By Elsa Harvey
At UW-Green Bay, many events are available for students to attend. Good Times Programming (GTP) offers students the opportunity to plan events for their peers.
GTP hosts a variety of events, the most popular being their Bingo nights and GB Nites. GB Nites, similar to a lock-in, features different activities throughout the University Union. It usually takes place from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the last Friday night of the month. These events range anywhere from rollerblading in the Phoenix Rooms to stuffing animals in the Marketplace and even an escape room in the 1965 room.
The main program coordinator for GTP, Ben Dresdow, works with about 15 students who all specialize in different areas of their overall work. Reyna Barske, a sophomore, is primarily responsible for organizing GB Nites. “We start every GB Nite with an initial theme, so we come up with the themes before the semester actually starts,” Barske said.
Bingo nights are another event that is highly attended at UW-Green Bay. Bingo nights are on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Phoenix Rooms. They have a variety of themes, and they determine the pattern of the bingo board and the prizes. Kayla Kohn is the program coordinator for Bingo & Games. “Students look forward to the simplicity but also the competitive nature that Bingo provides,” Kohn said.
An event like GB Nites involves many moving parts, requiring substantial coordination and collaboration to ensure success. “Normally, we start our planning process about two months out, depending on what exactly the program is,” Dresdow said.
Attendance is a common statistic when determining if an event was successful. GTP uses the term unique attendees, which refers to people who attend events that they haven’t attended before. That is how they determine success. “Students with a GPA of 3.6 to 4.0 are the biggest percentage of students that are going to our events. I think this means two things: our students are doing well academically and are more inclined and just more motivated to go out and be involved in events,” Dresdow said.
Barske explained that engagement is also a factor in determining success. At her Retro GB night, many people were participating in the craft. “If many people are going through supplies and food, that means we did a good job of engaging, and people were interested in participating,” said Barske.
Kohn explained that to her, success is determined by the range of student engagement of those who attended. “If students are picking out all the prizes we have set out, I believe it successful, and if students leave with excitement for attending the next one,” said Kohn.
As far as planning goes, the GTP team will plan their large-scale events a semester before. “For GB Nites, we usually start the idea generation about two months in advance. We’re fortunate enough to have date reservations in for those that we usually put on the semester prior,” said Dresdow.
These events require the collaboration of many different student workers, meticulous planning for each piece, and making sure it all fits the theme. Barske explained themes for GB Nites are picked the semester before the events to ensure the planning process goes smoothly.
Bingo works differently in that way; Kohn has some creative freedom where she thinks about what is trending and will see if there are prizes that correlate with the theme she picks. She explained that she always asks herself how she can improve the shapes for each board to match the theme.
The Good Times Programming team offers many different experiences for students to get involved on campus.
