What Happens

Volume 1, Issue 1
Student Entertainment Events
steps up for Homecoming
Comedy Show

we had everything planned to a T so that whenever

problem arose, we always had ways to solve them, said
Bryan Friia, SEE comedy director. The crowd just kept
laughing and seemed to really enjoy the two performances, Rachel Sagalow, junior Environmental Science
With almost 5,000 attendees at this years Homeand Policy major said in high regards. I loved Gaffigans
coming Comedy Show featuring Jim Gaffigan, on
audience interaction and even though I never had a Hot
October 24, 2013,
Pocket, I someStudent Enterhow still found
tainment Events
his jokes relat(SEE) bounces
able and laughed
back from the
the entire set (in
inexplicable
reference to GafCraig Robinson
figans most
performance at
famous bit).
the 2012 HomeBeyond the
coming Comedy
actual perforShow. To avoid a
mances, the night
Robinson situawas momentous
tion and regain
for SEEs rebrandstudent coning as the orgafidence in the ornization released
ganization, SEE
its new logo.
did much more
SEE distributed
extensive reblankets to SEE
search for bookalumni and tshirts
Headliner Jim Gaffigan keeps the crowd laughing all evening.
ing Jim Gaffigan.
to select general
Photo Credit: Allison Daitch
SEE
public attendees,
found that
all branded with the new logo. Proud of the release and
Ohio University hosted Gaffigan April 18, 2013 and
the positive reception of the comedy, Friia thinks the
Andrew Holzaepfel, associated director of the Camshow greatly redeemed SEEs comedy show reputation
pus Involvement Center said, people just ate it up.
and is already eager to plan Spring Comedy Show.
The show was the biggest spring event in The Convo
in years. The show garnered an audience of 5,300 students, which is roughly similar to the target audience
Also in this Issue:
of the University of Maryland show. This displayed
optimistic signs for the shows success.
2
- Event Production Scoop
SEE went all out to create an enthusiastic buzz
2
- Connection to other organizations
about the event with bacon taffy and hamburger
3
- Programers Perspective
gummy distribution, playing off of Gaffigans food
4
- Inside Art Attack 2014
bits, banners hanging around campus and posters in
all the resident halls. I think it went extremely well;

Event production
scoop
To attend a show as a
viewer is radically different from
preparing all day as part of the
production team. The production
team comprises the technical,
security, hospitality and venue
directors. The team handles all the
unusual details behind stage that
concert-goers do not think about
during the show.
Liz Wasden, Student
Entertaiment Events (SEE)
hospitality director, reminisces on
the outrageous catering requests
she has encountered. The band
referring me to its Gumblr
(Tumblr about gum) to determine
what kind of gum they want
definitely posed for challenge to
catering Back to School Bash.
Bands hospitality riders never
fail to nclude some unique items
that the production team needs to
satisfy.
The Venue Director does not

Connection to other
organizations
Student Entertainment Events
(SEE) may be busy with programming about 70 events a year, but
the organization is not too busy to
team up with other student organizations. SEEs Student Review
Board (SRB) offers organizations,
registered with the Office of Campus Programs, support and assistance for events. The board is a
mixture of various organizations
representations including Max
Hedgepeth; SEE Co-sponsorship
director, to ensure unbiased
agreement on which events to
support.
Students in those organizations can easily find theapplication
on the Student Entertainment
Eventss website. The application is simply looking for basic

SEE directors raise stage lights

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Cheung
face many obscure requests as the
green room setups are mostly standard, but sound checks lend such
uncertainty to the Technical
contact and organization background
information as well as details of the
event itself and how the organization
plans to fund it. The comprehensive
summary will enable to the board to
determine the appropriate amount of
funds to allocate to the groups event.
In review of fall applications,
Hedgepeth said, we always look
forward to the Bhagavad Gita Clubs
application for Festival of India as the

Directors event timeline. Tim

Bohannon, SEE technical
director said, artists usually
arrive whenever they want and
continue to play regardless of
specified time slots, which cause
events to start late and make attendees impatiently wait longer.
Much of the technical directors
authority dissolves once the artist
steps on stage.
Mark DeSacia, SEE security director gets to be the strict
cop of the night reprimanding
open water bottles, removing
misbehaving audience members,
checking proper meet-and-greet
personnel credentials and yelling, No Cameras! at the events.
In addition, he coordinates with
university police and artist security to ensure the safety of everyone in the venue.
Those tasks may not be the
most glamorous aspects of famous people on campus, but the
production team and what it does
are vital to the smooth success of
an event.
event draws nearly 500 students
to Hornbake plaza and is always
a great time. Hedgepeth and the
board express honest sentiment
toward helping other organizations to put on events for the
campus.
In the mist of planning an
event for the spring semester? Be
sure to reach out to SEE for help.

Students gather on Hornbake plaza for the Festival of India

Photo Credit: Max Hedgepeth

Programmers
perspective
A Student Entertainment
Events (SEE) programmer has
the difficult task of creating
campus
entertainment. Who should
perform, will students enjoy or
object to it? Would students pay
to see the artist? Those are all
questions that are daily struggles for a programmer.
Campus Calls
The visionary of any event
begins the talent search by
evaluating collected research
comprised of surveys completed
by event-goers and SEE social
media interactions. JoEllen Finley, SEE research director said,
every programmer is required
to have research to ensure alignment of campus desires and
programmers judgment. Those
surveys give programmers a
clear gauge of what the student
body prefers each semester.
Sometimes research is not
enough as seen with the Art
Attack 2012. Pursued talent
Macklemore did not win the
popular vote when SEE released
its survey, but just two months
before Art Attack students
caught on to his popularity.
The Concerts director and the
programmer evaluated the risk
of booking him before he blew
up and thought to go in a more
rock direction, with a better
known talent at the time. The
programmer needs to weigh student interests against personal
instincts to determine
what is most fitting for their
event vision.
Proposal Process
Aditya Dilip, Junior Government and Politics major said,
why couldnt SEE get Kevin
Hart for Homecoming Comedy Show? The programmer
answers that they work with a
middle agent, who

mediates conversations between

SEE and the talent, to coordinate
schedules and negotiate suitable
pricing for a prospective university event. In that case, Kevin Hart
just signed on to be in a movie
and already had his comedy tour
mapped out.

Students are not aware of
SEEs outlined budgets and talent
availability when complaining
about acts. Christopher Allen, SEE
concert director said, balancing
student interests with availability
and pricing all make the
process such a challenge. As much
as students comment on talent
selections, the SEE programmer
has to find the balance of those
factors while working toward SEEs
goal of programming diverse and
enjoyable events for the student
body.

Eliana Geller (left) and Elizabeth Cheung

(right) ready to market SEE Presents:
Spring Comedy Show ft. John Oliver
Photo Source: Elizabeth Cheung

Upcoming Events
- General Interest Meeting: Februrary
- Spring Comedy Show: March
- Battle of the Bands: March

- Terrapin Talent: February

- Spring Lecture: March
- Terpstock: April

Inside Art Attack 2014

budget toward a popular headliner for Art Attack in

hopes of selling out Bryd Stadium.
Allen confirms Art Attack 2014 will feature a
Will SEE bring a rock or hip-hop headliner for
hip-hop
based artist. He is researching someone who
Art Attack 2014? That is always the debate in the
appeals to the most students and someone relevant.
weeks leading up to the show.
Allen adds, weve struggled
This year, Christopher Allen,
in the past to find relevant
Student Entertainment Events
artists with the budget we
(SEE) concerts director wants
have. My ultimate goal
to be transparent in the conwould be to bring someone
cert planning. He expresses
who students are currently
that the greatest challenge for
listening to and have been
Art Attack is working with a
fans of.
tight budget from the start, so
In addition to a prevwhoever might be on iTunes
alent headliner selection,
top 100 may be far out of reach
Allen is searching for a
for the concert.
talent that will interact
SEE receives the common
with the audience and crefeedback that students are
ate an upbeat atmosphere.
willing to pay more for tickets
Theres a lot of popular
to a better, more recognized
artist that might not consisname. Allen clarifies, we do
tently good live performers
not rely on ticket sale revenue
and I want to make sure
to book artists as a SEE polithe performance is worth
cy. so we cannot just increase
coming to, Allen said. I
ticket prices to book bigwant the audience jumping
ger-name performers.
and screaming to the music
Typcially,SEEs Concerts
this year.
Director programs a smallChristopher Allen thinks about
Be sure to complete and
scale winter concert featuring
who he will bring forArt Attack 2014.
share the spring semester
an up-and-coming band to
Photo Source: Christopher Allen
SEE survey via social media
appeal to a minority group of
to
have
input on whom SEE
students, but Allen decided to do away with the
selects for Art Attack 2014.
concert this year. Allen wants to put the full concert
Editor: Isha Aggarwal

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