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A ‘Fab’ failure for Program Board and On the Fly

By on September 18, 2009 1:20 am in Columns / 5 comments

 
A ‘Fab’ failure for Program Board and On the Fly
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Somebody in Central Michigan University’s programming screwed up big time.

Program Board and On The Fly Productions are co-sponsoring rapper Fabolous’ performance at 7:30 tonight at Rose Arena. The event, which ends Hip-Hop Week at CMU, cost $25,000 out of the programming budget.

Tickets originally cost $14 to $22 for students, faculty and staff. Program Board President David Breed said in early August it was a good time to bring him because Fabolous’ new album, “Loso’s Way,” released July 28, went straight to No. 1 on iTunes.

Things got funny a month later. On Monday, the show became free for students, faculty and staff. Breed said slumping ticket sales contributed to that decision. Coordinator of Student Activities Damon Brown cited other reasons, including the excitement around the CMU football team’s 29-27 upset over Michigan State last Saturday.

On Thursday, On The Fly Productions and Program Board made an appearance at Wares Fair for the first time in years. Why? To hand out Fabolous tickets to students.

In a nutshell, CMU programming paid $25,000 for a rapper it has to give away tickets for. Somebody screwed up big time.

I am all for bringing quality entertainment to campus. Dane Cook and Dave Matthews were here before my time and were extremely popular. Ludacris and T-Pain also came to campus in high demand over the last few years.

Let’s face it: students are drawn to entertainment. Program Board and On The Fly worked hard over the years to help that. But somebody here miscalculated who CMU students would pay money to see.

According to the Web site concertideas.com, here are some of the other acts CMU could have ended Hip-Hop Week with for around the same cost or cheaper: Bubba Sparxxx ($12-15,000), Chamillionaire ($20-25,000), Ice T ($12-15,000 as a lecturer), Mike Jones ($20-25,000) and the Ying Yang Twins ($10-15,000).

I’m not saying all of those acts are better choices. And I’m not saying all of those acts are available for that specific time and date. But when you pay $25,000 for an act you can’t get people to go to, you didn’t make the right choice.

Singing comedian Stephen Lynch, coming Oct. 16, is the next big test. His price tag is $37,000. Ticket prices are not quite set. But will students pay to see him?

If not, CMU programming has to go back to the drawing board and get a real pulse of the students.

Find an act CMU students will pay to see.

 

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  • Seriously do your research

    You sir, are a moron.

  • Jess Belcoure

    Calm down Manzullo.

    There is nothing “funny” about the ticket situation for this show. Granted, I haven’t been privy to all of the planning for this event, but I’m familiar with the process.

    First of all, it may be advantageous to review On The Fly’s mission statement. They are a programming organization committed to providing free or low cost entertainment to students. With that in mind, I fail to see anything “funny” about their making the Fabolous show a free event. After all, the public is still being charged.

    Secondly, good job checking out concertideas.com. That’s a website that both of CMU’s programming organizations use frequently. However, there is a little bit more to booking a performer than ordering them off a website. The students in OTF and Program Board take a number of different factors into consideration before making a commitment to a performer. The main factor being, of course, whether or not CMU students will be interested.

    That being said, there is clearly a student interest in Fabolous if they showed up in droves to the Wares Fare to get their free tickets. The issue here seems to be the same as it is everywhere: the economy. Cliché as it sounds, times are tough. So again, I’m failing to see where OTF and PB went wrong in offering CMU students a great show at no charge.

    If you have constructive ideas for shows or events that you think would play well at CMU, I encourage you to join one of the two programming organizations available to you.

    Otherwise, please, enjoy your free show tonight.

  • Matt

    If you are unhappy with the entertainers brought to campus by OTF and Program Board, maybe you should get involved with the organization. A lot of planning goes into bring entertainment to campus.

  • Meeting times

    Please feel free to join either programming organizations.
    On The Fly meets at 6pm Sunday nights in Kulhavi 141
    Program Board meets on Wednesday nights at 8pm in the top level of the UC
    I urge you to stop by and give your opinions on future shows.

  • Ben

    In Brian’s defense, I’m pretty sure it was a slow news day and he needed something to write about. Sure he could have looked into the groups’ mission statements, but who has time for that.

    Fox News flies by the seat of their pants all the time and they are rocking the news ratings.

    Besides, I’m sure Brian took the time and found out what happened to all those free tickets and I’m sure it turned out that no one wanted to go to a free show. I know when I was at CMU I scoffed at anything free, which is why I always put quarters in the drinking fountains before using them.