20 Students Show Up to AG Silver: Who's to Blame?

I was one of those 20 that went.  It was quite sad to only see 20 students and staff there.  AG Silver had a great performance.

A friend and I talked with one of the band members after the show, and all he could ask is where everybody was.  Well…where was everybody?

I understand that there are several underlying factors.  One, it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Everybody is working on projects or just staying in and getting ready to go home for a bit.  Also, there was a performance in the theater by Jay Sefton of “The Most Mediocre Story Never Told”.  There were a lot of good college football games on, and bands brought in by CUB can be hit-or-miss.

However, I think what it came down to was publicity for the event.  Most people only heard about AG Silver when I mentioned that they were performing.  Posters were put out, but it was a very passive advertising method.  Also, by this point in the year, students have been bombarded with poster and flyer after poster and flyer.  They’re all over the place, and blend into each other.

I think another problem was that there is the stigma that a Club 21 event is a pay event.  Let me inform everybody that it is free to attend ANY Club 21 event the college hosts.  The only charge comes if you are over the age of 21 and decide to purchase a wristband.  The experience is not detracted from if you are under 21.

So how could CUB improve attendance?  Why did, say, Blessid Union of Souls do so well compared to AG Silver.  Well, for one, Blessid played at the beginning of the semester as part of Welcome Back Bash.  Freshmen were heavily encouraged to go as part of their First Year Experience classes.  And yes, Blessid does have name recognition.  But looking past that, what did CUB do differently?

For one, they advertised in every form.  RSS feed?  Yep.  Facebook Event?  Yep.  Rock?  Pretty sure they painted it.  Banner on Gilman?  Yep.  Word of mouth?  Most CUB members wore shirts with the concert info on it.  Table Tents?  On every table in Gilman and Izzy’s.  And yes, there were posters that were hung up.  Also, advertising was put out more than two days before the event.

CUB does a lot of good work.  So don’t think I’m bashing them.  I’m just sharing ideas to help all organizations, not just CUB, advertise events better.

I will run any press release for an event at Marietta College, no matter which organization wrote it.  Just send it to me (check the contact page) and I’ll check it and post it if I think it meets my criteria.

Let me finish by asking this question.  Why didn’t you go to AG Silver’s concert?