South Carolina Rose Center

Selection Weekend 2019

Schedule

Kick-off Reception & Interviews // Friday, April 5
Saluda Shoals River Center
Fleet Mortgage Room
5605 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29212
Time: 6:15 - 9:30 pm

INTERVIEWS

During our Kick-off Reception, Rose Candidates will receive their ticket into Tartan Day South, as well as meet with our selection panel one-on-one for 10 minutes each, and in groups for 30 minutes each. The panel will have reviewed your applications ahead of time, and will be sure to ask you about the responses you provided. Each Rose will also meet with the MC of our Selection event to go over what she would like to discuss on-stage. We will not ask you to discuss current events or political opinions on stage – no “gotcha” questions here, ladies!

During the group interviews, the panel will pose questions around hot topics going on in Ireland and the US: think Brexit, American politics, school shootings, immigration, and women’s reproductive health. These are actual topics Roses have been asked to discuss in the past either with the Irish press, or in group interview settings.

Roses may choose to leave after they have participated in their group interview, have had their individual interview, and have had their consultation with the MC. We do not expect everyone to stay until the last Rose is interviewed, though I’m sure your new Rose Sister would enjoy the company!

Dress code is “business,” meaning something you might wear to work at an office with a somewhat traditional dress code, or something you might wear to an interview (pencil skirt, suit dress, etc.).

SELECTION

We will be hosting our Selection, rain or shine, during the festivities of Tartan Day South. At the start of our Selection Event each Rose Candidate will be announced up to the main stage with her escort of choice: this can be mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandparent, best friend, or partner – anyone you’d like to share this moment with!

Each Rose will get about 5 minutes each on stage with the MC. Once all Candidates have had their turn, the selection panel will clear the area, and anyone who would like to perform a party piece may do so. The panel will NOT take your performance, or your unwillingness to perform, into account towards their final decision.

The 2019 Rose will be Selected after all Roses have performed their party pieces, and the panel has made its way back. The panel will also select a runner-up, who may be called upon if the Rose selected is not able to fulfill her duties. The runner-up will not be announced. You are not required to stay at Tartan Day after Selection has formally concluded.

Given that our Selection will be held outside, rain or shine, we will not ask Roses to wear formal gowns to Selection this year. Rather, we are going for a “Fashionable Diplomat” style of dress: think about the Duchess of Cambridge or the Duchess of Sussex, or even current and former US First Ladies and Ambassadors who typically wear elevated day dresses, trousers, or jumpsuits. If it is meant to be cold, there is no shame in wearing a day coat or blazer. Guests do not have any dress code requirements, however, you might want your escort to follow the same dress code as you. Kilts for men, if they have them, are more than encouraged.

POST-SELECTION

If you are selected as the 2019 South Carolina Rose, you are in for one heck of a ride! In the week after your Selection, you will be asked to provide the Center with your desired travel arrangements:

• What airport you prefer to fly into and out of

• If you would like to go to Ireland some days in advance of/stay some days after the Festival

• Exact dates and desired times you would like to depart/come home

• Layover tolerance

The Center will cover YOUR travel to and from Ireland, and the International Rose of Tralee will cover YOUR hotel, food and transportation during the Festival. Any day(s) you arrive in advance or stay later you must cover. Neither the Center nor the International Rose of Tralee will sponsor travel or accommodations for any family or friends that plan to travel with you.

You will also receive various emails and documentation from the International Rose of Tralee, including but not limited to a contract, and an additional, more in-depth, application/questionnaire. The Center will work with you to ensure all your documentation is accounted for, and is of excellent quality.

Finally, we ask that the 2019 South Carolina Rose work with the Center to ensure that she will be available during busy periods of her Rose Year (i.e. March/St. Patrick’s Month). We will work will her schedule and ask her to attend community driven events across the State, and to help us host a fund-raising event to keep the Center going. The 2019 Rose can anticipate keeping the title South Carolina Rose up until our next Selection in 2021, however we do not expect her to take on the Rose duties of the 2021 Rose Year.

If at any time you do not feel that you can meet these requirements as the selected Rose, you must let the Center know immediately so that we can alert the runner up.

ONCE A ROSE, ALWAYS A ROSE

Just by putting your name forward as a candidate for South Carolina Rose, you are joining our Southern Rose Family, with all the access to the global Rose network that affords. For those Roses not selected, we may even be able to sponsor in some small way your trip to the Festival as a SC Rose Sister. You’ll have an automatic global network of friends from Arizona to Abu Dhabi, and an in-state network from the Upstate to the Grand Strand. We hope your experience with us in 2019 brings you back to us for every selection, and we thank you for joining our Rose family!