As a middle agency that works with many college campus programming teams, we’ve seen the awesome impact a large scale live event can have on a campus. A big event can not only make thousands of students excited, happy, and proud of being a part of their campus community, but it can also be a huge learning opportunity for the student programmers planning and executing the event.
If you’re reading this, you likely know that putting together a show on campus is no small feat and can often be very overwhelming. We’ve put together a short list of our top tips on how you can make the most of your event planning experience for you, your team and your campus.
1. Lean on your middle agent
If you work with a middle agent, they should be your one stop contact for all artist-related things. They should be passing along paperwork, sending in your marketing for approval, getting artists set up in your vendor system, and more. Your middle agent knows who to chase to get things done. Your job as a campus programmer is to plan the nuts and bolts of the on-the-ground operations. Artist teams don’t always have an organized direct chain of command so it can be difficult and time consuming to find the correct contact for marketing or contract signatures. Keep your middle agent in the loop on what you need and let them do the digging for you. This includes letting your purchasing office know your middle agent’s contact info, so that if questions arise regarding payment, contract edits, or anything else in regard to your artist or event, your middle agent can keep things moving.
2. Communicate with your production team
A show is more likely to go smoother when you and your production company are on the same page and understand each other’s needs. One way to make sure your event team and production team are communicating effectively is to have a lead programming student serve as a production / stage manager, especially if you have 3 or more artists on your line up. The production / stage manager is someone who is checking in regularly with the production company to make sure all is running on time, making sure artist teams are where they need to be and know what time they need to report to backstage, and generally informs all of the talent if something changes. Having a stage manager allows your production team to focus on the sound and lighting. Plus, this is an incredible learning opportunity for a lead student.
Another important piece of communicating with your production team is understanding changeover needs and clearing it with both your production team and your middle agent. Switching from a DJ or track artist to another DJ/track artist is easy and takes mere minutes. Switching from a band to another full band often takes 20-30 minutes. There are a ton of connections to be made to make sure everything is plugged in correctly. Work with your production team and your middle agent to put together a realistic timeline based on professional experience, artist’s needs and general event timing. Scheduling too many artists in a specific window without enough changeover time, especially if your event is scheduled right up to your curfew, can be very risky to the success of your event. If anything runs behind, you have to cut someone’s set short (while still paying them their full fee). Save yourself the stress and get the most bang for your buck by working in tandem with your production team and middle agent so they can help spot those potential timeline hiccups.
3. Play by the (marketing) rules
As much as we’d love it to be true, campus events are not a “if you build it, they will come” situation. A single post on your programming team’s Instagram page will get buried quicker than the time spent creating it. The average person needs to see something advertised 7-11 times before they decide to purchase a ticket or commit to going. What are 7-11 unique ways you can spread the word about your event? Brainstorm with your team, have fun and get creative with it! But while your team is brainstorming and creating ads and content, it’s important to remember that per contract, your announcement date as well as any marketing that features the artist’s name or image needs to first be approved by the artist team. Posting unapproved marketing may lead to the artist team asking for your posts or flyers to be taken down / removed and can cause unnecessary confusion for your audience, as well as stress for you and extra work for your graphics team. To keep the approval process as smooth as possible, we recommend submitting any content or artwork for approval 5-7 days before you plan to post to allow enough time to make any adjustments requested by the artist team to stay on schedule.
4. Send mailed checks with tracking
One of the easiest ways to give yourself, the artist team, and your accounts payable office some well deserved peace of mind is by sending any mailed checks with some form of tracking. Many universities cannot pay an artist until after the show takes place, and some cannot handle checks in general so payment must be mailed after the event. While we understand this is university policy for many, this also means that an artist cannot recover any of their expenses incurred to travel to and perform at your event until the check is received. Thus, artist management teams are pretty anxious to know when they can expect payment. Providing a tracking number gives the artist team peace of mind as it confirms that the check is on its way. If FedEx or UPS aren’t the best options for your campus, USPS offers tracking on envelopes for about $6. Save yourself numerous emails and check-ins, and see if you are able to send payment with tracking.
5. Brag about your event
Throughout your planning process, be sure to keep your marketing strong, even if your event is sold out. This gives more awareness about the great things you are doing on campus! And, don’t forget to continue spreading the good news about how the event went AFTER the event takes place. Make a recap post with your favorite photos from the event to create FOMO so folks know not to miss out on the next event. Just make sure all the photos get approved by the artist team before posting, even if it’s a recap and your photographer was approved to take photos. Sometimes, if the artist also had a good experience, they’ll repost your tagged photos!
Overall, large events should be a positive experience for all. Following the above tips will help you have a good experience, make your life easier, and help your campus present events in the most professional, successful way.
Jolene Chevalier
Founder & Talent Buyer | How To Concerts
Jolene has been a middle buyer for over 15 years, helping colleges and others with their concerts, comedians, and speakers. (And, yes, she is named after the Dolly Parton song.) She would love to talk with you about helping to book, plan, and prepare for your event.
Jolene Chevalier
Founder & Talent Buyer | How To Concerts
Jolene has been a middle buyer for over 15 years, helping colleges and others with their concerts, comedians, and speakers. (And, yes, she is named after the Dolly Parton song.) She would love to talk with you about helping to book, plan, and prepare for your event.
Jen Buhrow
Jen worked as an Entertainment Logistics Coordinator and Client Support Manager for How To Concerts from 2023 to 2026, helping organizations book their concerts, comedians, and speakers.
Want to know how How To Concerts can help you with your next event? Call us at 920.764.1200 or set up a free consultation today!
Jen Buhrow
Jen worked as an Entertainment Logistics Coordinator and Client Support Manager for How To Concerts from 2023 to 2026, helping organizations book their concerts, comedians, and speakers.
Want to know how How To Concerts can help you with your next event? Call us at 920.764.1200 or set up a free consultation today!
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