A&E Program Coordinator

Hello Dani! Congratulations on earning the A&E Program Coordinator position. I can’t wait to see how your enthusiasm enhances this entity. Given that you’ve spent the past year working closely with our staff, I am confident you understand A&E and have a pretty good idea of how we work. Nonetheless, it’s always helpful to reiterate or clarify expectations just to make sure you’re never too lost or confused. The main function of your position is consistent ideation and logistical organization.

As far as ideation goes, that chiefly means researching performers and artists, mobilizing and listening to ideas, and keeping a constantly updated list. Ideas that don’t work during Fall quarter could still work in Winter. Be willing to alter your original vision for an event to make it work–for instance, just because we can’t have Sean Evans do a Hot Ones interview with Bobby Hundreds doesn’t mean we need to scrap Bobby Hundreds! When we shifted our focus from the “buzz” of Sean Evans, we were able to realize the value of having Bobby as a standalone option.

As far as logistics go, the most important advice I can give you is to reserve dates and locations ahead of time–even ahead of a fully formed event. They book fast. Specifically for Kane–be on that early! They have a lot of weird rules about sound and time so the sooner you can request a room and warn them of potential sound pollution (from live music, etc.) the better! Most of the booking happens online. I’m sure you can figure it out pretty easily–but one tip is to look at the calendar for events at Kane or any other venue on their website before sending in an official request to make sure there are no events already happening so you don’t waste the few days it takes them to get back to you. I would also recommend calling the venue if you’re not sure–getting someone on the phone is always a more efficient way of getting answers.

The next major role/time consumption is food trucks. This will always be unpredictable so the best advice I can give is start early. Call, call, call. Follow up a million times. Food truckers can suck at e-mail and often just forget to get back to you (even when you call) because of how busy they are, so don’t be afraid to get annoying. I also recommend checking their Food/Health ratings on the King County food permit website before reaching out and making sure they’re under 30 points, otherwise their permits won’t be approved by UW. If you look through old e-mails, you’ll see exactly what I ask/tell food truck owners and all the info you’ll need to get from them. Christina Coop is also super helpful with this process and will help you figure it all out for Fall Fling.

As far as contacting agents and the booking process, I compiled a Google spreadsheet with a huge list of agency contact e-mails that I’ll pass on to you. Talking to them is pretty intuitive and Trevor will guide you on that as well.

One more thing that can be helpful for tracking marketing/event progress is tracking ticket sales in a spreadsheet. I did this for Dan Harmon and started to for Hasan, but he just sold out so rapidly it didn’t really matter. It helps to see how fast we sell, when we dip, etc. This might be something you work on with the Marketing positions, though!

If you’re confused about anything else, you know how to reach me. 🙂

Email
asuwaepc@uw.edu
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asuwae
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Keep up to date with current events, what is coming up as far as programming, what can I do to make day-of work easier? Do volunteers know what is going on? Send out weekly newsletter and respond to e-mails. Send in UUF’s and other room request forms. Meet with Trevor once. Meet with entity neighbors and maintain relationships. Set up weekly Lounge Meetings and create itineraries for them!

What events absolutely need to happen? What events are a reach? If we have an empty reservation–what can we do with it? Try to have at least one event that reaches a niche/underrepresented community. 

1) Plan one on one meetings with your SAO advisor to clarify budget concerns and get individual concerns heard. 2) Write out tangible ideas on white board to match potential dates. 3) Get involved with other entities in person to form the basis for more meaningful and equally beneficial collaboration. 4) Keep updated shared Google Docs for ticket sales. 5) Engage with volunteers and offer specific tasks.

ASUW: BSC, WAC, ASC, Rainy Dawg Radio, MESC, (visit their offices), keep good relationships!

Every week, we hold A+E Lounge Meetings (formerly known as “Volunteer Meetings”). This is a space for the team to keep the A+E community updated on events, engagement opportunities, and to simply have fun!

Are FYP going to give volunteers for Fall Fling? Have you met about the comedy show person? Is A&E involved and how? Be flexible with programming–you’re working with slightly stricter guidelines from FYP. Have fun with it! You have a built in audience!

Get diverse speakers I’m sick of seeing white men, even the good ones. 🙂 Also, snoop around other universities and who they’re getting for ideas.

Pretty much covered this. You got this.

Start ideating and planning Winter Quarter. Start food truck planning/booking late March. Volunteers are EVERYTHING, make sure ASUW people know that to get a wristband they need to help out before or after the show. Try to incorporate more day-of activities.