Inside AMP

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Application Process

Hi everyone. I wanted to give an update on how our application process for AMP is going. For the past few weeks we've been in the process of reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, and making decisions about who should be a part of AMP 2009-2010!

We already have our new Directors for next year: Giuliana Morales (Executive Director), David Cooper (PR Director), and Hannah Moon (General Board Director). Last weekend, the incoming and outgoing directors met and selected the new executive board chairs. Full list coming soon!

And this weekend, as many of you may know, is our General Board application process. We received over 130 applications to AMP, including both new applicants and AMP returners. It is a competitive process, and the new executive board is working very hard to put together the best board so that YOU can have the best events next year!

Keep checkin' the blog and the website for more updates on what AMP is doing...and look out for the new AMP 2009-2010 committees brainstorming ideas for next year and wearing their bright blue AMP shirts :)

Monday, February 16, 2009

TribeVision (Channel 52) March Poll!

While you're debating between Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire, please take time to fill out the TribeVision March Line-up Poll. We want to know what you'd like to watch!

AMP Films

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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Girl Talk Venue Clarification

Hello everyone! AMP expected an intense demand for the Girl Talk show, and we're thrilled so many people got their tickets early! The show is now sold out. This has led to some understandable frustration, and requests that we switch venues for the show to allow more concert-goers. The short answer is that there is no way a switch in venues is possible. Here is a lengthier explanation of why:

First and foremost: if we were to change the venue after the fact, we would have to renegotiate the contract in light of any new capacity. Girl Talk agreed to play this show knowing we would lose money because of the ticket sales. If we were suddenly to drastically increase capacity, he would likely (and rightfully) back out as a breach of contract. It takes several months to negotiate contracts for the artists we bring here. Our lawyers and his lawyers could not renegotiate within two weeks. Further, AMP has a Spring budget that gets set in the mid-Fall. If we change venues, we would have to totally recalibrate our budget (b/c Girl Talk would need significantly more money). This is impossible due to the fact that we have already booked the majority of our Spring events, and settled upon accepted payment.

W&M Hall: they have basketball games the night prior to and the day after Girl Talk. For that reason they are not willing to give us the date. In addition to that, the capacity for the floor is not as big as you would expect it to be. At least 1/3 of the floor was empty during the My Chemical Romance show, and we could not convince the fire department to allow more than that. All of the seats would be empty; we couldn't possibly get a good light show in there. The room would feel empty, and we wouldn't be able to sell many more tickets than we can now in the Chesapeake.

Lake Matoaka: The venue is closed for the season. In addition to that fact, it is an outdoor venue. We could only sell as many tickets as our rain location, which would be the Chesapeake. So there would be no net gain in # of tickets sold, despite the fact that we have moved to much bigger and more spread-out venue. The concern isn't just a rain location. We're also talking about a show near midnight in February. If it's too cold, we won't have any way to move indoors. Artists are within their contractual rights to refuse to play outdoors if they deem the weather to be inclement. Gregg Gillis would be perfectly justified in refusing to play in the rain, snow, or excessive cold, and then we would be left with no concert at all.

To everyone who is frustrated they did not get a ticket: I am sorry. If there were any way to get every W&M student who wants to go to Girl Talk there, we would find a way. AMP's music committee is working around the clock to try to find ways of improving this scenario, but a change in venue is out of the question. Watch this blogs in the days and weeks to follow; I will repeatedly update it with any news.

-Sean O'Mealia

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Inside the Girl Talk process

With W&M Girl Talk tickets going on sale today (get yours here!), I figured I would take a moment to fill everyone in on the process of getting Greg Gillis to campus, how we selected a venue, and why we chose to have a campus-exclusive pre-sale.

AMP has been getting repeated requests for Girl Talk for over a year now. In addition to word-of-mouth recommendations, we also collected requests for him to come play here on our new effort at increased transparency, the Facebook feedback forum. Whenever the campus seems relatively united in its hope to bring a certain act, we do everything in our power to get them here. In the case of Girl Talk, we tried several offers in the fall, but could not make our schedules work. Sometime in mid November, we essentially gave him 20ish dates we had available for the Spring and tried to make one of them work. It took nearly two months of negotiating, but we able to get him to confirm.

There has been some controversy over our choice of the Chesapeake Ballroom as the venue for this show. The short answer is that it is the biggest venue we can possibly get during the winter, and February 27th is the only date Girl Talk could play at W&M. W&M Hall is booked for sporting events. Matoaka and the Sunken Gardens are closed for the season, not to mention that it is likely to be quite cold near midnight in February outside. Trinkle Hall has roughly the same capacity (its slightly smaller), and significantly worse acoustics. PBK Hall has seats (which aren't a good thing at a Girl Talk show), and a smaller capacity. So Chesapeake it is!

In light of the fact that we will probably sell-out, and the intense demand on campus for Girl Talk tickets, AMP has decided that there will be a one-week W&M-exclusive pre-sale. Starting today, anyone with a valid W&M ID can buy one Girl Talk ticket. We set the cap at one so that W&M students do not buy their friends from off-campus several tickets. We will be checking for W&M IDs at the door, so do not buy a student ticket if you are not a member of the W&M community! AMP is here to serve you, W&M, so we're going out of our way to make sure you have a fair opportunity to buy tickets to the mostly hotly anticipated Williamsburg concert in years.

Get your tickets early! I hope this has been a helpful behind-the-scenes look at how AMP makes decisions!

-sean o'mealia and the amp music productions committee

Monday, February 9, 2009

Give Them Something to Talk About...

Hey everyone,

Right now the Contemporary and Cultural issues Committee is still looking for a great speaker to fill our spring line-up! We had some ideas, but unfortunately things fell through. It's alright, this happens all the time, but we still want to bring someone fantastic to come and speak to the campus. Last semester we had big names - both Gideon Yago and Anthony Rapp came to speak. And we're pushing for one more for this semester.

So the committee has our hands full - we're looking at big agencies, small agencies, and pretty much all the personal connections that we know (6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, anyone.....) to make sure that we find the best speaker that we can. Keep looking out for news and updates about the process! But let me ask you --

Who do you want to see at the podium? Who do you want to see speak to the college? If you have any ideas or input, let us know!

Your determined Contempo-Cult Chair,
Clara

Friday, February 6, 2009

Big Changes for Late Nite

Hey guys,

So if you've been reading the blog you know that we redefined Late Nite's mission last semester as the following.

Recognizing the limited availability of social venues in Williamsburg, AMP's Late Nite Programming seeks to serve the students' need for a socially engaging environment on Friday and Saturday nights by providing consistent entertainment and fostering a vibrant social atmosphere on campus. While Late Nite aids other student organizations in event planning both logistically and financially, its primary goal is to provide students the opportunity to meet and interact with each other in a casual setting. This is accomplished primarily, but not exclusively, by creating a fun, exciting, and open social environment in Lodge 1.

While we had some success with these goals last semester, we found that it was too taxing for the committees to focus on Late Nite objectives in addition to their own individual purpose. So next year we will be starting a brand new Late Nite committee to focus exclusively on providing more night life options for W&M students. If you're interested in joining this committe check out www.wm.edu/amp for the application.

We will also continue to work with other student groups on cosponoring Late Nite events. If your organization is interested in learning more about Late Nite funding check out the AMP website or email me at amp.late.nite@gmail.com. The window for rolling applications is closing fast so be sure to get them in soon!

Finally, thanks to all of you who came to the Late Nite Kickoff! It was a blast!
This weekend be sure to check out Late Nite Salsa on Friday and the Video Game Party on Saturday.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Drumroll please...

And the winner of the Bill Lawrence Filmmaking Competition is: Magic Dream House by Team 1963. Congrats to team members Adam Stackhouse, Reina Chamberlain, Samantha Fien-Helfman and actors Kelley, Matt, and Ben!

The 5 finalist teams won:
A private screening with Bill Lawrence
Script of Scrubs Premier or Finale (signed by Bill Lawrence)

The winning team won:
Script of the Scrubs Finale (signed by cast)
Scrubs Season 7 (signed by Bill Lawrence)
$100

Remember to catch these films on TribeVision on March-May '09!


AMP Films Committee

Sunday, February 1, 2009

AMP Recruitment

AMP is beginning our annual spring recruitment process! We're looking for enthusiastic, dedicated, and innovative students who want to get a behind-the-scenes look at campus programming. You'll basically be planning W&M's coolest concerts, comedians, speakers, movies, and more!

Executive Board
(Committee chair) applications due Monday, February 16 by 5pm
General Board applications due Monday, February 23 by 5pm

Executive Board: http://web.wm.edu/amp/files/applications/AMPExecBoardApplication0910.doc
General Board: http://web.wm.edu/amp/files/applications/AMPGeneralBoardApplication0910.doc

If you have questions, email Katy, Director of General Board, at kelang@wm.edu. You can drop off your application in hard copy form to the AMP office (upstairs in campus center) OR email it electronically to kelang@wm.edu. Thanks!