Revamping Autumn Alive

Large scale changes to next year’s show may make event more appealing to students

Wink Rockin’:We The Kings performed in Novemeber as headliners for Autumn Alive. Next year’s Autumn Alive recently had a new budget approved for a different experience. Photo By: Brock Copus | Multimedia Editor
Wink Rockin’:We The Kings performed in Novemeber as headliners for Autumn Alive. Next year’s Autumn Alive recently had a new budget approved for a different experience. Photo By: Brock Copus | Multimedia Editor
Correction April 25: David Lebin’s name was printed as “Lieben” and the attendance of last year’s Autumn Alive was 541, instead of the 451 that was printed.

Ferris students won’t have to travel to Grand Rapids to attend a large scale concert, as Ferris’ Music Industry Management Association (MIMA) has announced next year’s Autumn Alive plans.

Changes to the annual performance include a four or five act show on two different stages with a DJ booth placed in between the two.

“When I go to most shows, I feel bored by the end of it because I’ve been standing in the same spot. But with this, I can move and go watch the DJ perform,” David Lebin, general member of MIMA, said.

The increase in number of bands will create a continuous stream of music, according to both Lebin and Amanda Trigger, MIMA booking agent.

No date for the fall 2013 show has been announced, but it will be held in the Wink Arena.

Autumn Alive started in 1999 and has showcased notable acts such as Third Eye Blind, Taking Back Sunday and We The Kings in years past.

For the fall 2013 show, MIMA plans to hire regional acts that may have a closer personal relationship with Ferris students. Fall 2013 acts have yet to be released.

“What we did was compiled a list of regional bands that started in Michigan. We basically just want to book those acts because a lot of people know those acts, and it gives back to the community,” Lebin said.

Lebin and Trigger presented information last month during Ferris Student Government’s weekly public meeting, and the money to help fund next year’s event was passed after a 12 to three vote supporting the allocation of funds from the student activities fund.

Ferris State Student Government allocated $44,248 for next year’s performance, stated by Ferris Student Government member Andrew Kalinowski.

The figure is an increase of approximately 22 percent from last year’s allocation of roughly $36,000.

Initially, $59,095 was requested from MIMA to run the event, but the final figure came after internal deliberations from Ferris Student Government.

Last year’s Autumn Alive had 541 people in attendance. Moving the event from a Thursday to a Friday should increase total participation, according Lebin and Trigger.

Attending students will pay $10 with Ferris identification and non-Ferris students will be charged $20, which will help pay for event expenses as well.

The MIMA presenters are confident that next year’s show will be a success.

“We’re emphasizing an experience. There’s going to be a lot going on, even more than just music,” Trigger said.

34 comments

What would really be a great improvement, is if you guys chose something other than rap music to highlight. Just to let you know, in case you didn’t, not all Ferris students like profanity laced rap music.

There hasn’t been a single rapper in the history of Autumn aLive. Not sure what show you’re referring to, but it must not be this one.

What would really be a great improvement, is if you guys chose something other than rap music to highlight. Just to let you know, in case you didn’t, not all Ferris students like profanity laced rap music.

There hasn’t been a single rapper in the history of Autumn aLive. Not sure what show you’re referring to, but it must not be this one.

Please allow me to make some corrections.

David’s last name is Lebin, not Lieben. I’m incredibly disappointed that this was not reported correctly. I would expect that he would receive appropriate recognition considering how much he contributed throughout the entire proposal process, which was made very evident from our presentations to Finance Division and Student Government.

There were also 541 people in attendance last year, not 451. All quotations from David and myself were pulled from our Student Government presentation through the use of a recording device without our knowledge or permission. They were not actually given to the person who wrote this article.

We informed him that we would supply more information based on our plan to gradually release details leading up to the show. We did not agree with the publishing of this article, nor did we provide the writer with any specific quotations or information, which makes me question the validity of this particular piece, the ethics of this writer, and the Torch newspaper as a whole.

I hope that there will be a public release of corrections in order to maintain the Torch’s reputation as being truthful, fair, and accurate.

Thank you.

Are you seriously complaining about someone quoting you at a public meeting? Student Government meetings are public forum, open to the student body to attend so what you say in there is not held by any secrecy.
And you don’t have to agree to have this article publish. Journalism is not the same as public relations. The Torch doesn’t act as your own system to release press releases promoting an organization or event. It’s a newspaper for reporting stories for its readership.
I think you’re more upset because it paints MIMA in a less-than-stellar light. Getting 66 dollars from Student Government for each individual last year seems more like the concerts serve as a MIMA circlejerk, paid for by the rest of the student body.

Logical student … I believe the complaint is about someone ‘misquoting’ them at a public meeting. Student Government meetings are a public forum, however when someone is ‘quoted’ then, perhaps, the quote should be accurate. Mr. Chipman rushed his article – plain and simple. It would have been quite easy to come up with the correct spelling for Mr. Lebin’s name … check the directory. Don’t try and place the blame on an ‘anonymous member of MIMA’. Mr. Chipman may have spoke to Byron Williams regarding taping the meetings, but he most likely did not tell everyone appearing before him that he was taping them. In any event, it is a public forum, so what they say is open to the public. However, the question then comes up as to whether or not Mr. Chipman was representing the Student Government or the Torch? Could be considered a conflict of interest if, in fact, he misquoted the attendees. I would have to suspect, based on the fact that he did not research the name of Mr. Lebin, but instead tried to get the spelling from another student, that he did, in fact, rush the article. I really do not want to take sides here, however, based on Mr. Chipman’s retraction in the original article (spelling of Mr. Lebin’s name and number of attendees), I would have to say that, perhaps, some more research, and or patience in waiting for a reply from MIMA members,k which would have given accurate information, might have been in order.

I do not believe this article paints MIMA in a ‘less-than-stellar light.’ Based on the accurate attendance number, the term ‘circlejerk’ is inappropriate, and if you are a ‘logical’ Ferris student, an immature and bitter sounding comment.

Please allow me to make some corrections.

David’s last name is Lebin, not Lieben. I’m incredibly disappointed that this was not reported correctly. I would expect that he would receive appropriate recognition considering how much he contributed throughout the entire proposal process, which was made very evident from our presentations to Finance Division and Student Government.

There were also 541 people in attendance last year, not 451. All quotations from David and myself were pulled from our Student Government presentation through the use of a recording device without our knowledge or permission. They were not actually given to the person who wrote this article.

We informed him that we would supply more information based on our plan to gradually release details leading up to the show. We did not agree with the publishing of this article, nor did we provide the writer with any specific quotations or information, which makes me question the validity of this particular piece, the ethics of this writer, and the Torch newspaper as a whole.

I hope that there will be a public release of corrections in order to maintain the Torch’s reputation as being truthful, fair, and accurate.

Thank you.

Are you seriously complaining about someone quoting you at a public meeting? Student Government meetings are public forum, open to the student body to attend so what you say in there is not held by any secrecy.
And you don’t have to agree to have this article publish. Journalism is not the same as public relations. The Torch doesn’t act as your own system to release press releases promoting an organization or event. It’s a newspaper for reporting stories for its readership.
I think you’re more upset because it paints MIMA in a less-than-stellar light. Getting 66 dollars from Student Government for each individual last year seems more like the concerts serve as a MIMA circlejerk, paid for by the rest of the student body.

Logical student … I believe the complaint is about someone ‘misquoting’ them at a public meeting. Student Government meetings are a public forum, however when someone is ‘quoted’ then, perhaps, the quote should be accurate. Mr. Chipman rushed his article – plain and simple. It would have been quite easy to come up with the correct spelling for Mr. Lebin’s name … check the directory. Don’t try and place the blame on an ‘anonymous member of MIMA’. Mr. Chipman may have spoke to Byron Williams regarding taping the meetings, but he most likely did not tell everyone appearing before him that he was taping them. In any event, it is a public forum, so what they say is open to the public. However, the question then comes up as to whether or not Mr. Chipman was representing the Student Government or the Torch? Could be considered a conflict of interest if, in fact, he misquoted the attendees. I would have to suspect, based on the fact that he did not research the name of Mr. Lebin, but instead tried to get the spelling from another student, that he did, in fact, rush the article. I really do not want to take sides here, however, based on Mr. Chipman’s retraction in the original article (spelling of Mr. Lebin’s name and number of attendees), I would have to say that, perhaps, some more research, and or patience in waiting for a reply from MIMA members,k which would have given accurate information, might have been in order.

I do not believe this article paints MIMA in a ‘less-than-stellar light.’ Based on the accurate attendance number, the term ‘circlejerk’ is inappropriate, and if you are a ‘logical’ Ferris student, an immature and bitter sounding comment.

I would encourage any concerned students to invest their time in involvement in finance division or student government. Any allocated money is chosen by finance division after the appropriate presentation and then, in some cases, approved by the student government general members. If you would like a voice in these decisions in the future, everyone is welcome to become a member of either organizations.

I am extremely disappointed in the rushed nature of this article. Autumn Alive is not until November 2013. There was ample time to check all of the facts (which were not checked, as seen from the necessary edits) and provide a comprehensive story. Considering that this article was on the front page of the Torch, I would have appreciated if they would have taken more care. My opinion of the Torch has been greatly diminished.

Thank you.

I would encourage any concerned students to invest their time in involvement in finance division or student government. Any allocated money is chosen by finance division after the appropriate presentation and then, in some cases, approved by the student government general members. If you would like a voice in these decisions in the future, everyone is welcome to become a member of either organizations.

I am extremely disappointed in the rushed nature of this article. Autumn Alive is not until November 2013. There was ample time to check all of the facts (which were not checked, as seen from the necessary edits) and provide a comprehensive story. Considering that this article was on the front page of the Torch, I would have appreciated if they would have taken more care. My opinion of the Torch has been greatly diminished.

Thank you.

Looks like they’re breeding the next crop of reporters giving misinformed news here at Ferris! It’s truly sad to see, that when The Torch starts going under, they want to try and bring everyone else down with them! That’s okay guys though, go out in flames! I guess you need to be remembered in some way right? Lord knows no one cares about your biased, poorly written news stories anyway!

Looks like they’re breeding the next crop of reporters giving misinformed news here at Ferris! It’s truly sad to see, that when The Torch starts going under, they want to try and bring everyone else down with them! That’s okay guys though, go out in flames! I guess you need to be remembered in some way right? Lord knows no one cares about your biased, poorly written news stories anyway!

As a professional journalist and faculty adviser to The Torch, accuracy is essential to me. I wish this conversation remained about accuracy and good journalism.
Sometimes, when sources are not responsive, journalists must move forward and provide readers with the information they do have. This article does not accuse or mislead, in my opinion.
Two errors were promptly corrected. However, neither error changed the basic story.
I hope more reporters and students take a deeper interest in what’s happening on campus and get involved. Those who do good work – and I assume that is the norm – are willing to be open and forthcoming with information when reporters seek information. When that happens, we all win.

As a professional journalist and faculty adviser to The Torch, accuracy is essential to me. I wish this conversation remained about accuracy and good journalism.
Sometimes, when sources are not responsive, journalists must move forward and provide readers with the information they do have. This article does not accuse or mislead, in my opinion.
Two errors were promptly corrected. However, neither error changed the basic story.
I hope more reporters and students take a deeper interest in what’s happening on campus and get involved. Those who do good work – and I assume that is the norm – are willing to be open and forthcoming with information when reporters seek information. When that happens, we all win.

As a member of the paper I would like to mention that a newspaper is not a cheerleader. We do not exist solely to promote everything that happens at the University is good, we report the bad as well. Good or bad. Just because we report something that you the reader feel is unpopular does not mean we are attacking. We do not attack. We report. Public Relations and Journalism are two totally different entities. We do not withhold information from the public if it is given to us, we report it because it is our responsibility.

If you think you can be a better journalist than us, we implore you to come down to our offices in SRC 102 before 2 pm M-F and interview for a position, we are currently looking for applicants, we would be happy to have you.

As a member of the paper I would like to mention that a newspaper is not a cheerleader. We do not exist solely to promote everything that happens at the University is good, we report the bad as well. Good or bad. Just because we report something that you the reader feel is unpopular does not mean we are attacking. We do not attack. We report. Public Relations and Journalism are two totally different entities. We do not withhold information from the public if it is given to us, we report it because it is our responsibility.

If you think you can be a better journalist than us, we implore you to come down to our offices in SRC 102 before 2 pm M-F and interview for a position, we are currently looking for applicants, we would be happy to have you.

I hope you MIMA brats realize that you’re only painting yourselves as whining runny-nosed children by acting and commenting the way you are. If I didn’t intimately know this program from start to finish I wouldn’t have said anything at all. Don’t worry Torch, say the truth. The MIM program is an excuse these kids use to tell their parents that they’re going to school when instead they just want to be famous rock stars. Out of 100 or so graduates that I know, only 5 have jobs in the music industry, the rest I met while they served me food.
Go ahead kids, keep digging that hole and denying that your whole hipster RSO is anything other than a sham.

Angie, This reply is in response to an article that was published haphazardly and without verifying information. Your reply sounds like someone who may have either been denied acceptance to the program or has another axe to grind. To quote many mother’s who have sent their children to Ferris, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” In other words … grow up.

I’d like to point out the irony of you imparting “wisdom” on others to “grow up” when all your comments come off as being whiny and shifting the blame to others. By saying it was published haphazardly is actually him reporting the best he can when there was a lack of compliance from members he contacted (as stated in his comment).
If you ever picked up a newspaper, even large, professional publications get names or facts wrong occasionally and you know what they do in response, they issue a correction.For this being a student publication, I’m proud the Torch is researching stories and not just retyping up press releases like organizations’ PR departments want them to.

And seriously, saying someone could have gotten denied into the MIM program… You’re not Pharmacy or Optometry school. Get a reality check.

I wasn’t, nor did I ever intend on parting “wisdom” … I was stating a fact. Publishing an article ‘the best he can’ is irresponsible. The members, according to what I read, were never lacking in compliance. Because they failed (and I am guessing here, as are the rest of us since we do not know the actual timeline) to reply in a ‘timely’ manner does not mean they were lacking in compliance. Do you know who was contacted? Do you know how they were contacted? Do you know what was going on in their lives that did not allow them to reply? You don’t know, nor do I. Without confirming information is irresponsible as a reporter. Plain and simple.
Getting names misspelled and numbers transposed is always something that may happen – and publications do retract and correct, as the Torch did. But I stand by the comment that the article was written/published haphazardly – if appears that he failed to verify whether or not the information was accurate and rushed to get something on the front page.
And, please, Dwight – regardless of what program you are in, let’s not insult any of the programs at Ferris. This may be where the problem lies ….

A frictional character for a fictional reply. Your argument is less valid by the second. I hope your kind shrivels in the sun like a worm on the sidewalk. Good day Sir Fakecommennt. May the odds be ever in your favor.

I hope you MIMA brats realize that you’re only painting yourselves as whining runny-nosed children by acting and commenting the way you are. If I didn’t intimately know this program from start to finish I wouldn’t have said anything at all. Don’t worry Torch, say the truth. The MIM program is an excuse these kids use to tell their parents that they’re going to school when instead they just want to be famous rock stars. Out of 100 or so graduates that I know, only 5 have jobs in the music industry, the rest I met while they served me food.
Go ahead kids, keep digging that hole and denying that your whole hipster RSO is anything other than a sham.

Angie, This reply is in response to an article that was published haphazardly and without verifying information. Your reply sounds like someone who may have either been denied acceptance to the program or has another axe to grind. To quote many mother’s who have sent their children to Ferris, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” In other words … grow up.

I’d like to point out the irony of you imparting “wisdom” on others to “grow up” when all your comments come off as being whiny and shifting the blame to others. By saying it was published haphazardly is actually him reporting the best he can when there was a lack of compliance from members he contacted (as stated in his comment).
If you ever picked up a newspaper, even large, professional publications get names or facts wrong occasionally and you know what they do in response, they issue a correction.For this being a student publication, I’m proud the Torch is researching stories and not just retyping up press releases like organizations’ PR departments want them to.

And seriously, saying someone could have gotten denied into the MIM program… You’re not Pharmacy or Optometry school. Get a reality check.

I wasn’t, nor did I ever intend on parting “wisdom” … I was stating a fact. Publishing an article ‘the best he can’ is irresponsible. The members, according to what I read, were never lacking in compliance. Because they failed (and I am guessing here, as are the rest of us since we do not know the actual timeline) to reply in a ‘timely’ manner does not mean they were lacking in compliance. Do you know who was contacted? Do you know how they were contacted? Do you know what was going on in their lives that did not allow them to reply? You don’t know, nor do I. Without confirming information is irresponsible as a reporter. Plain and simple.
Getting names misspelled and numbers transposed is always something that may happen – and publications do retract and correct, as the Torch did. But I stand by the comment that the article was written/published haphazardly – if appears that he failed to verify whether or not the information was accurate and rushed to get something on the front page.
And, please, Dwight – regardless of what program you are in, let’s not insult any of the programs at Ferris. This may be where the problem lies ….

A frictional character for a fictional reply. Your argument is less valid by the second. I hope your kind shrivels in the sun like a worm on the sidewalk. Good day Sir Fakecommennt. May the odds be ever in your favor.

This is Sean Chipman, the writer of the contested article. The has been a considerable amount of difficulty getting information as the last email response from Ms. Trigger occurred approximately two weeks ago. Also, an email was sent to Professor Cronk over a week ago, and was left without a response. I attempted to get the spelling correct from an anonymous member of MIMA, and that member was not sure on the spelling as well.
In regards to the use of a recording devise. I told Byron Williams that I was using an audio devise during my first Ferris Student Government meeting, although his consent was not required by state law. The following copy of Michigan state law was collected from http://www.legislature.mi.gov.
“(1) All meetings of a public body shall be open to the public and shall be held in a place available to the general public. All persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting except as otherwise provided in this act. The right of a person to attend a meeting of a public body includes the right to tape-record, to videotape, to broadcast live on radio, and to telecast live on television the proceedings of a public body at a public meeting. The exercise of this right shall not be dependent upon the prior approval of the public body. However, a public body may establish reasonable rules and regulations in order to minimize the possibility of disrupting the meeting.”
To alleviate any issues in the future, I respectfully ask MIMA to be forth coming with information given during an open meeting which is fair use for publication.
In regards to the number of attendees for last year’s show, the collected audio cites that 451 were in attendance. If the figure is wrong, I apologize. If we were able to meet, these figures would have been corrected.

Thank You,

Sean Chipman

This is Sean Chipman, the writer of the contested article. The has been a considerable amount of difficulty getting information as the last email response from Ms. Trigger occurred approximately two weeks ago. Also, an email was sent to Professor Cronk over a week ago, and was left without a response. I attempted to get the spelling correct from an anonymous member of MIMA, and that member was not sure on the spelling as well.
In regards to the use of a recording devise. I told Byron Williams that I was using an audio devise during my first Ferris Student Government meeting, although his consent was not required by state law. The following copy of Michigan state law was collected from http://www.legislature.mi.gov.
“(1) All meetings of a public body shall be open to the public and shall be held in a place available to the general public. All persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting except as otherwise provided in this act. The right of a person to attend a meeting of a public body includes the right to tape-record, to videotape, to broadcast live on radio, and to telecast live on television the proceedings of a public body at a public meeting. The exercise of this right shall not be dependent upon the prior approval of the public body. However, a public body may establish reasonable rules and regulations in order to minimize the possibility of disrupting the meeting.”
To alleviate any issues in the future, I respectfully ask MIMA to be forth coming with information given during an open meeting which is fair use for publication.
In regards to the number of attendees for last year’s show, the collected audio cites that 451 were in attendance. If the figure is wrong, I apologize. If we were able to meet, these figures would have been corrected.

Thank You,

Sean Chipman

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