The partnership between the Campus Activities Board (CAB) and the Sports, Arts and Entertainment Management (SAEM) Club for Fall Fest on Oct. 10 symbolized leaders from both clubs embracing the notion of working together again.
“Overall, it was a really successful collaboration,” Jenna Sulecki, the Public Relations Coordinator of CAB, said. “Because of it, we were able to do so much more for Fall Fest.”
SAEM Club helped organize some of the activities at Fall Fest, such as the petting zoo and crafts.
The event was a milestone for the two clubs because it was their first time working together in a long time.
Brad Kovalcik, Coordinator of Student Activities, Involvement and Leadership (SAIL) and supervisor of CAB, said the group was excited to work with SAEM on the event.
“We’ve seen them do great things on campus and we wanted the chance to work with them,” Kovalcik said in an interview on Oct. 15.
Kim Prelosky, the Vice-President of Programming at CAB, felt that the collaboration between the two groups was a great experience and that CAB had a good relationship with SAEM.
“They have been really great to work with,” Prelosky said in an interview on Oct. 17. “We were able to make everything work.”
David Rowell, assistant professor of SAEM and supervisor of the SAEM Club, said that there is no doubt the two clubs will work together in the future.
“Each has its own distinct goals and objectives, but both are committed to the overarching goals of creating outstanding events and activities for students at Point Park,” Rowell said in an email interview on Oct. 20. “There is a lot of crossover there and potential crossover opportunities there.”
Kovalcik said that he believed that there was some friendly competition between the groups because they are fundamentally similar organizations. He also said that the two clubs have a different goal in mind, with CAB focusing on activities for the entire campus while SAEM deals with activities for SAEM students.
“Both [are] trying to build a better relationship with one another and get to know each other,” Kovalcik said.
Rowell also said that it was natural for the two groups to have some competition with one another.
“Any organization that plans events has different levels of competition because you are competing for people’s potential time, money and support,” Rowell said. “It was a natural situation as is the nature of the beast in presenting and producing events.”
However, Sulecki said she believes there was no direct competition with the two groups and that there is just small competition between all the clubs and organizations on campus.
Amanda Navari, president of CAB, had plenty of good words to say about SAEM and that CAB did not work with them before because of restructuring of the club.
“Last year we were getting our feet on the ground since we restructured last year,” Navari said in an interview on Oct. 17. “We will be willing to work with them in the future.”
In fact, that is exactly what the two groups are going to do. The two clubs, according to Prelosky, will collaborate again in order to create a Yule-Ball, as was seen in the Harry Potter movies. The event will take place sometime later this semester.
