Dance, Design & Dollars
A comprehensive marketing campaign for WXYC, guided by trend intelligence, that led to a record-breaking night of nostalgia and profit.
During my final semester managing WXYC 89.3FM, I lead my team through the planning, promotion, and production of our final dance party of the year. Tapping into TikTok-driven 2010s nostalgia, 2000 & LATE! was an immersive indie sleaze experience harkening back to the days of American Apparel, microblogging, and hipsters.
Timeline
➜ March-April 2023 (concurrent w/ other WXYC projects)
Collaborators
➜ Leader of an 8-person management team
Skills at Play
➜ Project Management
➜ Event Planning
➜ Social Media Marketing
➜ Graphic Design
➜ Merch Design
➜ Public Relations
Tools of the Trade
➜ Google Docs
➜ Adobe Photoshop
➜ Adobe Lightroom
➜ Canon Rebel T6i
800+
attendees
15.5%
Instagram engagement
$3.5K
profit
Above: Facebook event cover image.
Above: Instagram assets advertising the dance.
Planning
As GM and a girl with a strong admiration for this particular aesthetic resurgence, I fulfilled a variety of roles in the production of this event.
Utilizing my event planning experience, I collaborated with the Outreach Manager, developing a “function sheet” for effective communication between stakeholders.
I designed and printed tour laminates to easily identify members of management and performers during the event.
Above: Print flyer.
Promotion
I designed a complete promo kit — everything from print flyers to social media posts to merchandise that we sold at the dance.
With meticulous design and advertising rooted in thoroughly-researched nostalgia, 2000 & LATE! sold out, drawing an 800-person crowd and generating a record $3500 profit. The success wasn’t just in the numbers; it was a testament to our knack for tapping into cultural trends and delivering unforgettable experiences. My team effectively cemented WXYC’s status as an entertainment powerhouse in Chapel Hill-Carrboro.
I designed a set of Instagram ads (above) to advertise our latest merch offerings since this dance was the first time we'd sold physical merch since COVID. I took photos of merch we'd be selling at the dance and used mockups to advertise online-exclusive merch. The designs highlight our recently upgraded blanks and expanded size offerings. "Star" and "TGFCR" designs by me.
Performing
The event wasn’t just the magnum opus of my management tenure, it was also my biggest performance to date as an amateur DJ. On stage, I applied anxiety management and collaboration techniques learned in my Improv for Business class. I’m not pursuing a DJ career anytime soon, but I’m proud to say I was involved in this event every step of the way — from the drawing board to the dance floor.
What I Would've Done with More Time + Resources...