Wizard of Oz Booth

Carnegie Mellon Booth 2015: Wizard of Oz

My junior year at Carnegie Mellon I received the position of Booth Chair again within my sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. Booth is a tradition where student organizations compete with each other by building a two story themed building in less than a week that is open to the public. The students have 6 days to build on site, three days for the booth to be open, then one day to tear it down.

That year I was in charge of creating all construction plans and blueprints. I had to submit them to a licensed engineer for approval, and make sure they were feasible while still allowing for maximum creativity. My other responsibilities as one of four Booth Chairs was to be in charge of budget, construction, electrical wiring of the booth, making sure everything was up to code, safety, and collaboration with the head of design to ensure a smooth operation that would lead to a magical experience to all who entered.

The overall theme that year was Living Library, and so we chose our booth theme to be the Wizard of Oz. It was a two story immersive experience where those who entered were taken on a journey through different scenery and locations from the book and movie. You began in a black and white kitchen in Kansas, then walked up a tornado spiral staircase. The second floor was Oz and the yellow brick road, with images of the Emerald City in the distance. You moved through the wicked witches lair and had to dodge flying monkeys before finally arriving in the Emerald City.