Balls-Up at Wadham
By Gabriel Packard Wadham's 'Oddball' sustained estimated losses of £25,000. Rock act Supergrass and an award-winning ad campaign were not sufficient to attract enough guests to save the event.
The Ball took place in 9th week of Trinity Term and cost £70/£90 per ticket. Chair of the Ball committee, Brendon O'Grady described ticket sales of 950 - compared to an expected 1,300-1,500 - as "a little disappointing." Remarkably, O'Grady states: "I don't think the financial position is that terrible". Viewing the ball as "quite a success", he comments that guests were all "really happy with the way it went".
Supergrass were the biggest band to feature in the Oxford 2000 ball season. However, the band was publicised at a late stage. "More people would have come," suggests O'Grady, "if we announced Supergrass earlier. [Initially] we just had to spread rumours because you can't actually say their name until you've signed a contract."
"Perhaps we suffered a little bit from our image within Oxford," comments Simon Wood, Wadham's Student Union President. "I don't think people expected Wadham to be putting on such a big-scale, large ball." He notes: "in the past we've put on smaller balls, aimed towards Wadham students."
O'Grady acknowledges the college's reputation for "being a bit 'pink'", and concedes this may have put people off attending. This reputation was not helped by the extensive advertising campaign, which featured drawings of ball-going transvestites and drag queens. "Some people saw it as a bit camp," accepts O'Grady, "but I don't think this took over the whole ball."
After consulting entertainment professionals, the committee concluded that the majority of the ticket sales would occur in the in last couple of weeks. Wood recalls: "at the end of the penultimate week before the ball Brendon said, 'we're going to make a loss'. We went through the entire budget. The route we took was the most cost effective." O'Grady notes: "if we'd cancelled the ball, we'd have made a much larger loss: about £70,000."
The entire loss is currently being absorbed by Wadham college, not the SU. However, both the SU president and the Bursar maintain that SCR-SU relations have not been damaged. A working group of senior and junior members are discussing the implications. O'Grady is confident that the financial failure of the Oddball will not adversely affect forthcoming Wadham entz. Captain Sauvage, Wadham's bursar, is more cautious. He hints that the committee may recommend tighter restrictions on future balls to prevent a repeat performance. Sauvage confirmed that a loss of this size is a first for Wadham.
"The key to it," according to Wood, "is perhaps Wadham planned too big a ball for Wadham's standing within Oxford."
5th Oct 2000