Alyssa GregoryThe Ben Folds concert held last Sunday at the Pageant was a tremendous success: a sold-out show with tickets selling for just $4. We praise the efforts of Student Union’s Social Programming Board for planning and executing the popular event.
Three different groups-Team 31, the Gargoyle Committee, and the Campus Programming Council-came together to form the SPB. The synthesis of these groups’ efforts to put on a single event was part of the reason for the show’s success.
Formed under the direction of 2000-2001 SU President Michelle Purdy, the creation of the SPB itself was a noteworthy achievement of SU. The idea of forming a coalition of groups with various resources and personalities is a great one, and we applaud the fact that it worked to bring the pop pianist so close to campus.
An event like this one would be extremely taxing for one group alone. As Michelle Miller, co-chair of the SPB stated, “The main purpose of the [SPB] is to create an avenue to share resources, and that involves sharing ideas and funding and coordinating events.” The sharing to which Miller refers should happen more frequently across student groups.
At times, it is immensely difficult to combine the forces of different groups together under a unified goal because of differences in agenda. The fact that the SPB was able to integrate the attitudes and desires of each of its constituent groups, which all essentially exist to make WU’s campus life more enjoyable, deserves to be noted.
SPB wisely picked an act popular with many WU students. The event itself did cost SPB $6,250, but the fact that so many students were expected to-and did-enjoy the act made the money well worth it.
As Miller said, “The numbers seem big, but considering the quality of the entertainment, we got a deal on it. These are realistic numbers.”
Some groups try to bring in many different bands for a specific concert, hoping that each band will target one specific segment of the camps community. Both the Gargoyle Committee and KWUR thrive at finding bands that groups within the WU community will enjoy and patronize.
In organizing a show geared toward all students, SPB undertook an ambitious project and publicized and produced it to near perfection.
For events that showcase more than one band, students tend to find no need to stay for the rest of the acts. Such is frequently the case year after year with WILD and Sounds of the Swamp. Though Team 31 and CS40, respectively, do bring together the WU community every semester for a day of music, food, and relaxation, the events often times do not hold their attendees for the duration. At the Ben Folds concert, those who came stayed.
Perhaps one of the lesser-publicized reasons for the show’s success was that the whole event was a surprise to the student body. Though the SPB had been working on bringing this event together for quite some time, no one really knew about it until flyers went up a few weeks prior and there was a confirmation on its actually taking place.
What happens year after year with a planned event like WILD is that, weeks in advance, students begin anticipating different bands showing up at the concert. With rumors flying and anticipations building, a significant portion of the community is disappointed when the bands they expect to come do not come-no matter how impressive the actual act is.
Year after year, WILD comes off successfully. But by making the Ben Folds concert a surprise, and by putting it on for no reason other than to bring someone special to the WU community, SPB was able to avoid potential disappointment.
Whether it be through the SPB or through other combined efforts, student groups should try to emulate how the Ben Folds concert came together. Hopefully this year, some other musical acts that WU students enjoy will find their way onto, or nearby, campus.