1 minute read
Interview with Ben Allworthy
President of Singers & Musicians Society and host of MDX Got Talent talks about his experiences and gives advice.
BY LISA HUNT
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My first impression of Ben was that he was humble, sweet and spoke highly about everyone we discussed.He didn’t have a bad word to say about anyone, and he spoke of with admiration and pleasure about all those that helped him organise the event, especially his committee.
What was the process of putting together an event like MDX Got Talent?
A lot of planning. It started out when we took over the society in October. We were a completely new committee who were thrown in the deep-end and luckily we had Erica Ramos (Law &Business VP 2017-19) who helped give us context which meant we could run things smoothly. The team decided we would plan it for March since it would give us time to organise everything, and we spoke to Andre and the POW! team about collaborating. Since Andre is so good with visuals and social media, it meant I could sit in the DJ booth and manage sound while Matt compared. Also with the help of Lydia from Musical Theatre and Forenzo, who is a head lecturer of music, we had a really good judging panel alongside Haniss.
So how has working together been for you this year in regards to the committee?
It’s been good. We all have our strengths which we bring to the team– Haniss is currently doing Business Arts management so she’s very good at handling the social media element,which I’m pretty terrible at; and Matt is good with music tech, which really helps with putting together shows. And we try to keep the meetings open to everyone, regardless of musical ability. We hold various events for anyone who has an interest in music to show up to throughout the year,such as karaoke nights and band workshops. I’m a third year this year which means I will be leaving the society in the capable hands of next year’s committee.
Finally, what’s biggest advice going forward to anyone wanting to run societies or events next year?
Always have a back up plan. We’ve tried our best to keep things running smoothly but sometimes things might come up. You may not have the turnout that you want, but you still have to figure something out with your committee and work professionally as a team. The team have been really good this year and I can honestly say I will be friends with them once I finish.
