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.