Stephanie Steiner | Arts & Life Co-Editor
On Friday, February 20, Student Activities Board (SAB) announced one of their biggest events to date. Nicole Byer, one of MTV’s “Girl Code” comediennes will be coming to campus on Saturday, February 28.
In the spring of 2014, SAB did a campus-wide survey and the results indicated that Buena Vista University’s (BVU) campus wanted bigger names, more comedians, and more weekend events. SAB’s intention was to plan with that in mind.
Sophomore Haley Stevens, SAB’s Vice President of General Membership, speaks about SAB and what she hopes will come from the event.
“That’s how SAB works, we get feedback from students and work to give them what they want,” Stevens said, “I think it’ll be awesome to see how the BVU community reacts to having such a big name on campus.”
Byer is currently in Los Angeles and she is sandwiching BVU’s isolated show between standing gigs and pilot shows for “Girl Code”.
Becka Neary-DeLaPorte, Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development, describes the process of securing an event of this magnitude.
“Who it is depends on what SAB’s budget allows. The board did some research, talked about who is popular, and dreamed big. We contacted some agents and narrowed it down. We had four names for ‘Girl Code’ or ‘Guy Code’, varying in pricing and varying in name recognition. They opted to go with Nicole because we thought campus might recognize her more, maybe not her name but her face. She seemed to be a little more prominent on the TV show than the others that were suggested,” Neary-DeLaPorte said.
SAB knows that they can get their money’s worth with a comedian. Comedians are easier to accommodate because often all they need is one hotel room, one meal, and a microphone. With Byer’s price range between $5,000-10,000, SAB offered her $6,000 inclusive of travel, a meal, and a hotel room.
“When we choose to take a risk, we try to take a safer risk,” Neary-DeLaPorte said, “It just means if we’re going to spend a lot of money, we want to be intentional about it. We know comedians do go well and we’re hoping this one will go well, too.”
She will be different than normal comedians. Because Byer is an improvisation comedienne, her set will last 40 minutes verses the usual 60 minute sets. She will also be doing a meet-and-greet afterward where she will take pictures and sign autographs for students. The doors of Anderson Auditorium will open at 7:15p.m.
“I think what we’re paying for is not only the comedian, but the interaction that she is going to give to the students,” Neary-DeLaPorte said.
Graphic by Justice Gage
