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MY ADVICE FOR EVENTS WOULD BE TO PRIVILEGE INTERACTION AND BE GENUINE WITH PEOPLE AS IT IS THE BEST WAY TO BUILD A CONNECTION WITH SOMEONE.

It is very challenging but definitely a rewarding experience for the rest of your life.

The best skill to have in this situation, in my opinion, is active listening, allowing you to have an interesting and interactive

conversation with people.

Always keep in mind that a conversation is an exchange from both parts, some are more willing to share than others and

active listening is good way to find some common points.

““

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EVENTSSuccessful events are extremely important in bringing residents together and contribute to building a welcoming and respectful resident community. Events help residents meet others, provide a support system for residents to join in, alleviate homesickness, introduce people to new ideas, activities, adventures and more!

Running successful events for the residents is an integral part of your role as an RN. Creativity, organisation and execution of your events require detailed planning and strong teamwork with your fellow RNs and Res.Life.

Gloria, the Res.Life Officer – Programs is primarily responsible for coordinating events with you together with the support of Stephen, the Res.Life Officer – RN & Community.

On level 8 of Yura Mudang there is the main RN storeroom. This holds a wide variety of equipment and resources, from cooking utensials, floor decorations and more. There are three fridges within this storeroom that can be used for any food that is required for an event. There are shelves in the level 8 storeroom which require a key to acces that can be obtainied from the Resident Life Officer - Programs / RN & Community.

On level 21 of Yura Mudang, there is another storeroom which is used to hold large items that are used seasonaly. You will need to obtain a key from the Resident Life Officer - Programs / RN & Community to access this storeroom.

Lastly Gumal Ngurang, Bulga Ngurra and Geegal have RN / security offices which are used to hold any items for upcoming events and where posters etc., are delivered to.

RNs must ensure that these storerooms / offices are left clean and tidy and any items used for an event must be returned at the end. Lastly you only use the stock / items for role related purposes and never for personal use.

Each RN participates in three main events per month.

UNIQUE EVENTSEach month UTS Housing runs a social events calendar of six to ten events depending on what the RN team decides will be most effective. You should aim to make these events as inclusive as possible, i.e. appeal to all residents within UTS Housing.

RESIDENCE ONLY EVENTThese events are aimed at a particular residence to encourage an independent sense of community and belonging.

INDIVIDUAL FLOOR EVENTHolding regular events for the residents on your floor is essential to creating a supportive and active environment.

INTRODUCTION RN STOREROOMS& OFFICES

“Being an RN not only gives you a chance to improve on your leadership abilities, but it helps in developing friendship among residents that last forever. UTS Housing has always provided a platform for me in the form of events to develop long lasting friendship among residents.”RN Courtney RN @ Gumal

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Many events throughout the semester require the assistance / attendance of the whole RN team. These include:• Move-in days.

• Info. sessions.

• Faculty nights.

• Culture nights.

• Major events. i.e. Res.Cup, etc.

• Semester parties.

• Semester residence BBQs.

• etc.

A calander which includes the majority of these compulsory events during the semester is on p.272 of this manual. It is important that you block these days in advance to ensure your attendance.

COMPULSORY SEMESTER EVENTS

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UTS Housing organises several major events throughout the year which require a great deal of preparation and involvement from the RN team. In semester one there is the Residents Cup and the Annual Dinner. During semester two there is the Residents Ball and the Residents Carnival. Of these the Residents Ball in semester 2 is organised primarily by the RNs while the others, particularly the Residents Cup requires RNs to help on the day and sign up residents to teams.

ANNUAL EVENTS

Example Annual Events

This Saturdaywe’ll be celebrating diversity and Spring being back at the

Annual Res Carnival.

Get ready for a great afternoon of amazing FREE food, Australian wild life, cooking competition, colourful balloons, henne workshop & fabulous performances from residents!

Event for all UTS Housing residents

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The social program at UTS Housing is designed to maximize the experiences of residents from the moment they arrive, right through their time with us. Each month we have 6 to 10 larger scale social events for all UTS housing residents such as scavenger hunts, Fifa comps and beach days out. Each residence and floor within the residence also runs their own social program which is unique to their community: from activities like residences BBQ night, bowling & laser tags to smaller floor events like floor dinners and board games night. Our social activities come in all shapes and sizes, and are designed to suit everyone’s needs.

UTS Housing offers a comprehensive learning program to address common learning needs in our community. Not only is this designed to offer our residents the necessary support to negotiate the challenges of meeting their study obligations while living in housing, but also to offer new skills and knowledge in non-academic areas.

Further to this the academic and learning program supports opportunities for networking among residences with similar academic focus and interests as well as the opportunity to promote cross cultural communication and understanding.

Within the Res.Life program, UTS Housing offers a variety of academic and learning events which can include:

• Direct academic support: i.e. subject-focused study groups / tutorials / drop-in assignment helps session.

• Workshops that focus on study skills: referencing / time management / avoiding plagiarism / avoiding procrastination.

• Learning events with a social theme: i.e. Faculty Nights / Cultural nights / Post graduate social nights.

• Learning events that focus on non-academic skills or knowledge: i.e. cooking workshops / sports nutrition program.

• Career focused learning events: i.e. meeting professionals from your field / improving CV and interview skills.

• Classes that target English language skills and literacy & academic literacy skills: i.e. conversation class / IELTS preparation class / writing workshops.

RNs are encouraged to contribute to academic and learning events by raising awareness of the program among their floor communities and by identifying emerging interests and needs for learning. As such they may find themselves:

• Promoting upcoming academic and learning events among the residential community.

• Identifying students who would benefit from the academic and learning programs and referring them to appropriate sources of information.

• Participating in events when appropriate.

• Liaising with Andrew, the Academic and Learning Communities Officer to communicate feedback of the current events and to offer ideas for future learning events and learning interests among their communities.

CULTURE NIGHTSUTS Housing service is committed to the development of intercultural awareness and communication among our residents. One way that this is achieved is by celebrating the diversity of the cultural background of our residents. Each semester we run several ‘Culture Nights’ which are a celebration of one particular national culture. The RNs will be responsible for some of the planning and delivery of the event. Typically the event may include:

• Meals that are representative of the particular culture.

• An informal language lesson, some music or dance performance.

• Decorations for the night and around the residences.

• A presentation about some aspect of cultural life.

• Games or other leisure activities that are enjoyed by people of this culture.

It is important to note that the events will not have a focus on alcohol consumption. In small teams RNs will have shared responsibility for:

• Be present on the night.

• Shopping for ingredients, supplies etc.

• Promoting the event on your floor.

• Sourcing interested residents to cook, present, perform.

• Assist in meal preparation (assist the cooks with access to the RN facilities, prepare plates and eating utensils and clean up when appropriate).

• Contributing to the opportunities for intercultural communication and making all participants feel engaged and welcome.

Further support for the event will be provided by Andrew, the Res.Life - Academic and Learning Communities Officer.

SOCIAL EVENTS

ACADEMIC & LEARNING COMMUNITIES

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UTS Housing provides RNs with a small budget for their events. Each RN receives an allocation for their floor decorations, their floor meet & greet and then a set amount for the reminder of semester. You may use this money as you wish but you must discuss any purchases with Gloria, the Res.Life Officer – Programs in advance for approval. Remember that it is important to be conscious of budgeting for events and often you will have to compromise. For instance if you are planning on having a UTS Housing party then instead of hiring a professional DJ you should instead advertise for a resident who is able to do it instead. For larger scale events there is additional funds available if you can justify it!

To view the online document, look for the spreadsheet titled ‘Budget on the google drive and see the section on ”Petty Cash” on page 134

EVENT/FLOOR BUDGETS

BUILDING FLOOR LEVEL

RESIDENTS PER FLOOR

FLOOR PARTY

FLOOR DECORATIONS

EVENT BUDGET TOTAL

BULGA NGURRA 1 34

BULGA NGURRA 2-3 26

BULGA NGURRA 4+5 33

GEEGAL ALL 57

GUMAL NGURANG 2 72

GUMAL NGURANG 3-8 30

YURA MUDANG 8 24

YURA MUDANG 9-20 58

Providing residents with the opportunity to participate in a range of sporting events that fosters friendship, encourages interaction and promotes self-confidence, while being competitive and respectful to others. This area is overseen by Ani, the Res.Life Officer – Admissions and you should consult with him for advice when planning any sporting events.

Weekly sports include futsal, beach sports, volleyball, basketball, cricket, table tennis, soccer, etc. Passive sports include chess, board games, fifa video games, watching sporting events on TV / at a venue, sports trivia, sports debate, etc.

UTS Housing runs several major sporting competitions throughout the year including, UTS Housing Futsal World Cup and the UTS Housing Table Tennis competition.

Some important items to consider when planning sporting events are:

• Book RMSH / ask lifeguards for permission forbeach events, etc.

• First Aid.

• Set up equipment.

• Play / try to learn the game.

• Engage with participants.

• Take down equipment.

• Clean–up.

SPORTING

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Amounts may be subject to change

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Example Monthly Calendars

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There are several steps in preparing a successful event which are discussed below but the most important element is planning! If you leave organising your event till the last minute it will almost always be disappointing to not only the residents but also to yourself as an RN.

It is also important to remember that interactive events will always be more successful than passive events with little or no interaction. Residents want to come to events where they have the opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills and engage!

PLANNINGCrucial! For every event that you participate in you will want at least a month’s time to plan out the event and promote to the residents. This may seem like a lot of time but consider what needs to be done:

• Decide on an event.

• Arrange a group meeting for RNs who are in the group.

• Discuss event details, dates, group member roles.

• Book necessary spaces.

• Meet with Res.Life Officer – Programs.

• Prepare promotion material – needs to be two weeks prior to the event.

• These are just a few brief points and when trying to arrange meeting times, juggling roles, dealing with unexpected setbacks or arrangements you will find that the month has flown and your event is here! For larger events you will need to plan even further ahead!

CREATIVITYWhen beginning to think about an event you want to run try to be as creative as possible! Don’t rely on things that have been done before or events that are ‘easy’ to do, instead brainstorm and think outside the box! Once you have decided on an idea take some time to expand on it – what could make it bigger and better!

An example of this would be an event which has been run in past years, ‘Salsa Night at the Establishment’. Basically every Tuesday a bar in Sydney runs a salsa night where both beginners and advanced dancers take over the floor and learn or show off their skills. This is typically a popular event but what are some ways in which you can enhance it?

Firstly break down the event to its basics, it’s not just a night out dancing, it’s a celebration of Latin American culture! Firstly residents would need some practice prior to the evening, so the week before the evening out arrange to bring in some dance instructors for lessons and then have a repeat lesson again before the group leaves UTS Housing.

Going even further – why not use the opportunity to highlight the diverse cultures from where salsa originated by making the first dance lessons a cultural evening as well? Invest some time into decorating the space you will use and prepare some simple cuisines from the region. Reach out to residents from Latin America to get them involved, you would be surprised how eager people are to show off their culture!

On the night that you take residents to the Establishment organise another short dance lesson for a final practice and then head out for a great night!

So you can see that from a simple event idea, an excursion to a city pub, you have transformed it into a much more engaging, inclusive and successful event!

HOW TO PREPARE A SUCCESSFUL EVENT

“As an RN, one of the major aspects of your role is to plan, organise and run events. The event you would be running could be either academic, social or sports depending on your preference. It is always a great idea to make sure that the event you are planning is something that majority of the residents on your floor are interested in.”Prash RN @ Yura

“Events are a huge part of being an RN. One of the things to keep in mind is that planning is key! A detailed plan where each RN has specific duties ensures that the events run smoothly.”Peter RN @ Yura

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GROUP MEETINGFor the events where you work with other RNs you will need to arrange a group meeting when all members are available and invite the SRN as well. It is important that this meeting happens as soon as possible to discuss details, allocate roles and prepare for the event. The Senior RN will be present to help guide the meeting, ensuring that all areas are covered. A sample event meeting sheet is on page 55 to give you some idea of what needs to be actioned in this meeting.

One of the most important elements of this meeting is to assign tasks and roles to individual group members. I.e. one RN is responsible for creating, printing and placing up posters / invitations, another RN to contact any place that needs to be booked / arrange equipment etc.

Your group should ensure that the workload is evenly split and that each of these action items has a set deadline.

In the example of the Salsa night above your group would need to:

• Set the evenings when you are running the event, remember the night out has to be on a Tuesday.

• Research, arrange and book Salsa instructors after consultation with Res.Life Officer - Programs.

• Arrange catering, who will go shopping, what do you need to buy, who will prepare it?

• Decorations for the first night.

• Promotional material, posters / invitations / social media.

• Set a time when you will meet to set up.

• Ensure that you have arranged to use the UTS Housing camera.

• Nominate someone in the group to provide a report on how the event went, including photos.

ACTION ITEMSWhen working in a group it is extremely important that all members share roles and workloads evenly and adhere to deadlines set for their items. It is easy to put something off especially if you think you can leave it till the last minute, perhaps you are responsible for buying decorations and decide to do it after class the day of the event instead of the set deadline.

Not only will this cause stress for your fellow RNs as they have been chasing you to do this, and now wonder if you can be relied on, but you also run into the possibility that a last minute item may prevent you from following through on your task thus needed you to give your workload to other group members.

Even worse, imagine if a group member responsible for arranging the Salsa instructors thought they could simply call them a few days before the event and expect them to be available?

Remember – you are part of a team and you should work hard to establish and be proud of your reputation as a team player!

ON THE NIGHTEnsure that your group allows enough time to set up so that you are ready to greet residents at the start of the event without having to rush around. If you have arranged to meet residents to take them somewhere out of UTS Housing ensure you are at the designated meeting place at least 15 minutes early.

Unfortunately no matter how well you plan something, big or small, will go wrong! The important thing is to not worry, take a deep breath and work around it. In our example of the Salsa night, the instructors may be running late or the music system may not work. If something does go wrong you should keep smiling and let residents know there has been a hiccup and that it will be back on track as soon as possible.

Remember to take pictures and short videos; there is no need to take dozens, only a few pictures of the whole group enjoying the activity which are in focus!

AFTER THE EVENTIt is important to speak with your fellow RNs about how the night went, what worked well, what could be improved? One member of the group will need to write an event debrief to the Res.Life Officer – Programs with this feedback and include pictures from the evening.

Additionally you will need to email Sophie, the Communications and Off Campus Housing Officer with a short post for the UTS Housing Facebook page to accompany your event pictures. This will help promote future events and give the residents access to the photos.

MEETING WITH RES. LIFE OFFICER - PROGRAMSThis is an extremely import step in planning all events. Res.Life has experience in organising a multitude of different events and can often help you improve / work out some ideas of avert disaster! Have you remembered to tell residents about the strict dress code at the Establishment or that they will need to have proof of age? Had you considered that the Salsa instructors would need to have insurance? If they did not and a resident was injured under their instruction then UTS would be liable. Also if you are planning on spending any money then you will need to have approval in advance.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

This is covered in “Promotions” on page 58 in greater detail but is an incredibly important part of any event, if no-one knows about it then how can anyone go!

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EVENT PHOTOSIt is very important that you take suitable photographs of your event. Try to get a few photos of the whole group and then some ‘action’ shots. You are also encouraged to take short videos using the UTS Housing camera which is located in the UTS Housing office.

SUGGESTING AND SIGNING UP FOR EVENTSTo simplify the process of suggesting and signing up for events G.Drive has a spreadsheet whereby all RNS can enter their suggested event details. From here RNs ‘vote’ on each event to select the most popular, you can vote for as many events as you like. After this Gloria, the Res.Life Officer – Programs will consider how many RNs are required for each event to ensure it is run successfully. After this RNs sign up for events with the RN who suggested the event automatically assigned. The dates for this process are on the 2016 calendar (found in the appendix) and will also be confirmed in advance.

The following pages will take you step by step through the process of suggesting and signing up for events and you can also refer to the section on Google Drive.

“Planning events in UTS Housing for your residents can be an easy process once you get the hang of it. There is a lot to be learnt from the old RN’s and the Res.Life team when planning events. The sky’s the limit but you should make sure that it is beneficial to your residents and something that people are interested in. If they’re not, they won’t come. Finding events that have little to no cost associated with them are always hits with the residents as many are already on tight budgets. Making sure that you don’t just regurgitate events every month is important as variety is the spice of life. Have fun with it and make sure you enjoy the event, it’s your job but it doesn’t mean that you can’t have a fun time doing it!”Courtney RN @ Gumal

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