This article was written for
Programming magazine that is published by the National
Association for Campus Activities. This article was
published in the October 2009 issue of the magazine
JITTERS: How to Grow, Promote,
and Enjoy a Successful Coffeehouse Series
By
Jeffrey Fazio, Penn State Schuylkill (PA)
People are creatures of habit. And what is habit, really?
A
stale definition of habit might describe it as a regular
pattern of acquired
behavior. A more insightful definition might be that it is a
sneaky tool used by clever student activities programmers to
ensure successful events (over and over again).
Like
the rest of us, students are creatures of habit. We can
embrace this by programming our campus events in series.
Making a conscious choice to establish a series of events
prepares a clear schedule that students can get into the
habit of attending. But series programming offers even
more than that. We’ll get into other benefits in a moment.
Notice the suggestion that series programming is a
“conscious choice.” Many programmers might argue that they
are already scheduling in series; however, they may not be
taking full advantage of what series programming offers if
they are not doing this consciously. Series programming is
much more than simply having the same type of event on a
regular basis.
A
majority of Penn State Berks’ programming is done in series.
They operate monthly Berks Bus trips and a biweekly movie
series simply called Berks Movie Nights. On the first Monday
of each month, they host a comedy series called LOL. Of
particular interest is their coffeehouse series called
JITTERS.
JITTERS was the brainchild of Amanda Farnum, a graduate of
Penn State Berks. Farnum became the Campus Activity Board
(CAB) president at the beginning of her sophomore year in
2005. During the fall semester, she attended her first (of
seven) National Association for Campus Activities (NACA)
conferences.
While at one of those conferences, she was inspired to
create a series of events featuring poets and musicians in a
coffeehouse setting. During the next few weeks, Farnum
worked with John Gallagher, assistant director of student
affairs at Penn State Berks, to fully develop the concept.
The fruit of their brainstorming was the JITTERS coffeehouse
series that enjoyed its inaugural event in the spring of
2006. The name was derived from the aftereffect of drinking
too much coffee.
Six Key Factors
There are six key factors that contribute to the ongoing
success of JITTERS:
1.
Programming in series
2.
Scheduling a diverse mix of performers
3.
Arranging a specific room setup
4.
Purchasing catering services from another club
5.
Marketing in a variety of ways
6.
Providing worthwhile incentives to CAB members to
work every aspect of the events
1.
Programming in Series
There are several benefits to working events in series. The
most obvious, as stated earlier, is making the events part
of students’ habitual behavior. With everything going on in
students’ lives, a lot can be said for making events part of
their routine. JITTERS takes place two or three times per
month, almost always on a Thursday evening. Once students
are used to the pace of the series, it does not take much
planning on their part to attend regularly.
An
additional benefit of working in series is that it provides
the audience with a proven level of quality. If events are
randomly produced throughout the year, students need to
constantly gauge which events are worth investing their
time. In contrast, once a student attends an event as part
of a series, they have a good idea of what the rest of the
programming might be like.
This
is the same psychology that makes people fans of a specific
author, musician or television show. The last
book/album/show was good, so the next one should be just as
good or better, so they’d better not miss it.
A
third benefit of working in series is that the student
workers and professional staff do not need to learn a new
setup for every event. Working this way allows for quicker
setup and cleanup as the patterns of work remain pretty much
the same.
2.
Scheduling a Diverse Mix of Performers
Although it is good to be consistent with the scheduling of
events, consider being less consistent with the types of
acts brought to a coffeehouse. Bringing in a variety of acts
allows the series to be marketed to a wider audience and,
hopefully, to expose the audience to a more diverse
experience.
JITTERS features a vast array of musicians and spoken-word
poets. They have had musicians that would be categorized as
rock-and-roll, pop, country, hip-hop, folk, etc. They have
also had traditional poets, slam poets and everything in
between.
A
few times per year, a JITTERS event will be held as an open
mic night for the students. This gives them a chance to get
on stage and helps boost interest in the series because
students who perform tend to bring many of their friends
with them. It is a great experience for students to share
the same venue that the professional performers use. On
occasion, students get the chance to open for the
professional performer.
3.
Arranging a Specific Room Setup
Since
small, coffeehouse venues are not effective in large
auditoriums, JITTERS takes place in the multipurpose room at
Penn State Berks. As the name implies, this room is used for
a wide array of activities. It is not the most conducive
space for having a coffeehouse feel, at least not until the
students of CAB get a hold of it.
In
less than an hour, the students completely change this space
from an overly lit, general-use space with plain tables and
chairs to a dramatically lit coffeehouse. The fluorescent
lights are turned off and a secondary set of dimmer, warmer
lights is used for this event.
A
small stage is brought into the room along with a mobile
sound system. Using magnets, dramatic backdrops of cloth are
hung behind the stage from the crossbeams of the drop
ceiling. Magnets are also used to hang the JITTERS sign.
Using magnets allows for quick installation and teardown
without affecting the room.
The
performance area is surrounded with soft furniture (sofas
and living room chairs). This allows students to be close to
the performance while enjoying the feeling of a comfortable
living room. Behind the soft furniture, a semi-circle of
tables and chairs is set up.
Each
of the tables is dressed with two layers of tablecloths that
match the backdrops. The centers of the tables are decorated
with metal plates that hold a variety of large candles. The
candles are completely surrounded by coffee beans that add
their wonderful aroma to the room. In a matter of moments,
they transform the room from bland to grand.
Having a specific room design offers the event a consistent
feel and it also makes the event immediately recognizable to
passersby. It also allows for reduced costs because the
setup is reused over and over again. Berks has gotten
several years out of their initial investment in materials.
4.
Purchasing Catering Services from Another Club
A
great way to increase attendance and interest in the
coffeehouse series is to collaborate with other student
organizations on campus. Berks’ CAB teamed up with the Hotel
and Restaurant Society (HRS) to cater JITTERS. HRS provides
the coffee and, whenever possible, they make homemade
desserts. At other times, they supply store-bought treats.
The students who show up to the event can enjoy free food
and drinks.
HRS
charges CAB for the event, so it is a great opportunity for
them to earn some money for their club while gaining
valuable experience catering an actual event. They also
enjoy the chance to try out new recipes.
CAB
benefits from the relationship because they are able to
offer additional incentive to attendees and HRS generally
brings a group of students with them, which helps boost
attendance. As an advisor, I always find it satisfying to
see different clubs working cooperatively together.
5.
Marketing in a Variety of Ways
No
matter how much work goes into putting an event together,
all can be lost without proper marketing. As I mentioned
previously, establishing a name and logo for the series will
make marketing a lot easier. So, how to advertise the event?
Berks’ CAB has tried a variety of advertising campaigns.
Their marketing can be broken down into four distinct types:
-
Advertising the entire series
-
Advertising
before the day of a show
-
Advertising the actual day of the event
-
Post-event advertising
One
more benefit of working in series is that single promotional
items can be created that advertise the entire series of
events. This offers a lot more mileage for the investment.
In the past, CAB created JITTERS T-shirts that list all of
the artists and dates for the semester. They have also
purchased pens on which the names and dates of the events
change on the side of the pen each time it is clicked.
Additionally, they have produced refrigerator magnets that
list all of the JITTERS events for a semester. All of the
dates are printed in each semester’s activities calendar. In
the cafeteria, they place table tents that list the entire
series.
Lastly, outside the multipurpose room is a gigantic poster
that features all of the upcoming performers. All of this
would constitute a lot of effort for a single show, but it
is really worthwhile when six to nine events can be
advertised and the piece of marketing lasts all semester.
Prior to the day of the show, CAB promotes in a variety of
ways. Flyers are of course blanketed around campus.
Additionally, small versions of the flyers are placed over
the series advertisements in the table tents in the
cafeteria. This allows them to get noticed more since they
change often. Each month’s events are advertised in the
school newspaper. A Facebook event is created and all of the
CABBIES invite their friends. The JITTERS events are also
included in a weekly activities e-mail that goes out to the
student body.
When
the day of an event arrives, there is still more promotion
happening. All of the CABBIES participate in a Facebook
“status attack.” They all change their status on the website
to indicate that they will be at the show that night. A sign
that reads “JITTERS TONIGHT” is placed outside the cafeteria
in a high-traffic area. Lastly, the word TONIGHT! is printed
in fluorescent colors on standard mailing labels and the
students stick the labels all over the flyers around campus.
This is an immediate visual reminder that the advertised
date of the event has arrived.
There is one more unique benefit to working in series and
that is post-event advertising. This makes sense only for
series programming. Berks uploads photos from the JITTERS
events to Facebook. They have also produced posters showing
photos from the event. The text on the posters reads, “Did
you miss out on (artist name)? Don’t miss the next JITTERS!”
Just because the event is over does not mean that the
marketing stops.
6.
Providing Worthwhile Incentives to CAB members
Berks’ students volunteer a lot of time to make the JITTERS
coffeehouse series a success and they deserve some benefits
for their hard work. As a general rule, they invite the
JITTERS performers to dinner at an off-campus restaurant
prior to the sound check. If the artists accept, the only
students allowed to go are the ones who signed up to work
that particular event. The student workers also tend to take
the front-and-center couch for the performance (like NACA’s
“Best Seat in the House” fundraiser).
At
the end of the show, a photograph is taken of the artist
with the CABBIES who worked the event. This picture is
posted in the CAB office. In the past, they have also
received CAB staff T-shirts or JITTERS coffeehouse series
T-shirts.
Less
Work, More Involvement
Although taking on series programming might sound like a
lot of work, over time it actually makes less work and
provides an opportunity for more student involvement. Series
programming answers the when, where and how questions. All
that is left is to pick the artists and start filling in the
blanks. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to create
your series.
About
the Author
Jeffrey
Fazio
is assistant director of Student Affairs at Penn State
Schuylkill (PA). Until recently, he served as Student
Activities coordinator at Penn State Berks (PA), where he
previously had served as a graduate intern. Active in NACA,
he currently serves as the NACA Mid Atlantic Diversity
Initiatives Coordinator. He previously served as a
member-at-large for the NACA Mid Atlantic Regional
Leadership Team and has been a member of the NACA Mid
Atlantic Regional Conference and Festival showcase selection
committees. In addition, he earned a first place in graphic
design in the 2008 NACA Mid Atlantic Outstanding
Faculty/Staff Designed Non-Poster Publicity competition. At
Penn State Berks, where he advised the Campus Activities
Board, he was named Advisor of the year twice. He currently
advises the Penn State Schuylkill Student Programming Board.
He is the author of the book Sponsorship: Amateur
Motorsports and was a monthly columnist for the “DriveTime”
section of the Reading Eagle newspaper, for which he also
wrote a number of feature stories. |