We Took Care of Business

On Sunday, November 7 the "Taking Care of Business" fashion show was held at the Student Center on Ball State's campus. Finally, all the hard work that was put into the event by my promotions class has paid off. The show featured business attire and was put together by my class along with the Career Center.

As the day started, I arrived at the Student Center at 8 in the morning. This is when the entire class set up the Cardinal Hall rooms - runway was set up as well as the elevator door, chairs were arranged with brochures and newsletters for each person, the lights were put up, VIP talbes were decorated, and dj and lighting crew prepared for the show. This was a joint effort between the class, the professor, and the Student Center employees. Everybody had something to do, whether it was helping prepare models backstage or providing dj and lighting crew with directions before the show.

Of course there were some setbacks as the day continued. For example, one of the male models that was supposed to arrive at 10, mistook the show for being held next Sunday and it was going to take him two hours to arrive. Also, one of the live video feeds at Cardinal Hall was blurry and finding the problem with the projector seemed a nearly impossible task.

As the show starting time approached, we grew anxious to see how the event would turn out. We practiced a run-through of the show at 12 when we discovered that the runway, which we earlier covered with "office paper" was being tripped over as the paper was being torn when the models walked out. This needed to be fixed immediately, so people started using tape and tacs to attach any and all loose corners that were visible.

People started to show up around 12:40 and as the seats in Cardinal Hall were filling in, I saw that my classmates were getting more and more excited. Julie, the leader in charge of house and tech activities was going to be backstage, while Micole would view the show as the audience does, telling backstage when to open and close the elevator door. This was a very important task that needed to be flawless. And it was; once the show started, the audience was very impressed by how the model that was seen in the preview video walked right out of the elevator wearing the same outfit.

Here, a model show off her business-casual look.

The elevator door made a great transition from the office-theme environment to the fashion show. It was clear that the audience members were very impressed by the models and looks that were featured. By the end of the show, I realized how proud I was of myself and my classmates. It had been a very long and exhausting two months, but seeing people's reactions to the fashion show made it all seem worthwhile.

The lighting and music were perfect, the models were fabulous, and I was left happy with the way the fashion show turned out.

Press Event

The press event for the "Taking Care of Business" was held on Tuesday, October 26th at the Simpson Lounge. Many students showed up in support of the fashion show. Quite a few still had not heard about it but were able to get more information. Tickets were also available for sale.

Ashley Meyer did a great job putting the event together. There were snacks available and I was impressed when I saw last year's fashion show displayed on the TV. Seeing my classmates there in our T-shirts made me realize how soon the fashion show was approaching. Less than 2 weeks were left until the big day.

Trent and Kirsten were also at the press event, they were taking pictures and it seemed like they were just as excited about the show as everyone else was. I knew that the next few weeks were going to be filled with endless work and planning. The press event foreshadowed a great fashion show to come.