Comment: Exeter University's Powderham Ball - Doomed to Fail?

This is a Comment article I wrote for my university newspaper, Exeposé, which unfortunately didn't make it into the paper because of a lack of space. Nevertheless, here it is for your enjoyment! I apologise in advance to anyone who happens to be reading this and is not a student at the University of Exeter; this probably won't make a lot of sense to you.

Not even the promise of swirly rainbows
enticed Exeter students...

FIREWORKS, free drinks, carnival-themed entertainment, a live performance from Radio 1 DJ Greg James... All these features would have made Powderham Ball 2011 the highlight of Exeter’s social calendar. Unfortunately, a lack of demand has seen the ball cancelled for the second time in three years. Powderham Ball represents a fantastic opportunity to raise money for charities through Raising and Giving (RAG), as well as an excuse to enjoy an “unforgettable event” at the end of a busy term. So why was the Powderham Ball doomed to fail?  

It's a simple answer; the ticket price was a staggering £60. Although the sum is much cheaper than an Oxford or Cambridge bi-annual ball, the figure is still too high-priced for anyone who does not enjoy unlimited access to Daddy’s credit card. The post-Christmas slump of January and February may have also contributed to poor ticket sales.

The counter-argument to these points would be that the spectacles and the entertainment offered at the Powderham Ball are expensive to hire and purchase. Without a costly ticket price, the event would have made a loss and the Ball could not have raised a satisfactory amount of money for charity. Since it was necessary to cancel the Ball on these grounds anyway, the Powderham Committee were overly ambitious to plan such a wide range of extravagant activities.

The Powderham Ball has been missing from student’s diaries since 2008 and consequently cannot be considered a 'must-go' event for the Exeter student anymore. Without a regular slot and a status as a well-established event, the Ball’s only hope of attracting a larger clientele and raising enough money for charity is to lower ticket prices and organise a more toned-down affair in future. If the Powderham Ball becomes a regular fixture of the Exeter Spring term a few years down the line, only then can the Ball raise its prices and hold a truly “unforgettable event”.

IB