Running the New College Commemoration Ball and Boat Party with OXEX
The New College Commemoration Ball is one of Oxford’s biggest balls, occurring once every three years, while the New College Boat Party is a yearly highlight for many students. We spoke to Jess, who handled ticketing for both the Boat Party and the Commemoration Ball to understand how OXEX delivered across these very different events.
Why OXEX?
When choosing a platform, Jess appreciated how OXEX balanced ease of use for guests with functionality for organisers. The platform allowed her to:
- Set up different ticket tiersCustomize food and drink options to account for allergies
- Use access lists to manage discounted or special-category tickets seamlessly She told us, “It just made everything so much easier on the night—no fuss, no confusion.”
Dedicated Support
The personal touch was a highlight. At OXEX, every account has a dedicated point of contact, ready to help at any time. Jess valued being able to reach out directly instead of sending impersonal emails. “You were always so willing to hop on a call if I had a problem,” she said, “and that made a huge difference when running something as big as the Ball.”
Event Crew & Staff
At the Commemoration Ball, Jess found OXEX’s new event crew and staff features particularly valuable; in her words, it “made security for the ball so much more efficient.” She explained how being able to check workers in and out throughout the day gave the committee confidence that only authorised people were on site. In practice, OXEX brings crew management and ticketing together into one smooth process:
- Sign contracts – staff can complete agreements digitally, stored securely within the platform.
- Verify IDs – crew and contractors are validated before the event, reducing risks.
- Send instructions – organisers can communicate directly with staff through the system.
- Scan access passes – every worker is issued with a secure, scannable pass, integrated seamlessly with guest ticketing. This integration means organisers don’t need to juggle multiple systems or manual lists. Staff onboarding, security, and site access all flow from the same platform used to manage guest tickets. For Jess, that integration made a real difference: manual workarounds she and her team had considered were no longer needed, and security became far more robust. As she put it, the feature “just made everything so much easier on the day.”
Adapting to Different Events
Jess found OXEX adapted brilliantly to both event types. The Boat Party—simple, two ticket types—was quick to set up and easy to manage. The Commemoration Ball—complex ticket types, access tiers, crew logistics—demanded more features, and OXEX delivered without sacrificing clarity or usability. Ultimately, she really appreciated being “able to go back to a platform that I already knew how to work.”
Overall Experience
Ultimately, Jess found OXEX “straightforward, flexible, and well supported.” The combination of intuitive design, dedicated support, and integrated crew tools gave her the confidence to manage ticketing smoothly—from small boat party to full-scale ball.