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The Daily OrangeEdit | Robert's speech needed better promotion
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Posted: 9/13/07, 12:41 AM EST Section: Opinion
Many students will miss a golden opportunity to see Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. dedicate Newhouse III on Wednesday. Poor promotion of his keynote address was to blame for students' inability to reserve a ticket.
As reported in The Daily Orange today, tickets for the event at Hendricks Chapel sold out at the Schine Student Center in less than 10 minutes. Students that lined up before the box office's 11 a.m. opening received a ticket from the limited supply provided to the public. Those less-than-fortunate students who were not first in line left the box office empty-handed.
Only about 100 lucky students with tickets knew to get to the box office before the opening. How they knew to show up early is not clear. Most students were unaware that tickets for the event even went on sale. Aside from teachers who told their students when to visit the box office, there were few sources on campus that had any information regarding the ticket availability.
Universities are typically public relations machines. They flood the media with information when promoting events.
However, with Roberts' speech, students weren't bombarded with e-mails and posters. They were left out of the loop.
Perhaps the event was under-promoted to students because of the limited venue space. With tickets allotted specifically for faculty, media, alumni donors and the Newhouse family, only a small number of tickets were available to the student body in the first place, hence the fast sellout.
If SU truly wanted students to see the speech, administrators would have moved the event to a larger venue, such as Goldstein Auditorium or the Carrier Dome. S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications Dean David Rubin said the aesthetics of Hendricks Chapel made it the best choice for the event. Putting a "majestic" setting before the interests of students was a poor decision.
All events held at this university should be promoted with the students' best interest in mind. If SU chooses to hold an event that only benefits the who's who of the university, it should do a better job of explaining such intentions to students.
As reported in The Daily Orange today, tickets for the event at Hendricks Chapel sold out at the Schine Student Center in less than 10 minutes. Students that lined up before the box office's 11 a.m. opening received a ticket from the limited supply provided to the public. Those less-than-fortunate students who were not first in line left the box office empty-handed.
Only about 100 lucky students with tickets knew to get to the box office before the opening. How they knew to show up early is not clear. Most students were unaware that tickets for the event even went on sale. Aside from teachers who told their students when to visit the box office, there were few sources on campus that had any information regarding the ticket availability.
Universities are typically public relations machines. They flood the media with information when promoting events.
However, with Roberts' speech, students weren't bombarded with e-mails and posters. They were left out of the loop.
Perhaps the event was under-promoted to students because of the limited venue space. With tickets allotted specifically for faculty, media, alumni donors and the Newhouse family, only a small number of tickets were available to the student body in the first place, hence the fast sellout.
If SU truly wanted students to see the speech, administrators would have moved the event to a larger venue, such as Goldstein Auditorium or the Carrier Dome. S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications Dean David Rubin said the aesthetics of Hendricks Chapel made it the best choice for the event. Putting a "majestic" setting before the interests of students was a poor decision.
All events held at this university should be promoted with the students' best interest in mind. If SU chooses to hold an event that only benefits the who's who of the university, it should do a better job of explaining such intentions to students.
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