2014 Spring Fling Summary

Spring Fling 2014 Summary

Overview: Spring Fling is an annual carnival-like event that is held in the spring of each year. Spring Fling was held April 11, 2014 in conjunction with several Oglesby Union events, including the FSU High Flying Circus Home show, Paint-a-Pot, Breakfast for a Buck, films at the Student Life Cinema and Cosmic bowling. The event was free to FSU students with a valid ID, $15 for non-FSU students, and free for those under 12. Students were able to win prizes at game booths, get free food and enjoy rides, such as the Ferris wheel.

Campus Partners and Planning Committee: This event is planned by a committee consisting of staff members from the Student Activities Center, the Art Center, Crenshaw Lanes, the Student Life Center, Flying High Circus, Union Marketing, and Union Administration. Student leaders on Union Productions also serve on the committee. Invitations have also been extended to Greek Life, Residence Life, Aramark, and Campus Recreation in an attempt to bring other campus partners in on the planning. The committee is chaired by the Graduate Assistant for Major Events and Involvement.

Event List: Carnival 7pm - Midnight, Union Green Wristbands FREE for FSU students w/ valid Gold FSU ID $15 General Public; Children 12 & under FREE Events in the Oglesby Union WHITE FANG 18 + Doors 8:30pm, show 9:30pm, Club Downunder FREE for FSU students w/ valid Gold FSU ID, $8 General Public Sponsored by Union Productions COSMIC BOWLING 9pm - 2am, Crenshaw Lanes Spring Fling Special: FREE with valid Gold FSU ID BREAKFAST FOR A BUCK Featuring live music and a photo booth!

11pm - 2am, Union Foodcourt $1 for FSU Students w/ valid FSU ID / $6 General Public Concessions Featuring: Dog et al

Lucy & Leo's Cupcakery Funnel Cakes Hand-Cut French Fries Raley’s Confectionary Cotton Candy Popcorn, Snowcones & more!

Events at the Student Life Cinema Midnight: The Room Doors at 11:30pm, Show at 12:00am Kid Zone Featuring games, crafts, face painting, and more!

Bowling with bumpers will be available at Crenshaw Lanes until 9pm 7 - 9pm, Located in the Amphitheater Sponsored by COGS Paint-A-Pot Featuring three sessions!

7 – 8pm, 8:30 – 9:30pm, 10 – 11pm Union Courtyard RSO Palooza Come play games with some of your favorite RSOs! 7 – 9pm, Union Courtyard Flash Fit: Cardio Party 10pm, on the Union Green Sponsored by Campus Recreation Flying High Circus

Platinum

Under the Big Top at 8pm-Gates open at 7pm FREE for FSU students w/ valid FSU ID Adults $17 - $25, Children $12 - $20 Event Attendance: Attendance was calculated by tracking the amount of wristbands that were distributed to faculty, staff, students, and non-students (members of the community). The total amount of people that attended Spring Fling was 2,215.

Survey Results: Of those students who attended Spring Fling, 190 students (9%) completed the survey.

Demographics and Marketing

Spring Fling was filled with different carnival rides, food vendors, and other activities. Overall, 99% of survey respondents enjoyed Spring Fling. Out of a variety of valid written responses, the top three Spring Fling activities attended were carnival rides and games, concessions, and food vendors.

Similarly, the top three favorites of those surveyed were food-related (20%), ride-related (27%), and games and activities related (32%). The main reasons people attended Spring Fling was to enjoy the activities (37%) and because they were hungry/ free food (36%). The use of food vendors was successful as 96 percent of those surveyed stated they would eat at the food vendors again. The top two food vendors were Funnel Cakes and French Fries (81%) and Lucy and Leo’s (71%). The majority of those surveyed (55%) plan on definitely returning to Spring Fling next year.

Recommendations for Next Year: Working with Big O Amusements helped to make Spring Fling very successful. Overall, they communicated well, were respectful, set up on time (hours before the inspection) and helped to run their rides, games and food trailer the best they could have during the event. Some of the rides in past years were larger than the ones they brought, but working with them as a vendor is worthwhile to downscale the rides. The funnel cakes and French fries were received very well by students.

Additionally, their games were better quality than other vendors. It was also great to work with Dog Et Al and Lucy and Leo’s, which students always receive well.

The event being more spread out around the Union, specifically the Union Green, helped to make it look better and made line control more efficient. It is recommended to continue to utilize the outskirts of the Green in order to continue this in future years. It has been discussed that KidZone has not found the appropriate home. Next year, it may be best to try and place KidZone in a more visible location. Suggestions this year were mostly focused on the green area near HCB, where the mini golf was in 2014. It is likely this would be the best location for KidZone next year.

Students really seemed to love Cardio Party and requested that more of it could happen next year. An hour is really enough, but it does show that people enjoyed it. The committee recommended a similar layout as many of the attractions were utilized appropriately throughout the space around the Union. It may also be best for the location of the DJ to switch with the swing bang, and make RSO Palooza an area for organizations to table instead of host a game/activity.

Conclusion Overall, Spring Fling 2014 was very successful. New marketing strategies were put in place that helped to reach students across campus who may have been unfamiliar with the event.

Appropriate vendors were chosen who were great to work with which allowed some ease in the planning process. It has already been communicated to some groups on campus that next year’s Spring Fling will be held on Friday, April 17th with the hopes that events will not be occurring on that same night, such as Relay for Life. Adding Cardio Party, utilizing the space and Nole Central helped to make this event as enjoyable as possible for participants.