Event Managers and DJs for Gen-Y

CHENNAI: Some college parties have made it to the major league. Ask any disc jockey (DJ) who’s worth his turntable where the majority of his business comes from and pat comes the reply – college and school farewell parties. “Most college gigs are called in through student contacts from engineering colleges, but these days there is a trend of event managers handling college farewells,” says DJ Safi.Long gone are the days when a lone CD of greatest hits would suffice for the music at farewell dos. These days, a DJ, strobe lights, liquor, cocktail dresses and dancing are mainstays at the average farewell party, adds the popular young music-spinner. As long as they can pay, who cares about what the event is or how young the crowd is, he adds.“We saw that the last two years, but this year for our farewell party, our juniors have blocked a pub in T Nagar for an entire night,” gushes Treena M (name changed), a final-year arts student, who admits to having spent `4,500 on her farewell ‘dress’. She says, when there was a need for extra entertainment options, they asked an event manager to help out the previous year. “There was a dart game with some of our worst professors’ heads as the target!” she reveals.Even within colleges, more and more time, effort and expense seems to be going into farewell dos. At WCC, theme parties make farewells unforgettable, says Saharsha Jacob, a final-year student of literature. “Last year, we planned a party themed on a market place, where we set up stalls and had backdrops of an actual market scene. We dressed as vendors, customers and gypsies and also had photo corners with market place settings for students to take photographs of,” she says excitedly.At Ethiraj College for Women, the themes for every year’s farewell are again, the highlight. “We once had a mismatched clothes farewell; then there was a Halloween farewell another year. There is no other party usually held on or outside campus,” explains Alantina, a final-year student of Psychology.