Students desiring to learn about upcoming entertainment events near campus may want to check out Society Florence. The off-campus organization of students and community residents are currently planning several events and will be establishing a new website, shoalsnightlife.com, in the coming weeks, said Stan Collins, founder of Society Florence and UNA student.

“Society Florence is an organization focused on promoting the music scene and building a network among all the musicians, bands, and venues in the area,” Collins said. “In late November, we are having a DJ Relay Party at Faces which will feature several local DJ’s with different styles. We are starting to plan an all day event in the spring with a bunch if local bands at Riverfront Park though we don’t yet have a date set.”

The group’s website, societyflorence.com, focuses predominantly on event coverage and promotion, featuring articles and listings of upcoming events in the Shoals area, Collins said.

“We keep up with what musicians and bands are playing where, but we are about to start setting up exclusive interviews with local bands,” Collins said. “We are also about to start showcasing music from as many local artists as possible in order to set up a network among the creative in the area. The site is getting 150 views a day on average during the week and more than that 200 on the weekends.”

The organization also intends to set up a new website as part of a partnership to promote the Florence nightlife with Zellus Marketing, Huntsville-based marketing group. Through the partnership, students in the organization will be able to take part in event planning and promotion all over north Alabama, Collins said.

“They (Zellus Marketing) reached out to us because they had plans of starting shoalsnightlife.com but they saw that we had already started something in the area so instead of competing, we decided to work together,” Collins said. “We will run society Florence, shoalsnightlife.com, and help out with the (already established) Huntsville sites.“ 

Up until this partnership, moving forward has been somewhat of a struggle, Collins said.

“I don’t make any money with it so I’m not really sure where to go with it next,” Collins said. “I do it to spread information and help promote all the things that are going on in this area.”

While Society Florence is an interesting idea, there may be some hazards if the organization were to continue planning events of their own, said Senior Christopher Goodman.

 “I can’t say that I oppose the fact that someone wants to go and earn some money,” he said. “For legal purposes, it isn’t fair to allow a group to carry on with activity that isn’t really covered by any legal documentation that holds them accountable for anything that could possibly happen at an event that they hold.”

Jennifer Weeks, a sophomore, said she believes students are the main voice of what events will work in Florence and should actively participate in building up the city’s culture.

“It shows that students are, in fact, willing to work and show great work ethic to prove they can in fact plan events and see them played out,” she said.

Editor’s note: Student Writer Matthew Wilson contributed to the reporting of this story.