Is it time to give up on having entertainment at John R. Emens Auditorium that's relevant to students?
The top three shows by receipts for Emens in 2009 were Styx, Jason Aldean and Loretta Lynn — not exactly artists that students were enthusiastic about seeing, even if the Muncie community was.
Since Emens is located on a college campus, at least one or two of the performers paid to come to Emens should be ones that students will flock to see. Is Emens really doing as much as they can to listen to students?
Purdue University had Lady Gaga and Jason Mraz within the last year, and Indiana University had Wilco, Flight of the Conchords, N.E.R.D., Ben Folds and Robin Williams.
We realize that it's not the best idea to compare the markets for Purdue, Indiana and Ball State performances. Enrollment for each university, as well as programming budgets, is vastly different. Purdue and Indiana each have about 40,000 students. Ball State has half as many. Purdue's entertainment venues' operating budget is between $1 million and $1.2 million, Indiana's varies from $2.9 million to $3.4 million and Ball State's is about $800,000.
The difference is that both Purdue and Indiana work more with their respective University Program Boards to ensure that acts are chosen that students will want to attend.
We need more of a student voice in the decisions on what performers are paid to come to Emens. Why not have an Emens Twitter page that students can tweet suggestions to or a Web site on which to post ideas about who the campus community would pay to see?
If Emens' smaller budget is the issue, perhaps the UPB or Student Government Association could take some of the money from their budgets to help get a bigger concert on campus.
Maybe Emens could even save money on marketing a more expensive artist by getting Ball State marketing students to help. Call it an immersive learning experience.
Or Emens officials could contact students who've bought tickets in the past to get their feedback. What would they want to see?
There can't just be excuses that students are not here in the summer to give feedback or that we are too close to larger cities. While we might be within driving distance of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Noblesville, all of which tend to book bigger entertainers, Ball State students would still appreciate having great shows within walking distance from their dorms or apartments. There has to be some way to come to a consensus.
Keep booking the acts that draw in Muncie locals or entertain children. But give us something as well.
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