What do YellowCard, Mario, Hootie and the Blowfish and Motion City Soundtrack all have in common?
They’re all choices UT students have for bands to play at the Spring Concert next semester.
Student Government and Student Productions are working together to make the event possible, but ultimately the decision of who will be playing rests in the hands of students. Stephanie Dutka, SG VP of Marketing and Matt Pugatch, Student Productions Music Chair are in charge of organizing the event.
“The great thing about this event is that it is co-chaired by SG and SP,” Dutka said. To that end, SG has made the survey available on its Blackboard page.
“The only reason the survey is listed on the Student Government course in Blackboard is because Student Productions does not have their own.” Pugatch explained.
The survey will allow students to actively voice their opinion on nearly every aspect of the concert, from who’s playing to whether merchandise will be sold at the event.
The bands available on the survey were chosen based on research done by the concert board, as well as on previous surveys available at SG and SP events earlier this semester.
“We encourage all students to take the survey on Blackboard so we can have an accurate representation of who [they] want to see,” Pugatch said.
Students will also have their choice of location.
“The possible venues are Plant Park, the Martinez Gym, the soccer field, the intramural field or downtown Tampa,” Dutka said.
The downtown option would entail closing off a block or courtyard within a 5 minute walk from campus, she explained.
Each of the locations would provide a great atmosphere for the concert, Pugatch said.
“As far as advantages and disadvantages go students shouldn’t be too concerned,” he added. “We are trying to gauge which location most students would prefer. That way we could start there and work our way down the list of availability,” he added.
According to Dutka, it was determined that all of the locations would be feasible options by the concert board, and once the survey has been completed, “it comes down to seeing which locations are available on the days that the bands are available.”
Some students may also notice a question concerning whether they’d pay a $10 entry fee if necessary. Dutka assures students this would only be necessary if it was a deciding factor in “[bringing] a band [to campus] that would otherwise not be possible.”
Pugatch would like students to make sure to mark the date down once it’s decided. “If this year’s concert is as successful as we hope, then the plan is to have this be an annual event,” he explained.
The survey will be open until midnight tonight .
Once the survey is closed, “we will assess with our board and middling agent to see who is available,” Dutka said. ” We want to let the students know that their input is really important.”
Both Dutka and Pugatch caution that there is no guarantee they will be able to bring the top band voted by the students.
“Ideally we would love to, but it all comes down to the availability of the band and venue,” Pugatch explained. In the case that the top-voted band won’t work out, they will continue down the list in order of the results.
When asked if they had any personal preference about the possible bands, Dutka and Pugatch kept their opinions hidden.
“We feel as if all of these bands would be a great choice,” Dutka said.
It looks like UT students have more than Gasparilla, St. Patrick’s Day and spring break to be excited about next semester.
Students interested in helping promote or volunteer at the event should contact Pugatch or Dutka at either mpugatch@ut.edu or sdutka@ut.edu, respectively.