And so ends my NACA South experience in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
From what I felt, this was an absolutely wonderful and intense experience. Through the perspective of the student and volunteer, one might say this year was a boggle of information and ushering.
For the first time student, being at NACA must be an overwhelming time, due to meeting talent, agents, and grabbing plenty of promotional items. I remember being in their shoes, having to be on my feet all day, taking tedious notes while comparing them to the open dates at my campus. It’s a lot of pressure when you’re the one who has to decide which act to book (and who the college audience would be more receptive to).
The volunteers, on the other hand, don’t have as bad a job as others. Their jobs are necessary and someone has to do it, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t feel like it’s a waste of time. When I volunteered, I noticed there should have been someone else there with me, though I find out later they neglected to come down and help check badges. While it was a dumb job, it ensured that people who were SUPPOSED to be there were in attendance.
Being that this year was my second NACA South, I noticed much more. First of all, every agent was apprehensive about who they talked to. But every talent approached students. Those without agents present had trouble approaching students, or were nervous about how they appeared.
The simple truth was that the talent with agents had to show they were legitimately selling themselves: but many students weren’t interested.
What seemed like a big problem at this NACA must have been conflict of preference. Many students expected to see big names, and at least someone famous. Not these “rising stars”.
Evidence: Students flocked to Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding from “Saved by the Bell”), to groups that appeared on VH1 or MTV, and artists that had cheap prices and cool promotions.
While it stinks that these smaller acts and artists that tried so hard went unnoticed, those are the cards that were dealt. Maybe in other regions, they’ll be more lucky in getting booked, just not here.
So the weekend ends here, but for me, I still have work to do. While I was gone, my fraternity took a beating in communication amongst the new members, making some late to their mandatory meetings. Paperwork still needs to be processed, and homework needs to be completed.
But those are my weekends, aren’t they?
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