PAL Masquerade Banquet and TASC Night Market 2009

I can never get tired of annual events at Binghamton University, especially those hosted by Asian Student Union subgroups. But just because I spend most of my time managing my work in TASC (Taiwanese American Student Coalition) and AO (Asian Outlook) doesn't mean I can't go and take a look at what everyone else has to offer.

Already in my third year, this was the first time I attended the banquet hosted by PAL (Phillipine-American League). I pretty much only expected the same food and performances that are present in virtually all banquet-related events.

And I was right. There were food -- good food, mind you -- and performances -- also good performances. It definitely had its interesting elements, with the elegance and formality that served as huge atmosphere improvements.

And as seen above, it's a Masquerade Banquet for a reason. I couldn't help but get into the spirit of things for just a moment.

We get good food for dinner while we look on to the various dance performances in the center of the room. The highlights were definitely on the social aspects of the event than the performances, though, since there weren't too many performers to begin with. I guess dinner can be thrown in there as a highlight, as well.

Then again, when I mentioned good food, I purposely didn't say "great" food. Not to put down PAL and its wonderful event (don't get me wrong here), as I very much enjoyed the night, but TASC is notorious for providing some of the best food in its annual events.

You know you like the flier. Recently I developed a tendency to use recurring character designs in all the TASC fliers. I honestly wonder if the trend will stick?

Well, the annual TASC Night Market seemed to be horribly down at one point. We were aiming to sell at least 120 or so tickets before the opening of the event on November 7th. Into the final week of tabling, the organization sold a mere 50 or so. Then for some peculiar reason -- and I'm simply guessing that people were lazy -- an estimated 70-80 additional advance tickets were sold on the last day.

Oh yes, advance tickets were actually sold out. I never would have predicted such an outcome. And even then, it didn't stop there. An additional 40 tickets were sold at the door on the night of the event, since there were no longer any discount advance tickets. Original plans included about 140 seats for the event. At the end, approximately 160 people showed up.

After spending 15 hours in the Old Union, fatigue was simply part of the routine. This wasn't to say no one else was tired. Working hard all the way through, the food turned out to be exceptional (though one of the dishes, not entirely sure which, was a tad salty), the design crew finished everything on time, and there were little to no major setbacks. I can definitely say that "success" is the perfect description.

Maybe when the time comes, I can leech some photos and upload them here.