Throughout the year The Auburn University Program Council holds a variety of exciting events for students to take part in on campus. They literally do everything from open mic nights, to speed dating, to movie nights, and even to their most recent event, Cirque D’ Auburn, which featured jugglers, magicians, and aerialists. The University Program Council has always been known to go all out when holding events for Auburn students. Now, the time has come for one of UPC’s most anticipated event, Auburn Airwaves! With big name headliners such as TRAIN, Hot Chelle Rae, and Green River Ordinance performing in the Auburn Arena, this night is sure to be one filled with great music and lots of dancing! UPC’s Director of Major Entertainment, Emily Armstrong talks with HerCampus about everything that goes into planning such an amazing event as well as what Auburn students can look forward to with this event.
HC Auburn: Where are you from?
Emily: I am currently from Marietta Georgia but prior to moving to Georgia I lived just outside of Los Angeles California. Spending a good chuck of my life there is how I became fascinated with concerts and event planning.
HC Auburn: What is your major?
Emily: I am a Business major with a concentration in Human Resource Management and a minor in Human Development and Family Studies.
HC Auburn: What are you involved with on Auburn’s campus?
Emily: Along with my involvement with UPC this past year I was fortunate to serve as a Vice President for our Beat Bama Food Drive and a Camp War Eagle Parent Counselor last summer.
HC Auburn: What is your responsibility as UPC’s Director of Major Entertainment?
Emily: My responsibilities as Director range from getting surveys for what students want, organizing the announcement party and everything that needs to happen the day of. I am lucky that I have 4 assistant directors to help me because without them I could never get everything done and have a successful concert for the students. We work really well together and with five of us we are able to break down the concert into parts such as publicity, production, hospitality, media relations and with myself working directly with the artists and creating all our schedules. We all work together on everything but by breaking it up it makes the concert a lot less overwhelming and it is easier to get multiple things going and done at the same time. Concert day is always crazy with everything coming together so having everything broken up and us all working together makes it all run smoother and things do not fall thru the cracks.
HC Auburn: When did preparation for Auburn Airwaves begin?
Emily: Preparation for Auburn Airwaves began back in October once we had finished out fall concert, which was Botta Getta Bash. The second we are done with our fall concert we always start planning the because it gives us more time to talk with students to see what they want and time to get the best artists we can.
HC Auburn: Was it difficult trying to decide which performers would be featured this year?
Emily: It is always difficult picking an artist because we are planning a concert for such a large audience, that being the Auburn student body. We strive to appeal to as many students as we can and while looking for artists we do everything we can to get artists we believe the student body will enjoy and be excited about. This year at our announcement party when we announced that our artists were going to be TRAIN, Hot Chelle Rae and Green River Ordinance and students cheered and instantly started talking about it, we were all so excited and it also gave us a little sigh of relief. We always wonder will the students like it, are we picking the right people and when we finally announce and the students are excited it is just such a great moment for us to know that the students are happy.
HC Auburn: What are you looking forward to most about this year’s concert?
Emily: What I look forward to most is having the concert start and having the students have a fun night and enjoy themselves right before finals week. All the anticipation and build up to the concert makes for such an energized moment for us when the lights go down and the music starts. Planning Auburn Airwaves is so much fun and it really is like our baby so once it happens and it is successful we all have such pride in what we were able to do as students for students.
HC Auburn: Where can students go to find more information about the concert?
Emily: Students can find us on Facebook and Twitter at Auburn Airwaves for information about publicity events, ways to win floor wristbands, and everything else Auburn Airwaves. They can also go to the UPC page at Auburn.edu/UPC for information and to get their tickets under the Events and Tickets tab.