In a world saturated with streaming options and pandemic-induced challenges, Sonoma State University found its once-thriving movie events losing their appeal with students. Instead of accepting the empty seats, Director of Student Involvement Mo Phillips discovered an exciting solution to rekindle the cinematic spirit on campus.

Problem:

For two decades, Sonoma State hosted movie events regularly. Multiple times a month, even. But as the landscape of entertainment evolved with streaming options and the challenges of a pandemic, attendance at their movie events began to dwindle. To address this, Mo Phillips needed a solution that would make their movie events stand out and keep students coming back.

Approach:

Her approach was to turn movie nights into immersive experiences for students. “I think of programming in terms of ‘what does it look like, sound like, feel like?’” shared Phillips. For their first screening using this approach, the team screened “The Polar Express” during the holiday season. They went all out with themed food, activities and giveaways related to the movie. They had giveaways and tickets with a scratch-off option to see if you were the winner of their train giveaway. They had a blow-up snow globe inside the ballroom that students could take pictures in. They had a hot chocolate bar, movie popcorn and more food options.

So far, the team also screened a “Harry Potter” film, “Elf” and plan to show “The Goonies” soon – all throwbacks.  By leaning into beloved classics, they tapped into the familiarity and nostalgia that students already have for these films. And it makes it easier for the team to come up with themed ideas when they’ve already seen the film.

Mo Phillips also utilized Swank's turn-key, free programming packages – Experiential Events – incorporating elements like bingo and trivia to enhance the overall movie-going experience. The goal was to create something new and engaging for the students, and the competitiveness of these events resonated perfectly with Sonoma State's students. “The Experiential Events were easy to use and easy to play,” expressed Phillips. “I’ve done stuff like that for movies before, but it takes a lot of time and effort to do it right. So, it was nice to have it done for me. And I think anything we can do to create something new in students’ movie-going experience is going to help further engage them.”

Results:

Phillips shared that attendance at their screenings steadily climbs with each new event. And attendees keep coming back, sitting on the floor if needed, to enjoy the unique experiences created around each movie. "We’re trying to find different paths and different ways of doing things,” shared Phillips. “Ours used to be just showing the latest films. But I think we’ve come upon something new with this."

According to Phillips, our Experiential Events contributed to the success of their programming: “With Experiential Events, you’re engaged in the movie differently, you’re engaged with each other differently. It brings out their competitive nature. Especially when they know each other. Even if it’s just winning a magnet. It does elevate the engagement.”

And movies themselves help create that genuine connection and engagement amongst students. “Sometimes there are movie moments that really resonate with students,” shared Phillips. “For example, at our ‘Polar Express’ screening, during the scene where he could finally here the bell, students all picked up their bells we gave them and rang them. Totally unprovoked. I have goosebumps now just talking about it.”

If you’re interested in adding an Experiential Event to your next movie screening,

contact your Account Executive for more information!