It’s a pivotal week for students in MGMT 403, Representing Talent. There isn’t a midterm exam or a term paper due in the coming days. Instead, students are in the final days of preparing to host an on-campus concert featuring a bona fide Billboard-charting headliner.
On October 24, rapper Flo Milli will take the stage at Bender Arena for an AU-only concert made possible by a generous gift from the Veloric Family.
The anticipation for the event is already palpable, particularly for the group of Kogod students who have spent months preparing for it.
“I haven’t talked to anyone who isn’t excited,” said Business and Entertainment (BAE) student Mahita Dasu, who has helped spearhead publicity for the event, including designing a promotional poster. She spent several recent days promoting the concert on the AU quad alongside BAE minors Irene Fauta and Ethan Benware.
“I don’t know that we’re quite sold out yet. But it’s going to be pretty full,” Dasu said, reflecting the strong hand students play in preparing for the show.
Over the summer, around a dozen students from this fall’s Representing Talent course began discussing potential artists who might be a good fit within their budget. They collaborated on those talks with some of the music industry’s top talent agencies, from CAA and UTA to WME.
“Being able to have a say in that was really fun,” said Fauta and Benware, noting how preparing for the show made for a unique in-class experience.
After narrowing down options to a short list of about two dozen artists, the group reached an agreement with Flo Milli, known for top singles like Beef FloMix and In the Party.
From there, the real work began. Planning and executing this major event is the core project in Kogod professor John Simson’s Representing Talent course.
“In class,” Benware said, “is really where the work is done.” Some of that work comes from direct discussions about the student-run concert.
“We’ve researched other universities, what they’ve done for ticket pricing, and how we want to bring that to AU’s campus," said Benware.