The numbers from the 2014 Fall Kickoff concert have been released, showing that the largest concert in Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) history also had a surplus of $10,992.
Zied Masmoudi, VP student services and project lead, presented his evaluation of the event to the SFSS board of directors on November 12.
“I can happily say that we have succeeded in fulfilling [our] goals [as outlined],” Masmoudi stated. He said those goals — diversity, accessibility, efficiency, and sustainability — were achieved by featuring diverse artists, accommodating students with disabilities, and reducing the amount of energy used in terms of production,
With regards to engagement, over 200 students collaborated to put on the concert. Masmoudi reported that stakeholders, including campus security, student services, and SFSS staff, were pleased with how the event went and how the volunteers conducted themselves.
Including staff and volunteers, over 1,800 people attended the concert on September 19. Of those in attendance, 30 per cent were between the ages of 16 and 18 and 65 per cent showed their SFU ID at the door.
Masmoudi explained the numbers: “Among the other 30 per cent, a lot of the attendees displayed that they are SFU students, but they did not bring their IDs. Unless students show their identification, we do not count them. [. . .] I’m pretty sure the ratio is much higher than that.”
In the past, administration has expressed concern over non-SFU students attending the concert events. However, Colleen Knox, executive director of the SFSS, lauded the high number of SFU students who attended: “The university has a sense that non-SFU students coming to our campus do not have the same loyalty and respect for the campus, and so they really do like to see that what we’re doing is on behalf of the members.”
In presenting the financial report, Masmoudi suggested that there may have been an error in counting ticket sales, as there was an extra $300 in sales combined with a number of tickets unaccounted for by the end of the night.
“[University administration] really do like to see that what we’re doing is on behalf of the members.”
Colleen Knox, executive director of the SFSS
Shadnam Khan, business representative added, “Some of the missing tickets weren’t actually missing tickets. I might not have accounted for them properly.”
Similar concerns around ticket sale disparities have been raised in light of the financial reports from previous SFSS concerts, but this is the first time that concern has related to a surplus, not a deficit.
In his recommendations for future events, Masmoudi suggested that the working group begin preparing for concerts sooner in order to book artists at lower expense. Furthermore, he suggested that they reduce the number of tiers at which tickets are priced and begin the actual concert at a later time in the evening.
At the end of the presentation, SFSS president Chardaye Bueckert brought up concerns about whether the board would continue to act as a working board — with members directly involved in event planning — or instead act as more of a governing body.
“It’s probably not the most sustainable thing to have the entire duty of organizing a huge concert fall on the shoulders of one or two individual board members,” she said.
Following Bueckert’s point, Khan recommended that Masmoudi formulate a proposal for a spring concert. “Based on what Chardaye said, board can then choose through what avenue they want to host a concert. I just want this to continue,” he explained.
Board voted in favour of tasking Masmoudi to bring forward a proposal for a spring concert to board.
