When DJ Medasin last-minute canceled his performance at last year’s Block Party because he was, ironically, too sick to perform, SU students immediately demanded answers.

University Union’s public relations team already had a backup plan in place.

“I have a crisis folder,” said Lauren Crimmins, a junior dual public relations and psychology major and the director of public relations for UU. “We’re just kind of always ready because the student body wants to hear something as soon as they know something’s up.”

Since its founding in 1962, UU has provided SU with concerts, comedian performances, lecturers and movie screenings. Juice Jam, SU’s annual concert series to kickstart the fall semester, is one of the biggest events of the year.

Juice Jam 2018 will feature a star-studded lineup. Headlining the concert are rappers A$AP Ferg and Playboi Carti, supported by artists Anne-Marie, Loud Luxury and Omar Apollo. The event will also have activities including a rock-climbing wall, a silent disco, airbrush tattoos, inflatables and art installations.

Crimmins said she hopes this year’s lineup is everything the student body was hoping for.

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“I think in the past it’s been hard for students to feel like they can communicate with University Union and tell us what they’re feeling about different lineups,” she said. “And we really want to create that dialogue this year and be as open as possible.”

UU is able to gauge those student demands by regular polling through email surveys.

“We want to represent the student body as best as we can, so we use exactly what the students want to see to determine who we bring,” said Noah Rosenberg, a junior in the Bandier program and UU’s concerts director.

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Deciding which artists perform is just a small part of what goes into planning campus-wide events. The average event takes about four months to plan — including drafting lineups, reaching out to multiple agencies and coordinating the multi-level logistics.

“It’s always a couple months out because there’s so many moving parts to all of these festivals,” Rosenberg said. “Obviously, the most fun and, I guess, glamourous part of it is booking the artist, but that’s like a tenth of the work that really goes into it.”

Committee positions for Juice Jam are voted in at the end of the previous semester. Positions such as technology research or silent disco specialists are responsible for research, collecting data and presenting pitches for each event.

These positions are under UU’s nine executive boards: cinemas, concerts, public relations, social media, marketing, design, performing arts, collaborations and productions.

Crimmins said the days leading up to an event are always stressful.

Each year, University Union hosts the Juice Jam Music Festival. The student-run organization receives funding from Syracuse University to bring big names to the stage. Paul Schlesinger | Staff Photographer

“We’re all excited for it, but there is a lot of stress that comes with being the people that represent what the student body wants and making sure that’s put on,” Crimmins said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but we’re here because we’re passionate about it and we want to do it.”

Students join UU because of the opportunities for experience in entertainment planning, design and marketing. UU Vice President Kyla Perlman said the organization currently has 70 members, but they’re expecting to have about 120 by the end of the semester.

Every new addition, whether they’re a freshman or a senior, starts as a general member and can then apply to be an e-board member.

“We’re very gifted in the fact that we’re able to use money to really bring what students want to see and best use our outreach and our resources to help and to entertain,” Perlman said.

Published on September 13, 2018 at 2:16 am