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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

SUB manager promises year of 'serious fun'

Although quality, consistency and record attendance all contributed to the success of last year's Student Union Board, returning manager Jimmy Flaherty said the group will continue to improve by following its new motto - "gettin' serious about having a lot of fun.""We're going to be loud, having a lot of fun and very confident in what we're doing, because we can," Flaherty said. "We won't be resting on last year but building on the foundation that now exists."Flaherty was selected and approved by the Council of Representatives as SUB manager for a second year, and sophomore Alec White will be next year's co-director of programming."Alec has been an incredible asset to SUB this year as the co-anTostal programmer and really just an all-around energy guy," Flaherty said.Sophomore Caitlin Burns will be returning as the chief controller, he continued."She has served in that role since January but has been with SUB since last April in a variety of capacities," Flaherty said. "Her organization and attitude are perfect for SUB, and she serves as a tremendous role model for the younger members."Junior Chad Bassett was appointed director of operations. Flaherty cited Bassett's "business and professional expertise" as key assets.Flaherty said the director of publicity would be named in the near future.In terms of this year's successes, Flaherty cited "record attendance" at SUB events."We sold out more movies than ever before, we packed LaFortune Ballroom for Rob Gonzalez, the Race and Religion Symposium and study breaks, we filled DeBartolo 101 for Mo Rocca and we had a full house at Collegiate Jazz Festival," he said. Flaherty also noted the "seamless football ticket lotteries" and Legends concerts ran by SUB, saying the board programmed "higher quality, more consistent events."Besides enticing students with its programming, SUB saw internal success, Flaherty said."Two years ago, SUB lost probably about 10 of its 30 members," he said. "This year we've only lost about five members, which speaks toward not only the kind of people in SUB but what the people who are there think about what they do and the atmosphere that exists on our Board."Flaherty said last year's SUB contained close to 60 members.With these successes, however, comes the need for continued work in order to maintain and improve upon the current situation."We want to use our experience across the board to do what we did this year well and then take it to the next level," Flaherty said.He said next year's SUB would focus on maintaining member quality, working together with dorms, collaborating with other Student Union groups, continuing to match the student body's demands and having fun.Flaherty was careful to note the importance of change."I think initially, looking at what we've done as a team this year, the smart person would say that nothing needs to change," he said. "Although we've had a very successful year, I think claiming a total success slows our progress."A big change, Flaherty said, will be the addition of a new public relations department."SUB looked at some of the things we were lacking in and decided that public relations with local media outlets, the dorms and just a general image were things we could improve," he said. "PR will work with press releases about events, SUB branding and working with groups on campus."Flaherty also said SUB would be "tweaking" its current programming process, streamlining and better training staff members."One of the changes that you'll see immediately is that we will be operating with two directors of programming who essentially oversee all of our events," he said. "By dividing the duties evenly between two people, we're allowing our leaders at the top to be able to work more closely with a smaller group."Flaherty said SUB will meet with the Financial Management Board on April 10 and will receive their budget for next year shortly after the presentation. Last year's budget was approximately $176,000, and Flaherty said he could not speculate as to what the Board would do."I would hope [the budget] would [increase]," he said, given SUB's successful past year. Flaherty said he anticipates a "seamless" transition."All of the current staff will be staying on to facilitate working with any new people and to ensure our April events continue as planned," Flaherty said.