Recent economic trends of uncertainty in the national sector
have taken a toll on local financial funding of the 17th Annual
Jazz/Reggae Festival which occurred over Memorial Day Weekend.
“Sponsorship took a big hit this year,” said Dana
Shayegan, director of the Jazz/Reggae Festival. “We received
a lot of rejection letters from companies who expressed interest in
the event but weren’t able to invest because of the war and
the economic uncertainty with the recession occurring.”
With a multi-cultural emphasis, the two-day outdoor festival
featured top-rated jazz and reggae musicians from all over the
country and a marketplace of ethnic foods.
The event hosted nearly 20,000 attendants in Drake Stadium.
“This event is important because I don’t see any
other event on campus that brings so many people of different
socio-economic backgrounds together in one environment,”
Shayegan said.
In spite of initial setbacks, the Jazz/Reggae festival managed
to sell more pre-sale tickets than ever before.
“The economy has made it harder to secure funds,”
Shayegan said. “But we had a dedicated staff that did
research and utilized the appropriate funds and were able to pull
it all together.”
As one of the largest student-run festivals in the country,
JazzReggae sent out letters and videos to 50 sponsors, of which six
responded.
“The effort seemed futile but we just had to keep pressing
on,” said Jazz Talent Coordinator, Ross Otto.
As a result of insufficient support from sponsors, the
JazzReggae committee turned to funding for campus groups.
“A few years ago it was easier to find support because of
the economic growth but now people are scaling back and the first
place that gets cut is sponsorship of events like this,” Otto
said.
Attributing the lack of sponsorship to poor economic conditions
and describing the financial profits of investment, the JazzReggae
Festival secured funding from the Undergraduate Students
Association Council as a private investor.
“USAC saw the financial benefits of the festival and put a
great deal of trust in the event’s coordinators to make it a
stellar event, and it seemed like a sound decision,” said
USAC Finance Committee Chairman Hrug DerManuelian.
Hrug noted the financial security of investing in the event and
said last year’s core investor contributed $20,000 and made a
20 percent profit.
Ross Otto, talent coordinator for JazzReggae, noted that a
majority of council voted in favor of sponsorship of the event.
“It’s not risk-free but profitability from the event
is pretty certain,” said Otto.
The JazzReggae festival tapped into a part of the USAC reserve
account, immune from fluctuations in the economy since the fund has
a constant amount partly drawn from student fees.
Proceeds from the festival will be split between JazzReggae and
USAC with half of the profit going directly to the JazzReggae
reserve.
Shayegan said that this system of dividing the proceeds will
allow for the festival to be self-supporting and become its own
investor in the future.
In order to secure the approximate $200,000 needed to fund the
entire event, JazzReggae garnered financial support from USAC, the
Graduate Student Association, and the Assistant Dean’s
fund.