The San Francisco shopping trip has become something of a tradition at Fresno State along with other inexpensive weekend getaways that USU Productions has planned for students.

Christine Zeldon, the recreation and leisure coordinator for USU Productions, is the head coordinator for the San Francisco shopping trip that that will take place this Saturday, Dec. 3.

“I believe 110 people went on the trip last year,” Zeldon said. “Last year it was open to the general public. This year we kept it closed to students and student guests.”

Zeldon said the goal this year was to make sure more students got to take advantage of the $25 round trip bus ride to San Francisco, rather than people from the community.

“We actually sold out the trip for this year,” She said. “A trip to San Francisco for $25 is a lot less than a tank of gas.”

The USU Productions advisor, Shawna Blair, said the San Francisco trip has been going on since the 1990’s.

“The bus trips are very successful and students enjoy attending them and they always sell out,” Blair said. “Our bus trips give students the opportunity to explore California through state parks, amusement parks, large cities, museums and more.”

The USU Productions team has planned many different trips for students in past semesters including trips to Santa Cruz, Monterey, Hollywood and Yosemite. It is a safe and affordable way for students to travel to places they might not have been able to visit on their own, a perk Zeldon believes students should take advantage of.

“We have also set up bus trips to see Broadway plays such as ‘Wicked’, ‘The Color Purple’, Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Edward Scissorhands’,” Blair said.

“It was a lot of fun,” Zeldon said about the San Francisco trip she attended last year. “It’s a great opportunity to gather with your friends and it’s a fun way to spend a day.”

Along with getting to spend a day in San Francisco, students that go on the trip can participate in a photo contest to win prizes. Participants will enter photos on the USU Productions Facebook page of themselves around the city wearing the USU Productions button that is given to them at the start of the day.

“There will be different categories like most creative, funniest photo, San Francisco at heart and best shopping trip photo,” Zeldon said. “There are water bottles that we give away, free tickets to the bowling alley and things like that.”

Alejandra Garcia, public relations co-coordinator for USU Productions, said the photo contest is something they implemented in order to promote USU Productions.

“You have to “like” our Facebook page in order to post the pictures,” Garcia said. “We usually get 50 or more “likes” from doing the contest.”

The concept was successful during the Yosemite trip done earlier in the year and is something Zeldon and Garcia hope to apply to all future bus trips.

The team is still brainstorming about trips for next semester and they plan on doing some sort of beach trip and museum tour.

“We want to start doing something different for students,” Zeldon said. “Not just your typical sightseeing trip.”

Students can find out more about USU Productions events by logging on to http://www.auxiliary.com/usu/production/usu_production.html