Be Our Guest: Behind the Scenes with the Hospitality Director

Shadia Weeks
Hospitality Director
seehospitality@umd.edu

Orchids on the coffee table, one bowl of strictly green M&Ms and 24 bottles of room temperature water—imported from Switzerland.

 You might have heard stories about the outrageous requests of glorified superstars and the unfortunate souls who kneel at their beck and call. This is not one of those stories.

As Hospitality Director for Student Entertainment Events, I “coordinate hospitality needs for all SEE events, including event staff and performer needs.” What that means is: I take care of catering and other hospitality needs for all event staff, namely SEE employees. In addition, I provide talent, artists, performers and their crews with whatever their hearts desire (within reason) as stipulated in their riders.

The rider is basically a checklist of all the things artists request when they come to a venue. They often include dinner preferences, snacks, drinks, towels and linens, cutlery, gadgets and a plethora of other goodies. Riders vary drastically from artist to artist. Some are long, detailed and tedious, while others are brief, vague and almost completely uninformative. Some artists don’t even have riders.  Either way, it’s up to me to make sure whoever visits our campus feels completely taken care of. I want the artist to feel comfortable at our university and have a nice greenroom they can relax in before and after performing. Sometimes they are very pleased. At our Back to School Concert last fall, the headliner Mac Miller even gave me a hug when I handed him a bottle of apple juice after the show. The juice was listed on his rider, so I got it. It doesn’t take much to make the artist happy, just get them what they asked for.

At all-hands-on-deck events, my job gets twice as big. This is where providing hospitality for event staff really comes into play. Not only do I have to prepare for the visiting artist, but I’m feeding all SEE employees, which includes SEE directors, advisors and team members. There are usually three all-hands-on-deck events a year, the biggest being Art Attack in the spring. Art Attack is a two-day production even though the concert is only a few hours on a Friday night. I’ve already stated working on Art Attack, even though the show isn’t until May.

I placed my first official 2012 Art Attack order last week when I ordered all the rental cars we’ll need (including four golf carts, everyone’s favorite part of Art Attack production). Because this event requires two days of production, I’ll soon coordinate all the catered meals for both days including two breakfasts, two lunches and one massive dinner for the 100+ people who will work the show on May 4^th. Once the riders come in for our headliner (sorry kids, you’ve still got to wait for that one) I’ll start making arrangements for his/her greenroom as well.

Being Hospitality Director can definitely become stressful at times, but with everyone’s help and a seriously detailed “To-Do” list, we make it work. My work can be tedious, but in the end it’s so rewarding to see all the students having a great time in the stands at a sold-out event. Don’t let the movies disillusion you; artists are not innately maniacal egomaniacs with ludicrous demands and unforgiving tendencies, at least the ones that have come to Maryland in the past year. Hopefully I’m not proved wrong in the future. *crosses fingers*

Behind the Scenes with the Technical Director

Adam Reeves
Technical Director
seetechnical@umd.edu

Think of the last concert you went to. Rocking out to your favorite musician and laughing at an awesome comedian is a lot of fun, but most people don’t think about everything that goes into giving you the entertainment experience. Imagine how different the experience would be without a big sound system, cool moving lights or a raised stage.  The talent would be standing on the floor simply playing his instrument acoustically.  The job of the SEE Technical Team is to make sure you get the best experience at SEE’s events.

I first joined SEE three and a half years ago, as a freshman, when I became a member of the Technical and Security teams. For two years now, I’ve been the Technical Director and Technical Team leader. Before the show, we work with the performers and production companies to build stages, hook up speakers and sound systems, hang lights and set up instruments. During the show, we run spotlights and help set up the stage between performers. After the show, we clean up and take everything down as if the show never happened. Basically, we work to ensure that the audience can see, hear and enjoy seeing their favorite band, comedian or unique act on campus. Oh, and we get paid to do this.

The great thing about the Technical Team is that there is no commitment. You can work as many or as little shows as you want. I’ll simply send out an email when I need the help of the Technical Team and the members email me back with the times they want to work; I let the members choose their own hours. Each person has a different experience on the team; it is what you make of it. Some members join because they are interested in what goes behind the scenes at a concert. Others join because they need some extra cash. Some students join because they have friends on the team and have fun working. Even better is when people join because they want to get involved more in SEE and what we do.

Like other directors have mentioned previously, joining SEE has definitely been the best decision I’ve made during my time here at the university. Not only have I learned so much about event planning and the hard work that goes into campus programming but I have met so many of my friends through SEE. Working with SEE directors, other students and university staff has been a great experience that is unlike any other. SEE is an organization that is so different from other student groups and you really have to be a part of it to see that.

If you are interested in joining the Technical Team or the other two student teams (Security or Marketing), please email me at seetechnical@umd.edu and I’ll get you all the information you need to join.  I can also answer any questions about the Technical Team or SEE in general. I hope to work with (or at least see) lots of you at our many awesome events this semester.

Please note, because being a member of the Technical Team and Security Team is a paid position, you must be on the university payroll. To do this you may attend the payroll meeting at 2 p.m., Friday, February 24, in Terrapin Room B and C in The Stamp or turn in the payroll paperwork by Monday, February 27.