Meet Bridie Lawall: Director of Operations for Movin' On 2024

Bridie Lawall, a junior majoring in geography, serves as the Director of Operations for Movin’ On 2024, having previously held the same position for the 2023 festival. She is from Bucks County, PA and is currently in The Sustainability Network and Affiliate Organizations as well as the International Geography Society. She was also a dancer relations committee member for THON 2024.  

Lawall joined Movin’ On in her first year at Penn State after hearing about the organization from her brother and attending the interest meeting. From there, she became the Local Sponsorship Coordinator before transitioning into her current position as Director of Operations.

“I thought the idea that it was a student-run organization was incredible,” Lawall said. “I was like what an opportunity to be a part of something that can make an event for thousands of attendees.”

As the Director of Operations, Lawall oversees her operations team and works closely with sustainability aspects when it comes to the day of the festival. During the fall semester, Lawall works on the sustainability initiatives for the festival, which includes reaching out to the Penn State Sustainability Institute to make a day of show plan. 

In addition to the sustainability initiatives, Lawall also holds sustainability events throughout the year to promote sustainable living and awareness. One of these events included a blind-date with a book where attendees were given a second-hand, donated book with an attached music playlist. Students were then able to pick the book based on the playlist as opposed to the covers, which were concealed with recycled brown bags. 

“They would be more inclined to pick (the book) based on vibe and not the cover, age of the book or how worn down it may seem,” Lawall said.  

Lawall also has a lot of contact with the vendors for the festival. This involves ensuring that the festival has essential amenities, like portable toilets and generators, set up on the field. Additionally, she communicates detailed maps to vendors to guide them in their setup locations. She also conducts meetings with vendors and assists in coordinating pick-up and drop-off logistics.

Lawall also oversees the hospitality team, ensuring that artists have everything they need and fulfilling any special requests both prior to and during the festival. In this capacity, she plays a crucial role in creating a seamless and comfortable experience for the performers.

Lawall said one of her biggest achievements during her time at Movin’ On was her trash sortation and sweep she led last year. During this, members from Movin’ On’s Promo team, sustainability team, and Lawall gathered all of the trash left behind on the field and sorted the trash from the recycling, including trash found in trash cans. 

Lawall said she decided to implement this practice because oftentimes everything is thrown into one bin, which makes either a whole bag of recycling unusable or puts a lot of recyclable material into the trash. 

Within 45 minutes, Lawall and her team were able to sort through all of the trash found on the field. This left them with 37.44 pounds of recycling saved and 63.8 pounds of trash that they sorted to not contaminate the recycling. 

“It was the first time I have ever had an idea that I really saw through fruition,” Lawall said. “I saw it from just blueprints from a meeting over Zoom to standing with about 25 bags of trash.”

Lawall also pitched the idea for Movin’ On to have a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) coordinator this year. She then spent time learning from other organizations how a DEI position could operate and how Movin’ On would benefit from it. 

In the fall, Lawall created the DEI coordinator position and made it a spot to apply for on her Core team. Though it is still in its beginning phases, Shayla Hsu is the first DEI coordinator in Movin’ On’s history. 

Lawall also created tote bags for one of Movin’ On 2023, which was the first merchandise sold that highlighted the lineup. Months after the festival, she saw someone wearing the tote bag, and she said it was a really proud moment for her. 

“It was the first time I saw someone not in the organization using it,” Lawall said. “So, to know that I made and created a gift that people were using months after was very fulfilling to me.”

Overall, Lawall said she has learned a lot about the music and events industry, collaboration, consistency as well as how to be a leader during her time with Movin’ On. She said that she has gained confidence in her capabilities and carries herself with more confidence due to the skills she has gained from the organization. 

“Movin’ On has been the most fulfilling experiences I have ever had on campus,” Lawall said.