At the end of September, Entertainment Unlimited reflected on the result of their first planned homecoming.
Homecoming week started with a Ferris Famous dance. This dance was the first in decades and included a live DJ, snacks and refreshments, a 360 camera, a red carpet and a fully decorated ballroom. The dance went from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and nearly 200 students attended.
Entertainment Unlimited event coordinator and advisor Ben Avery was “very pleased” with the turnout of the dance and couldn’t have expected a better outcome.
“When group after group continued to show up from 10 minutes before the start of the event all the way through to the middle of the night, we were incredibly pleased,” Avery said. “We were not sure about how many students to expect to attend since this is a fairly new tradition.”
According to Avery, the staff was surprised by the number of out-of-town guests present at the dance. After talking to one student, Avery found out this student’s significant other drove over three hours to be at the dance. He is hopeful to see more off-campus plus ones throughout the years.
Even though Avery saw this year’s dance as a success, he still has some ideas on what EU can change for years to come and what will stay the same per tradition. According to Avery, EU will “always” have a Homecoming comedian, and may change locations of some events like the Pep Rally Bonfire.
“When we look to next year, there will be some things that we try to be more intentional about, and some things will just naturally change as new students will come through EU with new ideas and new traditions” Avery said. “Some things will for sure stay the same, however.”
Marketing sophomore David Carrier is the EU retention and recruiter coordinator. He agrees that the dance was a “big hit.” He’s already looking forward to planning next year’s dance.
“We think people had a lot of fun and danced the night away,” Carrier said. “Everything ran how it was supposed to… the staff that was there and involved had a blast and enjoyed themselves.”
That following Wednesday presented students with Homecoming comedian Trevor Wallace. This was Carrier’s favorite event because he got to meet and showcase Wallace.
“Seeing the crowd we brought in was so surreal,” Carrier said. “It feels good knowing we were able to draw in that many people.”
The next homecoming event was the parade and was Avery’s favorite event because of the “spectacular” turnout. He credits EU for putting in hours of work to prepare and coordinate.
“There can be a significant cost in time and effort to prepare your group for a parade, especially when there’s floats to build, routines to practice and other busy schedules,” Avery said. “We were so happy with all of our participating groups, and it’s always great to see so many smiling faces, too.”
Carrier believes the event itself went very well, as well as the setup beforehand. He believes they sometimes ran a bit too close to start time, but did well with time for the parade.
“The parade ran smoothly and we had good attendance,” Carrier said. “It was nice to see the community participate and come watch the spectacle. It was also great to see some of our student organizations participate.”
Carrier felt that homecoming week was a “major success.” Though there was a lot to be done and this was EU’s first time planning, this experience wasn’t draining for Carrier because EU members came together and “put in the effort” to keep the space stress-free.
Avery also felt that planning wasn’t too stressful. He was “incredibly proud” of the turnout, of EU and to be a Bulldog.
“Luckily, there wasn’t too much mental gymnastics necessary to pull off Homecoming with EU,” Avery said. “Because it’s a week packed with events, it certainly takes more planning and preparation, more coordination of schedules but running events is their thing. They rose to the challenge, and they persevered through the pressure that comes with making Homecoming as great as possible.
According to Carrier, last year’s committee believes that Homecoming 2023 had an overall bigger turnout at each event.
“We strive to get as much attendance as possible since we’re geared towards the students,” Carrier said. “Next year, I would like to see more attendants at our events. So now it’s making a plan to figure out how to get more engagement. We’re always open to hearing everyone’s ideas.”
If you’re interested in planning next year’s Homecoming or other Ferris EU events, EU meetings are every Monday at 5 p.m. in the David L. Eisler Center in room 217. For more regular event reminders, text FSUEVENTS to 71444.