QU MUSIC ‘embarrassed’ by turnout
February 24, 2010
QU MUSIC chair Tabor Chichakly is pissed off.
Following the Haiti benefit concert co-sponsored by QU MUSIC and Alpha Phi Omega (APO), which raised $200, he told The Chronicle that there was “no excuse” for Quinnipiac students to not attend.
“It was honestly an embarrassment not only for us as groups, but for the entire school,” Chichakly said. “One of my friends made a good point the other day: the only way to get students at this school up and off the couch is for alcohol.”
Chichakly acknowledges this is not the entire Quinnipiac population, but a vast majority.
“College is what you make [of] it,” he said. “I feel like people really do want to get involved and would actually have a good time if they could put the effort in.”
Bryan Gee and members of Alpha Phi Omega, a community service organization on campus, organized the benefit concert for Haiti in order to help relief efforts. QU MUSIC joined the program when approached about bringing in live music.
“A large part of QU MUSIC is trying to broaden the horizons of the students on campus, so more bands means a little more variety,” Chichakly said. “I contacted QU MUSIC’s booking agent, Sal Salemme, and told him we had a priority bill to book and he went to work contacting people. Luckily, he managed to get in touch with Call 2 Consciousness, who were recently on tour, and were glad to play the gig.”
QU MUSIC and APO donated all proceeds from the concert to the Red Cross.
“We decided to choose the Red Cross because the Red Cross was a well known and established organization that we knew would not try to turn a disaster such as that into a way to earn a cheap buck,” Chichakly said.
The benefit concert raised further awareness for those suffering loss in Haiti.
“The concert was a good time and a fun way to bring students together for a good cause,” freshman Krystle Bernier said. “Not only did it bring those passionate about relief in one room, but attracted those who may not have been as informed.”
Tabor Chichakly • Feb 24, 2010 at 6:12 pm
TABOR CHICHAKLY QU MUSIC CHAIR – Well, perhaps the outcome of this event is a sign that our methods of promotion are not as successful as we thought. There was a banner in the cafe two weeks before the event and there was a table in the student center the week before (yes it probably should’ve been there 2 weeks before). The event was on the student center TV’s, on table tents in the cafe, fliers up on the student center bulletin boards, it was in the student events newsletter, on the MyQ page under events, and there was even a facebook group where about 1,000 people had been invited. If that wasn’t enough, we put fliers in all the cubicles in the library, the tables in the cafe, up in the York Hill Cresent, emailed every organizational president in the school and even some RA’s advertised it to their residents. The one thing that we did not do, which would have made a difference, was dorm storm. However, I am unconvinced that that would have made that a large difference. So to say that no one knew about this is not entirely accurate. However, if not as many people did know about the event as we had hoped, that begs the question of, does anyone even care enough about campus events in general, to read the fliers, TV’s, table tents, etc? Alpha Phi Omega and QU MUSIC worked together to try to create an event that was fun and enjoyable, yet still helped those outside of our everyday lives. Everyone here (yes including me some days) seems to be living in their own bubble. Obviously this is understandable with so much going on in our lives at this time. However, we should all try take a little more time to step out of our bubble and take a look at the world around us. Judging by the number of people already signed up for CAP’s Big Event, people on this campus do care about the community they live in and are willing to help out and try something new. I hope that this can help start a movement of much needed change here at Quinnipiac. There’s a difference between willing to make the effort and actually making the effort. There are a lot of people, student leaders and organization members, who make a strong effort every day. However, I also see a lot more people on campus willing to make an effort. I am hoping that I will start to see more people actually making an effort on this campus to make other people’s lives AND their own, more enjoyable. For those of you who came to the concert, donated, helped organize or simply helped spread the word, we thank you. Your efforts are noticed and greatly appreciated.
Bryan Gee • Feb 24, 2010 at 5:29 pm
BRYAN GEE, PRESIDENT OF ALPHA PHI OMEGA – Despite the flyers, banners, ticket sales in the student center, Facebook groups, ads on the student center TVs, and Student Event newsletter, I do agree that a good number of Quinnipiac students did not know about the concert. I coordinated a majority of the concert and in retrospect, I’m not exactly sure where we went wrong and why there was not a larger turnout.
The past is the past though and despite the number of students in attendance, we collectively raised a large amount of money for the victims of Haiti. The concert was a great time and the bands were not only extremely talented, but they were some of the nicest people around. They might have been discouraged by the turnout, but they did not let this affect their performance. ALPHA PHI OMEGA and QU MUSIC put on a great concert for the student body. Everyone who showed up had a good time, ate free pizza, and left full and happy.
I want to thank everyone who supported ALPHA PHI OMEGA and Haiti in their time of need. We are a small co-ed community service based fraternity on campus who is constantly helps the surrounding community. If you are interesting in giving back check us out, http://www.aponualpha.com, we are open to all undergraduate students. Look for us on campus and we hope to see you soon. Thanks again to everyone!
Jess • Feb 24, 2010 at 2:44 pm
I honestly think that the reason this event flopped is because there was little to no promotion for it. I didn’t even know about the event. I received a text the other night that said “Come to the concert in Alumni,” and my immediate thought was — what concert?