Educational Ties To Entertainment

The panelists doled out advice in heavy doses, equally dividing it to students and administrators. How do students get into the music business, and how can educators make that happen?

Barbara Hubbard has dedicated her life to teaching students to become entertainment executives as the special events director at New Mexico State University.

From hosting a Bob Hope show on campus in 1973, when he dubbed her “Mother” Hubbard, to a recent Brad Paisley concert (with Guns N’ Roses / Metallica and hundreds of others in between), Hubbard has helped hundreds and hundreds of “young people” become professionals, as she puts it. And it doesn’t hurt that her ACTS program gave Jeff Dunham his first big show in 1983, and boosted the likes of Sinbad along the way.

The panelists each extended her philosophy. Ron Janeczko manages the Taco Bell Arena on the campus of Boise State, but developed a student program there, mirroring the guidance he got from his mentor, Dexter King – the CEO of the IAVM before Hawarden took his position.

Forty-one years ago D’Amico, as a 17-year-old, was a singer-songwriter with a manager named Barbara Hubbard. Now, along with supervising Linda McCartney’s charity for breast cancer, is involved in You Rock Media, a virtual interview room where students can apply for ACTS.

And then there’s Brennin Hunt. Hunt was a Top 8 finalist in the “X Factor.” He hates reality shows but his mom talked him into trying out for the “X Factor.” Producers saw his online audition and asked him to fly out to KeyArena, on his own dime (more like $2,000). He was eventually kicked off, but that’s not the story. He was edited into a storyline – “the loudest standing ovation of the night” looked like a terse disapproval by Simon Cowell. He saw incredible singers leave the show through the same editing process. But Hubbard loved him, and had him open for the Bellamy Brothers and other acts. Again: the tried-and-true performance model is still the best way.

“You always need a place to entertain,” Hawarden said. IAVM offers an internship program, and a career center, with career coaching and resumé writing. It has the highly regarded venue management school – an intensive five-day course “but because of the intensity you’ll make lifetime friendships.” The mentoring program will help students get connected with people in the industry, and the IAVM is looking for sponsors who want to grow the profession.

D’Amico suggested the audience visit www.DarpaTV.com/promo to see how applications to ACTS can work. Students are encouraged to grab their laptops or phones and do electronic auditions. The judges could be from anywhere in the world but, unlike a real-world interview process, the website can absorb 400 video applications at once from, say, Texas A&M.

“It’s a difficult business to get in,” he said. “It’s a very long road for a lot of people. You get told ‘no’ a lot more times than you get told yes. And you can avoid those no’s if you have a little something underneath you, like an education.”

Professor Sean Daly from Johnson & Wales University in Denver posed a question: He runs a program for venue operations but there is no venue on campus – no “labratory” – for his students to practice at. What can he do?
Hawarden said the IAVM internship program is trying to build mutual relationships with venues and could soon have a network where students such as Daly’s could intern at nearby facilities.

Paul Sergeant from Allphones Arena in Sydney asked Janeczko how to support interested students. Janeczko said the early days involved developing “The A Team,” a group that got involved with the students board that put on an annual concert, offering help, knowledge, resources.

“Look for a student organization. Start from there.”

The panel was asked what qualities in interns impressed them. They all jumped in at once: passion.

“If you don’t have passion, there’s the back door. I’m telling you now,” Hubbard said. “You’ve got to have it, kids. You’ve gotta believe – first of all, in yourself.”

Hawarden added another important quality: reliability. “And a willingness to do whatever it takes, because you’ll learn something from everything.”