Hosting a talent show is something that the Hudson Perrin Hall Council has been interested in since NRHH leadership training back in September. Living in the Hall, you are able to see a lot of talent on a day to day basis and after seeing the success of Dieterich Idol in October, as a Hall Council we decided to make “Hudson Perrin’s Got Talent” come to life! Also, knowing that NRHH does an annual campus- wide event called “Music for Mouths” in December; we thought it would be fun to get the whole campus involved. The idea was to have a friendly competition between halls, where each would host a talent show and send the winner(s) to perform live at this event. The Hudson Perrin Hall Council Vice President sent an email out to the Complex/Hall Directors explaining this idea and they responded positively. This turned out to be a great idea to show our support by helping NRHH get more performers for their event.

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“Hudson Perrin’s Got Talent” is based off the reality show of “America’s Got Talent”. The Hudson Perrin Hall Council wanted to have a program where residents could come and have a creative outlet to show off their talents. As a group, we decided that we didn’t just want musical performers, but we wanted performers of all types. The Vice President created a signup sheet for the front desk, and the Advisors and Programming Committee Chair took care of publicity. They created amazing flyers and a large paper banner with a “Hudson Perrin’s Got Talent” logo as the focus. The Secretary finished off the publicity with a Facebook event, encouraging all residents to come perform or show their support by watching.

Another great idea that the Vice President took initiative to do was to get ahold of other acts that performed at other talent shows across campus. This was a great thing to see, and truly showed our support for programming across campus. At the actual event there were two acts from Dieterich and Phillips and 12 acts from Hudson Perrin. The performers used the sound system that we checked out from the Student Union, and other equipment that was provided by the residents in attendance. For deciding a winner, we chose not to have judges, but instead we had the audience of over 100 residents decide. We did this by having them text in their vote to an online texting service, which was a great touch that got the residents actively engaged.

The performances at this event lasted about two hours and included several singers, musicians, dancers, and the interesting talent of a group cup-stacking routine. While residents texted in their vote, it was projected live on a wall near the performance area. As a group we decided to take the top three acts, the prize for first was 30 dollars cash, second prize as 20 dollars cash, and third prize was 10 dollars cash. Also at the program, the audience was provided with snacks and beverages as they watched the performances.

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As a Hall Council and Staff we discussed how we continuously see residents building community within our hall by playing various musical instruments. The major goal of this program was to bring these residents together and create an atmosphere where they felt comfortable to perform to a larger hall audience of their peers. We also wanted to plan a program that residents were interested in attending. The Hall Council planned a dance party for Halloween that didn’t have the best attendance, and they wanted to continue to push our community to get involved. Support was another goal that we had, and we showed that by contacting other performers from other halls across campus, and sending our winner to the campus-wide NRHH event of “Music for Mouths”. The Hudson Perrin Hall Council did an amazing job at achieving these goals, it was great to see all of us come together and plan this very successful program in a week.

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Probably the biggest lasting effect that I saw come from this program was the effect that it had on my Hall Council Exec Team. After their disappointment from the Halloween Dance Party, it really showed them how they can really come together as a team and plan a successful program. The result really uplifted their spirits, and they are beginning to view planning programs as a positive aspect of Hall Council. As the Advisor for the group, this made me very happy and inspired to work with this group for the rest of the year!

The Exec team was so excited from the results of the talent show that they want to plan another one for the spring semester, which I’m sure will be another hit within our community. I am hoping that this becomes a tradition around campus that each hall can host a talent show and send the winners to the “Music for Mouths” event.

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This program was outstanding and was a huge hit in our Hudson Perrin community. This is my fourth year living and or working in Hudson Perrin, and I have never seen a program have this many residents in attendance. Our whole classroom and lounge area was completely full of residents! This was amazing to see, and inspired me and the rest of the Hall Council Exec Team to work hard the rest of the year. There are multiple reasons why I love my job, but planning these successful programs is definitely one of the reasons. The Hudson Perrin Hall Council did a great job at supporting other Hall Councils and campus events, which is another reason why this program was so great. The program lasted about two hours and had 14 performers and over 100 residents in attendance.

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This program could easily be adapted to any university. I highly encourage all residence hall staffs and Hall Council Exec Teams to look for talent within their communities. Not only if you look for it, but if you listen for it, I bet it will be an easy find. Once you find those residents, ask them if they are interested in performing in a talent show or an open-mic-night, I’m sure you will see excitement in their eyes and they would be more than happy to do so! These programs are very easy to plan once you have performers, all you have to do is get an audience there and let the performers do their thing. The details of the event will come naturally once you sit down as a team and discuss them. I recommend these types of programs to any hall community. I am impressed with the amount of talent that Northwest Missouri State University has on their campus, so I know for a fact that NACURH’s Got Talent!

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