SFSS fall kickoff concert forecasts smaller loss

The Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) will host its largest event of the year, the fall kickoff concert, this month. The event is currently on track to run a smaller loss than previous years because the society has garnered substantial sponsorship.

This summer, the SFSS Board of Directors approved a total budget of $111,400 for the concert, which included an estimated $14,400 loss to be incurred by the society. However, Alam Khehra, vice-president of student life, told The Peak that the organizers are expecting the losses to be lower than expected.

“I’m very optimistic that we will be investing less than $14,400 this year into this concert,” Khehra said.

Last year the total cost of the SFSS fall kickoff concert run under the previous board was $112,198 and ran a $24,777 loss.

Khehra said that the team has managed to exceed its original goal of $15,000 in sponsorship, some in monetary value or in the form of services or goods. The team is now banking on ticket sales to bring in the needed revenue.

In previous years, the SFSS has sold around 2,000 tickets. “This year we’re hoping to sell a lot more, mainly [because] it’s one of the biggest line-ups we’ve had in all of [SFSS] history,” said Khehra.

“Right now we’re budgeting for 2,100 tickets [to be sold and] we are close to meeting half of it,” he added.

The after party for the event will now be held at the Diamond Alumni Centre as the Highland Pub will not be reopened in time for the concert on September 22. The society transferred operation of the Highland Pub to the university last month following the permanent closure of SFSS food and beverage options earlier this year.

Khehra said that from day one the organizers had asked the university to use the pub for the concert after party. “They said they’d tried their best, but unfortunately, that couldn’t happen,” he explained.

According to Khehra, the university offered the society use of the Diamond Alumni Centre without any additional charges over what they would have already been paying.

The ultimate goal of the concert is “not to make money off of student[s’] back[s],” he added, including that if the SFSS were to make money from the fall kickoff concert, the board would invest the money into other initiatives.