OUAB opens collaborative events application for spring semester

Trevor Simpson
Fri, 06 Sep 2019 02:18:16 +0000
Arts & Life, News, collaboration, fall, heforshe, heforshe at osu, ohio union, ohio union activities board, OUAB, Pentatonix, spring, Spring Semester, terry crews

An OUAB member poses with Pentatonix prior to a collaboration event pitched by the A Capella Alliance and The Ohio State of Mind in 2014. Credit: Courtesy of OUAB

The Ohio Union Activities Board has brought some big names to the university. Thanks to their collaborative events application, opened this week, you could decide who they bring next.

With applications open Monday, student organizations now have an opportunity to present event ideas to OUAB for spring semester. Filling out an application is a nine-step process that includes providing background information and the expected impact on Ohio State students, according to OUAB’s website.

OUAB isn’t looking for any specific theme during the application process, Connor Hall, OUAB’s director of collaborative events and a third-year in finance, said. The direction of the event depends on what students bring to the table

“The whole point is for the student body to voice their opinion,” Hall said. “We’re really looking for whatever students are looking for.”

After applying, organizations are urged to attend an informational meeting called “Conversation with Collab” to clarify any questions on either side, Hall said. OUAB’s decision-making process begins after the meeting.

“About a month later, we’ll choose which applications we’re going to go through with,” Hall said. “Then, we start working with the organization that we select and we start planning the event for the next semester.”

The most recent collaboration event took place last semester with HeForShe at OSU — a feminist organization supporting the UN Women initiative of the same name, according to its website — bringing Terry Crews to campus for a Q&A session.

Lizzie Howald, primary leader of HeForShe at OSU and a fourth-year in arts management and studio art, said it would have been impossible to bring together Crews and 1,500 students without the resources OUAB provided.

“We wouldn’t even have been able to be on Terry Crews’ radar without the connections from OUAB and also the experience that they had,” Howald said.

Howald said OUAB forms a partnership with the organization they select and wants to help develop the event from the ground up.

“Come in with some great ideas, show them that you’re passionate, show them that you want to do something for the people on campus and they will respond,” Howald said.

The deadline for applications is Sept. 27. There are two upcoming information sessions: Sept. 8 at 11:30 a.m. in the Union and Sept. 18 at 5 p.m. at Curl Market Viewpoint. To submit an application, visit ouab.osu.edu/plan-an-event-with-ouab.