Friends and family members who had floor passes during last year’s THON weekend probably waited in line longer than they would have liked. But THON 2013 officials said they’re ditching the electronic line and reverting back to a physical line system, sans text messaging alerts.
The Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon's PASS system is a system of how it admits visitors and organization members onto the floor during THON weekend.
Mike Wellner, overall rules and regulations chairperson, said that general admission passes are given to students and family members to spend time on the floor throughout THON weekend. Passes expire after three hours, and all expired passes are “swept off the floor” every hour, he said.
Chris Kessler, overall technology chairperson, said that each organization is given a certain amount of these passes based on how much they raise through fundraisers and the amount of dancers they have. The more dancers an organization has, the more passes they are allotted, he said.
Both the rules and regulations committee and the PASS developerteam have met throughout the year to evaluate the previous PASS system and help them rethink their strategy for THON 2013, he said.
Last year, both groups chose to use a texting system rather than a physical line to let people know that they were allowed to get in line to enter the floor area, Wellner (senior-supply chain management) said. This system alerted the pass holder, via text message, when their pass was available, he said.
“This year we chose to use a physical line as opposed to the virtual line of years past to avoid confusion,” Wellner said.
Janine Patton, head of PASS team, said 14 members of the PASS and technology committees meet weekly throughout the semester to discuss how the system for this year will work. Every member learned the different aspects of the program through simulations, she said.
The system will be broken up by organization, entertainment group and press group, Patton (senior-human development and family studies) said. When a person walks up to a booth during THON weekend, they will give their names and organization before a committee member scans them in to the system, she said.
Kessler said they tested the new system during the Family Carnival to give committee members a chance to see what it will be like during THON weekend. Both Kessler and Patton said the PASS system went smoothly during the event and they’re hopeful that THON will run just as smoothly.
“We are just excited for THON weekend and hoping that the we don’t face the same issues we did last year,” Kessler said.
