Tunesday Programming

Hi all,

Today I thought I would write a little bit about what my specific job is about- creating programs for the RutgersZone. While we are all managers, we all do something a little different to make the space a cool experience for students to enjoy. As manager of programs, I am working on creating events in the RutgersZone that don't necessarily have to do with sports or games. For instance, on Tuesday nights, we shut the games off from 9:30-10:30 for an hour of live music. This series is called Tunes on Tuesday, and has been pretty interesting so far. When I first started planning for this event, I was worried about finding people to perform. While I had been involved with Rutgers University Programming Association for a few years, I had never actually booked bands or musicians on a weekly basis. I think I have pretty good taste in music, but obviously I don't represent the entire Rutgers population. I found someone for the first Tuesday, and we had a decent turnout for a great show even though class hadn't actually started yet. Then, it was on to finding someone for the rest of the semester. This process was really stressful because I didn't know how to approach artists, how much money to offer, how to phrase things in emails... the list goes on. I was scrambling to find someone for the following Tuesday, but had someone for the week after that- it was crazy. Finally, we found someone to perform, and everything was ok, but it was just stressful. Now, we are booked through October, which is a huge relief. We also have some different things coming up, such as 2 acapella performances and an open mic night. I hope that this will bring in different students to the Zone and show them what a cool place it is. It has also made me wonder about how to recruit artists- now I have students walking in asking to perform (probably because we have been advertising a lot more than in the beginning), but I also thought about getting artists from NYC/Philly to expose students to people they don't usually interact with. How to choose? Where is the balance? I'm pretty much done booking for the fall, I will have to think about it carefully for the spring. In the meantime, check out the Zone every Tuesday and see who we've booked, and leave some feedback so I know what you're thinking!