How SCOPE Club Brought Top Artists to Campus
SCOPE brought Chelsea Cutler to campus on November 2
The SCOPE organization, standing for Student Committee on Providing Entertainment, is the brains behind bringing top artists like Chelsea Cutler and Two Friends to Colgate.
The organization is an SGA-recognized organization that partners with the school, faculty and students to bring live entertainment to campus in the form of concerts and events.
Every year SCOPE aims to bring multiple up-and-coming artists to Colgate, usually planning one concert for the first semester and one for the second semester.
“We try to fill the void that exists of live music on campus,” president of SCOPE junior Margo Werner said.
The process for bringing this live entertainment to campus is multifaceted and extensive, exposing SCOPE executives to marketing and management.
Last year, SCOPE was unable to bring any artists to campus due to some executive difficulties, but Werner took over this year and is hoping to rebrand SCOPE, utilizing its full potential to bring artists to campus.
“In some ways I had to rebuild and reignite interest in SCOPE because I was one of the handful of students that stayed on with the organization through last year when nothing happened. We had to rebuild the club in some ways and got some [first-year] representation within the club which is really important because it has to live,” Werner said.
The concert planning process begins by identifying a genre or what type of music students would be excited to have on campus. Then the venue must be identified and managed, ensuring the desired space is free for availability on a variety of potential dates. SCOPE then uses a booking agent, Adam Tobey, who is part of a third party company named Concert Ideas. Tobey works as the middle man between the artists and SCOPE to work on the negotiation process for dates, prices, hospitality and more. The concert must be approved by Colgate’s Budget Allocation Committee (BAC). Although it’s risky, artists do not typically agree to sign contracts committing to perform until a few days or even the day of the concert.
“It can be a frustrating process where everything is planned and set in motion but they could still back out,” Werner said. If the artist does back out, Tobey works in communication with SCOPE to see if they can acquire any other last minute artists for the time that the venue is booked for.
The artists that SCOPE picks to bring to campus are largely decided by the members of the club. Since they are an SGA-recognized organization, the University grants them a particular freedom in deciding who can come to campus and provide entertainment.
On November 10, SCOPE brought the DJ partnership Two Friends to campus and hopes to be able to plan something for second semester within their allocated budget. On November 2, they brought musician Chelsea Cutler to campus.
“Planning concerts is a very complicated process. You have to have a lot of patience. It’s a giant puzzle.” Werner said.
Contact Nicole Dienst at [email protected].
Nicole Dienst is a senior from Westport, CT, studying English, economics and environmental studies. Prior to serving as Executive Editor, she has held...
