After months of hard work and dedication, the Music Industry Management Association will finally present FSU with its first ever electronic music concert.
MIMA has been collaborating with other registered student organizations since the middle of November to make this concert a possibility at Ferris. Besides holding formal meetings to get financing and approval for the event, the group also had to get sponsors and do all the promotion. Over 100 volunteers have helped the nine students who originally began working to make this concert a reality.
The headliner for the event will be Glitch Mob. Virtual Boy and Item9 will also perform along with one other act.
“We wanted to pick an act that has a popular sound and would introduce Ferris to a new and upcoming genre,” said Alex Gohl, MIMA and Entertainment Unlimited member.
According to those involved with the concert, the student response has been positive.
“It is a very open and welcoming response,” said Scott Neuenschwander, member of EU and MIMA as well as chief financial officer for Bulldog Radio. “People are excited to see something new and fresh brought to campus.”
Kelly Kucher, MIMA member, said, “A few weeks prior to when tickets went on sale, I gave a student a flier. I ran into him a couple days later and he told me he had his five dollars sitting with the flier on his desk waiting for tickets to go on sale, so obviously people are looking forward to it.”
Curtis Lydens, MIMA member and Bulldog Radio mobile manager, said when the acts were announced people became excited because these performers are really at the forefront of this particular music genre.
“I heard it was a first for Ferris to have a techno concert, so it’s kind of neat to be a part of that,” said Ethan Wagner, freshman in the computer networking program. “I haven’t seen a lot of live music in my life so far and I’m a bit of a fan of techno and electronic music, so I’m curious to see what it’s like live.”
MIMA and all the people and RSOs involved with making this event possible wants everyone who attends the show and works at the event to have a positive experience. They hope this concert will open students’ eyes to a new type of music and get them to broaden their musical interests.
“We hope that at the end of the night attendees will look back and think that was the best five dollars they’ve spent in a while,” said Lauren Perry, MIMA president and EU member.
The event is based around surveys that were administered to Ferris students as part of a semester-long project which revealed that students at FSU wanted more variety in the entertainment that comes to campus. MIMA hopes this concert will give them that.
The committee is looking forward to hopefully selling out all of the 2000 seats available in the Wink Arena, which is where the concert will be held. Both college students and community members are encouraged to attend.
“We haven’t seen the final product yet, but so far it has been a very positive learning experience,” said MIMA Promotions Chair Alex Johnson when asked if the hard work has been worth while. “I’ve learned many different aspects of putting on a production of this magnitude.”
It has yet to be determined as to whether this event will become an annual occurrence at Ferris.
“Most of our committee is graduating, but there are a lot of excited and motivated individuals who will hopefully take the reins for next year,” said MIMA member and Bulldog Radio President Eric Szczepanski.
The Turn Up The Good concert will be held on March 31 with doors to the arena opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students with a valid I.D. and $10 without. For more information, contact Johnson at fsuturnupthegood@nullgmail.com. n