This is a series on the Back Bones of the Marching Band. There will be multiple parts to this that covers several of the people/roles that help the band function. The St. Ambrose Marching band is still a young program that is only a few years old. This band was built by students, for students and run by students. This means that the band is run by Leadership and ProStaff. Students audition for the SLT(Student Leadership Team) each year and go through training to help run the band. You will learn about the band and what it means to several members of the staff.
This article focuses on the work studies that help the band function. We have three work study students that do different things. One is the music librarian, another is the administrative assistant, and the third is the media and marketing manager. For this interview we will be hearing specifically from the media and marketing manager. The work studies do a lot to help the band function and run smoothly so without further delay let’s zoom in on one of our key members. She is the BackBone of the band running all of our social media and marketing materials.
Let me introduce Amber! Amber is a junior here majoring in Strategic Communication with minors in Graphic Design and Design & Interactive Media. This is her third year in the band and her first year holding this position. Amber has been involved in the band since sixth grade. Throughout her time she has been involved in jazz band & multiple choir groups. She also has a talent to play multiple low brass instruments. Amber is very friendly, & always open to helping others. I have known Amber for a while since we are both members of the brass section. She is definitely an unofficial ‘band mom’ for anyone who needs it & a great friend who will tell you how it is.
Amber’s role is important because she provides the band with a way to gain more publicity and to grow their audience. She helps every group in the band. She runs the social media and marketing not only for the whole band but also for the color guard and percussion sections. Her role is to attract potential members and grow the outreach in the community. What makes her good for this role is her skills to be artistic, creative and communicate. She has to be willing to work and collaborate with other people. She also has to have technological skills that means she can work with different programs. She was inspired to take on this role after it opened up when the previous student graduated. She was given the opportunity to shadow the previous manager which then led to her gaining the position. She joined the band because her highschool director told her that one was being built and that they could use another tuba player.
The band has affected her when it gave her the chance to grow her musical abilities and gave her the sense of family at college. Her work study position also gave her the opportunity to increase the skills required for her major and minors. Amber wants to leave the band with another media & marketing manager that can help the band continue to flourish and grow online. She wants to help bring in more potential members to continue to help grow the online presence and build the family.
(FBB 2019)
When asked to share one piece of wisdom she wanted to share something with the new members. “If you are worried about not making friends DON’T BE because your friends will find you”.
Photo Credit: FBB Media & Marketing Manager