This year, Fall Fest resounded with an unusual monetary melody - to the tune of $273,000.
That sum, roughly 75 percent of SA Entertainment's total $381,247.39 budget for Spring and Fall Fest combined, leaves the organization with little over $108,000 to host MTV's Campus Invasion in April, according to budget reports.
Comparatively, SA spent $100,000 on Godsmack alone during Fall Fest.
But according to SA Entertainment Director Maggie Hausbeck, when all's said and done, the organization should break even.
Hausbeck said the initial plan was to transfer some cash from another area of SA's budget to cover the shrinking Spring Fest funds, but SA Treasurer Anthony Burgio did not want to risk putting the 2004-05 SA in financial danger.
"We thought that as Spring Fest approached, at that point in time they would move money into the Spring Fest line," she said. "As it came down to it, Anthony decided he didn't want to do that because he didn't want to put SA in a bad position next year."
However, Burgio said it's still possible that SA will reallocate money from other areas to curb Spring Fest talent costs.
Along with the departure from normal Fall Fest expenditures, the newly formed SA Entertainment has begun to dabble in the club scene with its DJ series, which thus far has resulted in a net loss of about $25,000.
And SA Entertainment lost just over $58,000 on the Chris Rock performance, which cost $165,000 plus production fees.
Spring Fest Shrinkage
Production and marketing costs for Fall Fest 2003 totaled approximately $65,000,in addition to the performance costs for the artists - $40,000 for Lil' Kim, $70,000 for NAS and $100,000 for Godsmack, plus a $19,000 total booking fee.
The event brought in about $21,000 in revenue from non-UB student ticket sales and merchandising.
SA President George Pape said he found Fall Fest talent prices economical with attendance taken into account.
"I actually think we got (Godsmack) for a cheap rate," he said. "And we threw a fest that more students than any other attended, with one exception, in the past decade."
Hausbeck estimates production costs for an indoor Spring Fest to be at least $71,000, or $80,000 to 85,000 for an outdoor show. That price leaves between $23,000 and $37,000 to cover the cost of three bands - Hoobastank, Ima Robot and Lostprophets, not taking into account any reallocated budget funds or profits that may result from ticket sales.
Both Hausbeck and Burgio refused to release the exact payment amounts for the three Spring Fest bands. In February, The Spectrum filed a Freedom of Information Law request that required SA Entertainment to release the Fall Fest budget numbers.
Hausbeck did say that the reason behind the hefty fall bill was that the organization had only a month after its formation to find talent for the right date and feasible prices, but they still wanted to kick off the newly formed SA Entertainment with a bang.
"We didn't plan Fall Fest until four weeks before," she said. "When we did Fall Fest it was important to everybody because we wanted to have a strong show. We didn't have a lot of time to do that, so we were all pleased with what we could do."
SA Takes Control of Fests
After months of heated negotiations between SA and Sub-Board I, Inc. that did not conclude until August, SA gained autonomy over the entertainment portion of SBI, formerly known as the University Union Activities Board, which was funded by all six of UB's individual schools: the Graduate Student Association, the Law School, Medical School, Dental School and the School of Management.
SA had always contributed the largest percentage of money to UUAB, but sought total control last summer after SBI officials denied Pape's request for a majority of seats on the board of directors.
"The money that was put into the fest line (this year) was the same amount of money we would have spent if we co-sponsored it with UUAB," Hausbeck said.
The premise of the switch from UUAB to SA Entertainment, according to Pape, was that it would organize festivals and functions more efficiently and allow for higher-profile talent.
"I'm extremely happy with everything SA Entertainment has become. For future years it's going to be able to hold officers in direct responsibility for entertainment," Pape said. "The direct people who are going to be choosing (the talent) are the election board."
Because of the rearrangement, E-board candidates in the future will include entertainment in their campaigns, he said.
"If they say, 'I want to bring in rap,' then they're going to bring in rap," said Pape. "If they say, 'I want to bring in R&B,' then they're going to bring R&B."
According to Hausbeck, despite the name change, SA Entertainment still has the same goal of providing students with their money's worth from the $69.75 mandatory undergraduate student activity fee.
"The mission of SA Entertainment is the same as that of UUAB," said Hausbeck, "and that is to return Student Association fees to the students in the form of subsidized programs. Our job is to take student mandatory fees and turn them into something tangible."
This is no simple task, she said, when trying to provide for a diverse student body with a wide range of tastes. SA officials are still trying to gauge student response to the DJ series, and Hausbeck said there's a possibility that the series will reduce in number next year or be cut.
DJ Dollars
Talent, production and marketing for the DJ series - the three dance club style parties held at The Sphere - reached $48,000, excluding the $10,000 price of DJ Junior Vasquez, who cancelled his December performance. Together the three shows earned just under $23,000.
"The DJ series was something SA had been trying to do in prior years, but wasn't able to actually present," said Hausbeck. "If we do continue the DJ series into next year, maybe student response will be that it's a program they like, but not a program they want every month. This year has really been a trial."
But according to Pape, the attendance numbers - 1,500 to 2,000 people at each installment of the series - were encouraging. The events cost $5 for students and $10 for the general public.
"We had no clue what to expect, but we were definitely happy with the outcome," he said. "We were going into this with the idea that we were definitely going to be subsidizing these things. The cover for these places are normally $20 and above."
"The idea goal is that if it doesn't subsidize itself, that it only costs SA a couple thousand for every event," said Pape. "It's a lot of work but I'd love to be able to throw them more than once a month."
Hausbeck said SA is planning an additional club party for the spring semester.
Ultimate Results
Hausbeck said the transition from UUAB to SA Entertainment is a learning process, but it's headed in the right direction.
"Considering the fact that this was SA Entertainment's first year - yes, we're still streamlining, and we may continue to tweak things for who knows how long because, yes, things continue to grow," she said.
Hausbeck said the organization is not looking to profit from fests, films, comedians and DJ shows. In the event there is a net gain, that money will be recycled into the next year's budget.
"As long as we're funded by the student mandatory fee, we will always strive to offer students value in ticket prices. So is it ever our goal to profit from a program made for students? Not unless we return that value to students," she said. "I'd rather break even at the end of the year."
"But in the entertainment industry, to break even or profit from a show is extremely difficult," she said. "That's one reason why you see ticket prices continue to climb at outside venues."
According to Burgio, it's likely that Fall Fest and Spring Fest will be split more evenly in future years, but he stands firm by SA Entertainment and the choices it made this year.
"I was kind of skeptical at first, but it's amazed me and it still does to this day how beneficial (SA Entertainment has) been to us," said Burgio. "When you give students control of money, we do a better job of handling it than anyone else."
