this probability. In addition to dealing with the barn owners, the social chairman will need to make arrangements with bus companies to transport the fraternity and its dates to the barn location. Usually, the bus companies are more difficult to deal with because they don't trust the Greek community. Most bus companies have had a negative experience in dealing with fraternities and sororities. With this in mind, the social chairman must make amends and promises that his or her fraternity or sorority will not take advantage of the hospitality of the bus companies. It is important to gain the trust of bus companies because they are necessary to have in order to run a successful barndance. Plus, it is likely that the social chairman will only find one bus company that agrees to take on the relationship. Due to this reason, it is in the best interest of the social chairman to maintain and give importance to his or her relationship with the bus companies.