This year, the Otago University Students Association welcomes back events manager Vanessa Reddy, who has been in the United States for a year studying the effects of alcohol in the events industry.
This will be her sixth Orientation and she is glad to be coming back to the city.
"Yes, that was always the plan."
Following an edict from the university's vice-chancellor this Orientation is the first not carrying an alcohol company's sponsorship, which ties in with Reddy's American research.
"If we are going to change the harm-related drinking culture at Otago then it needs to be a holistic approach.
"The whole community has to be involved ... it is possible to put on concerts and not serve alcohol at them."
Reddy says she is looking forward to seeing a couple of items on the programme. "I am interested in seeing what Mistress is like and I always love the outdoor movie with free candyfloss."
While in the States, Reddy saw a band or two that she thought might do well in Dunedin.
"I got to dance on stage behind Girl Talk, which was a fantastic night.
"I tried to get him for Orientation but the timing didn't work out, but I will keep in touch with his manager."
Plans for Orientation 2010 were well under way by the time she arrived back in the country, and she's thankful to her team for a good effort.
• If you can't wait to get your groove on, there's an invitation to Sex With Bowie at Port Chalmers.
That's the name of Chris Keogh's newish band, which Keogh says came about for reasonably simple reasons: "We just really, really like David Bowie."
Keogh says the band is a three-piece.
"Myself and Rich Valentine write and record all the songs.
"We have a bass player, Bugs Miller of The Something Quartet, who performs with us live and records some of the bass on the records."
See them
- Sex With Bowie and The Twitch (Auckland) play at Chicks Hotel Port Chalmers, on Wednesday February 10.
