The frequent routine for many college students is to end their busy week by attending the hottest club, where the ladies get in free and drink specials last all night. In order to attract students to the club, extensive creativity, publicity and promotion is required and many students on campus are becoming a part of this.
According to Jarrett H. Nobles, 22, a fourth year business administration student from Washington D.C, and Terrance Bufford, 21, fourth-year business administration student from Cleveland, the job of club promoting includes creating accounts on http://myspace.com and http://facebook.com, producing and distributing flyers, hosting events, advancing money for venues and arranging celebrity appearances.
Nobles and Bufford are are recognized, on campus, for their events and value their peers’ opinions.
“After every party we go out and look for feedback,” Nobles said. “We want to see what people liked, didn’t like, where we can improve and what people want to see in the future.”
Bufford and Nobles have unofficially become their own promotions company, also partnering with Kenny Whaley, 21, a fourth year business administration student from Charleston, S.C., and Mitch Brooks, 23, a senior business administration student from Washington DC. Together, they have connected and promoted numerous parties inside and outside of the Tallahassee area.
Last year, Brooke promoted for Cool Grindz on Thursday nights and with the rest of the promoters contributed to the “This is Why I’m Hot” party at the Tallahassee Civic Center. Their most recent event was the “Sugar Lounge” in Atlanta for the Atlanta Classic.
The tactic of organized feedback and the success of their events gained Nobles and his partners much attention. Fellow students and promoters frequently ask the group for their help with events.
Ricky Stephens, better known as “Pretty Ricky,” a fourth-year business administration student form Jacksonville, is also involved in club promotion. Stephens is an employee of Point Blank Entertainment in Jacksonville, a company that is hired to promote three clubs in Jacksonville, three nights per week: Club Globe on Wednesday nights, Real Ting on Friday nights, and the most popular of the three, Club Rain on Saturday nights.
“A lot of foot work is required to create a buzz about the event, but sometimes people bring artists and lose money because they [patrons] don’t show up,” Stephens said. “I might win real big or throw a good party that people remember, but I may have lost some money in promoting the event because not enough people attended to cover the admission to the club and other specials we were offering.”
Despite these challenges and the large amount of work, club promoting can also open doors for other opportunities.
Joe Womack III, an alumnus of the School of Business and Industry, founded http://digitalguestlist. com through the use of promotional creativity and the Internet. This Web site uses online promotional efforts for events by publicizing them in email lists and providing information about the events. “I think its wise to start out as a party promoter, it allows you to make mistakes, test out new ideas and learn the new ounces of marketing,” Womack said. “When you transition into event planning you are dealing with clients with larger budgets, therefore the stakes are higher. Your learning curve is now shorter which allows you to grow faster.”
Digitalguestlist’s events range from simple parties for FAMU Homecoming, to political events and wine tasting. Photographs are taken at events and posted on the Web site for clients and potential clients to view. Womack’s company allows for continuing relationships with clients, where there is a niche audience. There is no need to worry about organizing deals with sub partners such as clubs or counting on the amount of patrons attending the event to make a profit. However, all promoters mentioned are proved successful and are staying busy with upcoming events. Specifically, the group of promoters, including Nobles and Bufford, look forward to showing FAMU students what their events are all about during homecoming week.