Back when I worked for Rider University Study Tours, we threw evening parties for our students. We called these parties "Disco Nights". There would be 3-4 parties over the course of our 2 week sessions. Each Disco Night would have it's own theme. It all took some creative planning.
Entertainment
Firstly, we couldn't have a Disco Night without some music. When I started in 2007 we were the DJs. After trying that for two years, we opted to hire someone. The program was growing and quite frankly, we weren't very good at mixing music. Once we got someone though, it was fantastic! The DJ knew exactly how to keep the students on the dance floor.
Themes
Our themes were fun and started out safe with Black and White Night. This one is pretty self-explanatory, wear black and white with your dancing shoes.
The second night was Reverse Party. The boys dressed up like girls and the girls like boys. The variety of outfits we saw was incredibly diverse. Some girls would just put on jeans and an over-sized polo shirt or button down. However, there were also boys that put on dresses, heels, and wore makeup and girls that drew facial hair on with their eyeliner pencils. The point of all of this was just to have a good time and enjoy a party with something a little different. Our staff was also in on the action... and yes I'm going to now embarrass them by posting photos of their ridiculous antics, that of which I fully appreciate!
From left: Michael, Brad, Russ, Josh, and Scott (my brother)
From left: Rose, Victoria, Jess, Ellie, and Michelle
To be clear I did contribute to this Reverse Party in a few small ways. One, I made sure I had a camera, so I could relive this moment whenever I wanted to for the rest of my life and post it online years later. Two, I lent some clothing to the gentlemen that partook in this. Scott is wearing my dress and Josh is wearing my top and skirt. They had to get clothing from somewhere! By the way, they all did this willingly, no one got a bonus to dress like this.
Now the second and third nights are really neck in neck on which one provided more laughs and entertainment. After seeing the students dressed like the opposite sex there wasn't much that could top it. Still, the third night (usually the last night they before they flew back to Europe) was Toga Party. Not too many students were familiar with Animal House, but they certainly knew what to do with their bed sheets... as did we!
From left: Stephanie, me, Lauren, and Michael
I assume that we are all doing the Cupid Shuffle here and teaching everyone else about it too!
Advertising and Communication
Remember that our students were not from the United States and English was not their first language. Thus, our signage had to be easy to read and understand. Here's what we posted in the residence halls to make sure that everyone could understand the idea behind our themes.
Disco Nights were interactive, fun, and lasted until midnight, just in time for curfew! I don't get to be a part of such off-the-wall parties anymore. While part of me misses the excitement and craziness that was associated with my job with Rider Study Tours, I'm grateful to be living a more routine lifestyle. If I make it to midnight these days I pay for it for a week. I guess that's why it's better that I can reminisce about those festive times rather than relive them.
Friends of mine still do the job and I have to give a huge shout out to them! I hope that they haven't had too many incidents yet this summer and that they are enjoying every Disco Night they can. These days I spend my nights chasing a 10 month old around and they wrangle up international students that don't want to go to bed... I guess in some respects we both have the same problem.