Gym Class Heroes Concert

On Thursday October 4th I worked the Gym Class Heroes concert held in Burruss Hall. A few days prior to that, I also handed out fliers on the drillfield. I was told by the concerts director that the weekend after we began handing out fliers was the weekend that sold the most tickets. So that marketing tactic has proven to be effective. The goal for ticket sales was 1500, and 1560 seats were filled.

My work for the concert started at 5. We were fed and given our assignments for the concert. I worked the door and took tickets. I feel this was the best spot for me to be given.

In standing by the door for several hours, I noticed a lot of partnership marketing. Gym Class Heroes came here on the "Verizon Wireless Campus Tour".

Along with their cut of the ticket sales and the money they were paid to simply show up, Verizon had several clever ways to increase their revenue. Upon walking up the steps in burruss to get to the entrance of the auditorium, you were met with several huge kiosks. The biggest attraction had to be the green screen where you could dance with the lead singer of Gym Class Heroes and have the 30 second video clip sent to your cellphone. The catch was, you could only do it if you had Verizon Wireless and were willing to sign a form. Naturally, there is a fee of I believe 1.99/video message which goes directly into Verizon's pocket. Let's say this attracted only 500 people, that's still a rather large chunk of change. The only cost to Verizon was paying for the equipment to set up the green screen and their computer's hard drive having space temporarily taken up until the video was sent. However, if your phone is capable of receiving video messages, Verizon now knows which of their users like Gym Class Heroes and can pitch that and similar things at a later date.

Another kiosk was giving away free shirts as long as gave your name, address, phone number, and type of phone. Again, receiving a person's information to send them offers to create a future business transaction.

Upon entering the auditorium, there was a large screen in the background displaying text messages concert goers could send to a number for all to see. I was told this feature did not work for a friend of mine who had Cingular Wireless. Again, at 10 cents/text message, more money for Verizon. There were also large Verizon banners at the side of the stage encompassing the artists that your eyes could not miss.

At the end of the concert, all attendees received a free lanyard with the Gym Class Heroes' logo and Verizon Wireless Logo. Attached to the lanyard was an offer for $20 off a Verizon Wireless phone with activation of a new plan, or a contract renewal. Coincidentally, the display screen on my cellphone was broken. So, when I went home this weekend, I found it practical to upgrade my phone before the coupon expired. Naturally, I would have waited longer and probably purchased a less expensive phone. But, I too am a sucker for Verizon's marketing tactics and bought myself a new $100 cell phone for $80. Followed by a $50 rebate for renewing my contract, Verizon still generated $30 of revenue they would not have had until a later date. And their policy stated that everyone within my plan had to upgrade, so my sister got a new phone as well.

Verizon: 1 Matthews family: 0

Following the concert, I helped tear down the stage and load equipment into the tour trucks. I do have experience doing this for smaller shows, but the experience of something this large was pretty remarkable. This sound system's set up was one of the most intricate I have ever seen. With about 30 VTU volunteers and 20 members of a fairly organized stage crew who were on the tour, take down still took about three hours.

This being the first major concert I have worked with VTU, I feel like I learned a lot about subtle (and blunt) marketing within an event. I hope the next concert I will be able to work earlier in the day and see how a set-up works and witness and be a part of various teams and see how much work goes into putting on a show the morning before it happens.

Meeting 3

Today was the third meeting for the VTU concert committee that I have attended. In today's meeting a number of things were discussed. Primary focus was on making sure those who are working the concert for The Roots tomorrow had gotten their assignments via email.

Along with that, VTU is really pushing their organization members to promote the Gym Class Heroes Concert. The number of tickets sold was discussed and the goal for total tickets was discussed. The work needed to be done by the concert committee was clearly explain. Basically: promote, promote, promote. I volunteered to work several hours tomorrow handing out fliers to people on the drill field. It should be interesting to see if I can decipher the core from the inclined from the disinclined. It will be interesting to get a first hand experience dealing with strangers and seeing how they react to having information put in their hands in a fraction of a second and how variations in the interaction could potentially change the response of the receiver of the flier.

Virginia Tech's annual "Laugh Riot" this year featuring Nick Swardson has received quite the setback. Unfortunately, Nick Swardson is sick and will not be able to perform tonight as planned. However, the ticket sales staff has no way of informing every ticket holder. Committee members were encouraged to tell anyone they knew who had a ticket and fingers are crossed that word of mouth would travel far enough. An announcement was planning to be made via facebook, and I actually made an announcement on the campus radio station today during my show.

While I'm sure many have been informed, there is no doubt there will be some disappointment from uninformed patrons.

This shows a lack of planning on the part of the ticket sales committee, and is certainly unfortunate. The show is being rescheduled, I believe for November the 13th.

In the current era of technology, it would make sense to have every ticket buyer's email address. However, I do not believe tickets were available online for purchase, so naturally to create a fast and easy transaction, nothing more than an exchange of money was required to receive a ticket. So unfortunately, any bad PR tonight was unavoidable with the current system. It will be interesting to see if VTU and the box office in Squires will take action to prevent future mishaps.

Meeting Two

Last Monday, the Concerts committee did not hold a meeting because VTU was helping set up Lane Stadium for the concert.

Today's meeting was very interesting. The first topic of discussion was naturally the Concert for Virginia Tech. The group reached a consensus that the concert was a wonderful event as part of the healing process for Virginia Tech.

On top of that, David, the director of concerts (will be referred to as David from now on) brought up that this was a golden opportunity to present upcoming concerts to the student body. Many had a wonderful time, and it's fair to say this served as a point of entry into the arts at Virginia Tech for a large number of students.

The next show being hosted by VTU is The Roots. As an incentive, nine people on the staff who volunteer to work the concert will receive free tickets to the show. Along with that, whoever works the most hours before the show will get a free ticket.

Next, David introduced marketing tools for upcoming events. The group has set a goal of wanting to draw at least 2,000 people to The Roots' show. Committee members were encouraged to take the fact that a decent amount of the university is still excited about the concert that just happened and told to distribute fliers, alert friends that tickets were on sale, and use facebook to network these and other messages about upcoming shows.

While I do not know how effective these tactics will be, time will tell depending on the results the day of the show.

VTU's next event is:

THIS THURSDAY September 8th

Percussionist Jim Donovan of Rusted Root hosts "Rhythmic Motivation: Drumming Workshop for Everyone".

At 3 pm, 4 pm, and 5 pm, Donovan will host a drum workshop. No experience is needed at this event.

and at 7:30 pm, there will be a live performance & speech.

This event will take place in the Old Dominion Ball Room, 1st floor Squires Student Center. Admission is FREE to all segments of this event.

VTU Concerts: First Meeting

For my semester service project, I will be working with Virginia Tech Union's Concert Committee. Today was the first meeting I attended and the second meeting of the semester, so it didn't take much time to get caught up to speed.

Virginia Tech Union is a campus organization that works to "provide quality educational and social entertainment that represents the diverse culture of Virginia Tech's students and its community. In addition, the Virginia Tech Union enhances the Virginia Tech students' out-of-classroom experience through leadership and volunteer opportunities." (taken from www.VTU.org)

The concert committee's job is to book and promote major concerts that are being held for the Virginia Tech Student body. Artists booked by the concert staff last year include 311, Ben Folds, and more. The Concert Committee is just one of ten committees within Virginia Tech Union. The others are Alternative Sounds, Films, Graphic Design, House and Hospitality, Lively Arts, Public Relations, Speakers, Special Events, and Web Design.

In today's meeting, we talked a lot about The Concert For Virginia Tech on September 6th in Lane Stadium featuring Phil Vassar, Nassir Jones, John Mayer and The Dave Matthews Band.

The majority of the organization's focus is being channeled into this concert because of its significance to the university. Today I learned that set up for the concert will begin on September 2nd and continue until the concert begins. I signed up to work a few shifts to help set up the stage.

Before this concert, though, the concert staff will be working at the class of 2009's kickoff concert on Thursday August 30th. This concert featuring Virginia Coalition will take place downtown from 6:30 pm-10:00 pm and it's FREE.


My understanding is Virginia Tech Union works to hold approximately one concert a month. Acts other than ones previously mentioned that Virginia Tech has to look forward to include:

The Roots



Gogol Bordello



Gym Class Heroes



More details for these and other performances will comes as I uncover them. This is definitely an exciting project, and I am excited to delve into the details and analyze the marketing aspects of Virginia Tech Union