The Entertainment Council is back this year with new events and a re-organized staff.
Step foot into their office on the third floor of the MU and you’ll encounter staff members: some chillaxing, others hard at work brewing up new ways to spice up your downtime this quarter. Surrounding them are posters from past events such as International Film Week, Singles Awareness Night and a Jimmy Eat World concert. Caps, shirts and Coffee Mate containers litter the tables. Leftover merchandise from past events pile up in cardboard boxes, while the head of an Iron Man piñata hanging on the wall spices up what would otherwise be a standard office space.
“It’s the Entertainment Council’s goal to supply fun and engaging shows for our campus, in both music and cinema,” said assistant director Tim Zamanigan. “We’re working especially hard this year to plan events that will gain us student support and get them excited for events further in the future.”
Seven staff members and dozens of volunteers comprise the entirely student-run organization that has brought artists such as Muse, The Shins and Cake to UC Davis. This year the council will continue organizing concerts, screening movies and putting on dance parties that cater to the student body. All through October, they will host free movie screenings on the quad.
“We just recently got outdoor screen projectors,” said Laura Kroeger, cinema coordinator. “The movies are mostly Halloween-themed and will start at 8 p.m. or sundown, whichever one comes first. We’re looking forward to it and expect a good turnout, based on last year (when we screened Rocky Horror Picture Show). A lot of people came in costume and got really into it.”
Citing one of their aims as looking into more mainstream forms of entertainment, Kroeger said that this year the council is dividing work more equitably while relying on a wider range of support from student volunteers.
“We want to make UC Davis an experience, we want them to utilize their resources and the Entertainment Council is a huge one to escape from the stresses of midterms, papers, finals, relationship problems,” said Perry Sanesanong, director. “Hopefully students can take away a small part of what EC is doing and be thankful for units like the Entertainment Council.”
Sanesanong said the council always needs hands to help for anything from getting food for an artist to posting fliers to just hanging out to gain experience. One perk of volunteering is the free admission to events.
“Volunteer work can typically be anything as simple as watching the line and making sure people stand in single file to helping the band unload equipment,” Zamanigan said. He added with a wink that such work can be “a good chance to get some face time with the stars.”
“I can honestly say I learned a lot from volunteering, which then helped me land the director position. Starting off as a volunteer helps you get a feel of what the Entertainment Council really is,” Sanesanong said.
Students interested in getting involved can drop by the EC office, which Sanesanong says is always open and welcomes random drop-ins. Volunteer meetings take place Tuesdays at 6:30 on the third floor of the MU. Those who can’t make the meetings can e-mail entertainmentcouncil@gmail.com for information about other methods of getting involved.
ELENI STEPHANIDES can be reached at arts@theaggie.org
