SXSW 2018 Panel Picker Submission The 2017 College Booking Meetup gathered student talent buyers from around the country to discuss the issues which face our facet of the industry. The session also served as a networking opportunity for all of its attendees. The 2018 College Booking Meetup will look to further develop this network and conversation.

1. College Booking Meetup

2. Who we are
Laura Oberwetter - WUD Music Jack Shenton - Union Productions (UP)
Talent Buyer and Director of WUD Music at
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Talent Buyer for Union Productions / Club
Downunder at Florida State University

3. Who we are
WUD Music Union Productions (UP)
1. WUD is a committee of
about 40 University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Students
2. We book for 4 venues on
campus
3. We typically book 4
concerts a week during
the school year (200
shows per year)
1. Florida State University’s student-run
concert booking and special event
planning organization
2. UP books, coordinates, and
executes around 25 concerts per
semester in Club Downunder, an on-
campus venue established in 1971,
in addition to concerts in other on-
campus and Tallahassee locations.
3. Structure: One talent buyer
reinforced by Programming, PR &
Marketing, Sound Production, and
Hospitality departments.

4. SXSW 2017 - The First College Booking Meetup
We held the first College Booking Meetup at SXSW 2017 after meeting at SXSW 2016 and feeling
unimpressed by the lack of student presence at the festival’s industry-oriented events, and by the
shortage of effective student booking across the country.
Roughly 80 people from 20 universities around the nation attended our discussion on the state of
college booking and provided widely positive feedback, as well as a variety of crucial issues to
further discuss at this year’s meetup.
At our first meetup, we created a list of the attendees’ email addresses in order to form a College
Talent Buying Network
The network that this panel established catalyzed a growing connectivity between campuses
nationwide. It was a key impetus for the WUD Music Midwest Benchmarking Trip in 2017.
Participants in this network are very excited about the possibility of this event happening again, and we
are eager to make another stride towards establishing the College Booking Meetup as an annual
staple of SXSW’s programming

5. Last year we covered...
1. Earning respect as a college talent buyer
a. Building professional music industry relationships
b. Standing your ground and being responsible with your budget while talking to agents
2. Booking ethically for your university
a. Our responsibility to combat systemic racism and sexism through our programming
b. Knowing your audience and the political climate of your campus
c. Booking responsibly
3. Preparing for a future in the music industry
a. Making the most of professional opportunities and relationships
b. Knowing the differences between career talent buying and college talent buying
4. How do your organization's operate? What areas do you feel that you could improve in?
a. Leadership structure, marketing, ticketing, venue specs, middle buyers, paperwork, etc

6. New Areas of Conversation
• Challenges involved with working within a university
• Unconventional venues
• Dry Campuses and Alcohol Restrictions
• Student Pricing vs General Admission
• How to Make your Programming Representative of Campus
• Music Related Programming Beyond Live Concerts
• Committee Bonding and Teamwork Dynamic
• Opportunities for Committee Members
• Grants, internships, attending conferences (like SXSW)
• Co-Sponsorships and Partnerships with other organizations

7. Question 1: How does your booking organization function
within your university and interact with your university's
administration?
• Does your university have any involvement in who you can and cannot
book?
• Alcohol regulations within your spaces and what this means in terms of
security and attendance
• Making awkward University spaces feel like a real venue
• Charging students for tickets vs charging the general public

8. Question 2: How can you ensure that your booking and
programming is representative of your campus?
• How do you decide what acts to bring? Committee vote? One person’s
decisions?
• Surveying your student body
• Booking acts that represent the diverse demographics of your students
• Most funding for college booking organizations comes through student fees,
so it’s our responsibility as college talent buyers to strive to represent all of
the students from whom we receive our funding

9. Question 3: How can you create an environment within a
university venue that is enticing, welcoming, and safe for
the student body?
• Are there any aspects of the venues and spaces you book in that are off-
putting to your student body?
• How do you go about ensuring that the venues you program in are
welcoming and safe for those who attend?
• What measures have you seen taken in other venues to this effect that
you’d like to enact in your campus venues?