Esperanza gets record turnout

By Melissa Tsang     11/13/08 6:00pm

Once infamous for its low turnout and unpopular venues, this year's Esperanza attracted an unprecedented 1,000 students, the highest number the Rice Program Council has seen in recent years. The formal, this year hosted on campus in a tent between the Jesse H. Jones School of Management, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and the Shepherd School of Music, sold out last Thursday, two days before the event last Saturday. While last year saw an increased turnout of 550 students for Esperanza, this year's turnout almost doubled. RPC Formals Committee co-Chair Maggy Taylor said she was surprised and pleased by the turnout.

"It was just incredible," Taylor, a Will Rice College senior, said. "We were all just incredibly dumbfounded that that even happened. We honestly did not even imagine selling this many tickets."

The dance sold out two days before the event. Tickets went on sale Saturday, Oct. 25 and sold out Thursday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m., prompting Taylor and her co-chair Esra Gumuser to offer an additional hundred tickets for sale Friday, Nov. 7. The 1,000-student turnout exceeded initial predictions of 600-700 students.

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A deluge of irate e-mails, Facebook messages and phone calls barraged the co-chairs as students tried to procure tickets after they sold out again last Thursday. One student sent an e-mail on the Jones College list serve, offering $100, as well as his iPod, in exchange for two tickets to the dance. Tickets originally sold for $15.

Taylor estimates an additional 100 students were turned away once ticket sales reached the venue's maximum capacity.

"We were not allowed to sell anymore," Taylor said. "We actually had the Houston Fire Department come and we had no idea that they knew about it, but they made sure that we kept the capacity."

Since the costs of the tent were covered by Rice's Centennial Campaign, RPC was able to direct its $6,000 budget towards other aspects of the Blue and Grey Ball, including hiring student DJ Alex Marks, a Lovett sophomore, and providing an open bar for students 21 and over.

RPC did not profit and lost $4,000. Taylor said this was less than expected, as the club usually expects to lose $6,000 in throwing the event.

Gumuser, a Will Rice sophomore, attributed the high turnout to Esperanza's convenient on-campus location, the tent's appearance and the open bar for students over 21.

"The tent gave [Esperanza] a lot of press," she said. "It was in a setting when people were still unfamiliar with it and gave it a little air of suspicion. They had to go see for themselves."

Just prior to the event, the company running the open bar notified RPC that the bar would have to close at 1 a.m. instead of the previously-announced 2 a.m. The company refunded RPC half the price of the $10 wristband, which was then passed on as a $5 discount on wristbands that had been purchased.

Despite some initial complaints and resistance to the formal being held on campus, the magnitude of the Centennial Campaign tent positively affected student opinion and reaction to the dance, Taylor said.

"It's nice to have it on campus," Brown College freshman Kensey King said. "I enjoyed my experience. Overall, they did a really good job."

RPC plans to host Rondelet off-campus next spring, Taylor said. She said RPC is considering holding the formal at St. Arnold's Brewery.

"We were just so happy that people responded the way they did," she said. "We really hope that people will be continually excited about Rondelet and Esperanza. And hopefully we won't have to turn away people ever again.

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