When I began my role as event and kit sec for the dance team, I thought that the uniform section would be the easiest part, however I have ended up learning a lot from this that will enable me to work better with suppliers and customers in the future. Being the Kit Secretary means promoting the uniform to the team, taking orders, then placing the big order with the supplier and once it has arrived, ensuring everyone has paid and receives what they have ordered. Although this would usually take a matter of weeks to organise, I ran into an issue early in the process. Unfortunately, the Union selected uniform provider no longer offered the products that we needed, this meant that I not only had to find a new provider, but, because of a contract with the old provider, also completely re-design the uniform so that it had no mention of the university on its design. I am lucky that I started this process early and found the issue in time, which meant we still managed to get the new uniform before our competition season started, but it has made me more cautious of assuming linked suppliers will always offer the same products. Upon reflection this was a good learning opportunity and if I were to take on a similar role in the future I will ensure that I have researched the suppliers in good time.

Fundraising was one of the most difficult aspects of my role this year, not due to the planning and running of them, but because of the difficulty in getting engagement from the team. We decided as a team to support Derby Women’s Centre and over the year I organised a range of fundraisers, including hosting stalls at the Universities Raise and Give (RAG) weeks. One of these stalls was a hook-a-duck stall, where people would pay to hook three ducks and then with the numbers on the bottom, they could win prizes. Unfortunately, this overall event was not advertised very well so there was a low number of attendees which in turn affected the profit of our stall. If I were to host an event like this, I would ensure that all the teams involved knew further in advance so that they could also promote it, and then create a marketing plan to attract more attendees. Other fundraisers have included wear weeks, where all the classes had different themes to wear, and they would then bring in either a monetary or product donation to go to our chosen charity.

Spookabout was a Halloween event that we, the dance team, planned with the netball team, and took place on the 31^st of October 2021 at one of our local clubs, Popworld. This is an annual event that both teams hold together but had not taken place for the past two years so no one on either of the committees had ever worked together before.

Before the event:

• We attended meetings either as a big group or as smaller groups to discuss more specific tasks.
• I was given the tasks of sourcing a designer for the posters and deciding on what one fit best with the theme, and of designing and ordering the wristbands to be used on the night.
• We booked a table in the atrium at university to sell the tickets and created a timetable of who would be working on it at which times.
• As a team we designed and ordered the decorations.

During the event:

• We had a rota of who was on the door welcoming guests, checking tickets, and taking coats. I was in the first group which meant it was the busiest period and it was important to communicate clearly with the others I was working with.
• I performed in the dance team performance.
• We had the responsibility of overseeing the event to ensure that everything was running smoothly, and no incidents were occurring.
• All the committee members helped at the door while guests were leaving and to clear away what was needed.

Overall, the event was a huge success, we managed to sell out of the tickets and made an amazing £3,300, which was split between the two teams. This event took place on Halloween and there was not a lot of competition in the area which I believe contributed to our success massively. Although we had never worked with each other before it was planned very quickly, and the event ran very well. If I were to plan this event again, I would ensure that we had a whole team meeting at the very beginning of this planning process, as after this meeting everything moved a lot quicker, and it ensured that we all knew the tasks that needed to be completed. I would also discuss the possibility of using the outdoors space more, or another space to enable us to sell more tickets.

The annual dance showcase is back after two years on the 4^th of June 2022 and is taking place at Landau Forte College Derby. This has been the biggest event that I have planned for the dance team this year and I am excited to see how it goes. As this event has not taken place yet, the planning is still in action but some areas that I have completed are:

• I started to research venues for the showcase right at the beginning of the academic year as I knew I would have to contact them early in order to book the dates needed. As a team we decided to contact and book at Landau Forte College as they offered everything we needed and at a good price.
• I created a communal excel budget sheet, so that we know how much has been spent and how much profit has been made from tickets so far.
• I, along with some other committee members, went on a venue visit to see the space that we would be working with, and got to meet with the staff who will be there to assist on the day.
• I designed a showcase poster and a post to put onto Instagram to promote the event, as it is open to the public as well as friends and family of our members.
• As a committee we discussed the ticket prices and how we would sell these, I then set up a ticket selling page on a website called ticketsource, created a seating plan of how the room looked to enable attendees to choose their seats, and organised how the tickets would be delivered to those who buy them. This included the confirmation and reminder emails, the look of the e-tickets and the questions to be answered when booking tickets.
• I then designed the program for the show, which includes the running order, the names of all our dancers in each dance and some pictures from the year.