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OUAB gives Colette Masterson access to stars, student ingenuity

Posted on | October 7, 2009 | 1,262 views |

Colette Masterson knew she picked the right career because all she has to do is describe what she does to elicit a smile.

“My job is to give Jimmy Fallon his paycheck,” said Masterson, who is assistant director of the Ohio Union and Student Activities and acts as staff advisor for the student-run Ohio Union Activities Board.

OUAB brings speakers, programs and entertainers to campus using students’ $25 quarterly Student Activity Fee (up from $15 last academic year), which amounts to $1.2 million annually. Students get in free to all OUAB events, which run the gamut from thought-provoking social issue panels to well-known speakers, comedians, bands and unusual acts.

The perk for Masterson is she gets to meet all the people OUAB brings in — whether it’s Saturday Night Live’s Fallon; producer, director and actor Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma) or the band Third Eye Blind — while helping its student members create a well-rounded campus experience.

“It’s always awesome when talent is as nice as you expect them to be,” Masterson said. “When they’re the most normal, down-to-earth people and are sincerely interested in engaging the students and excited to be on campus, that’s the fun part.”

It’s also fun for Masterson to watch students brainstorm ideas on filling out the calendar. There are 160 OUAB volunteer student members and 12 student executive board members who head the various committees (lectures, concerts, visual and fine arts, special events, etc.). Their job is to contact the talent or their agents, negotiate a fee and do the entire event planning and hosting.

Masterson is kind of the sounding board for the group. Since it’s a student-run organization, she’s loath to say no to any idea OUAB comes up with and she doesn’t inject act ideas that might appeal to her. But Masterson does provide suggestions on what kinds of programs or acts might work when an idea doesn’t make sense for mass appeal, such as one where a student suggested having a Fight Night.

“Advisers like Colette Masterson give us the tools to be successful programmers, but they allow OUAB to be a student-run organization,” said Kayln Eyer, OUAB president. “We learn and grow the most when we are allowed room for error. The OUAB advisors empower us to be better in all facets of our lives through challenge and encouragement.”

But even some of the best ideas are just out of OUAB’s financial realm, such as comedian Dane Cook and The Dave Matthews Band.

“It depends on the talent and how much they want to come to a college show,” Masterson said. “It’s interesting that talent is typically more expensive to bring to a university than say Promo West Pavilion. Our events are free, so artists aren’t making a certain amount plus ticket sales. So we’re competing with those agencies. Plus, groups like The Dave Matthews Band can sell out a stadium.

“There comes a point where we know what our threshold is and sometimes it means standing firm and letting a talent pass and sometimes it means we get a deal and it works out great for everyone.”

One big-name comedian’s agency flat-out told OUAB it couldn’t afford to bring him in.

“The buying power of the money we have is just not to the level of the entertainment industry, and their inflation is at a much greater rate,” Masterson said. “But hopefully with this new fee increase, we can do more of these kinds of shows.”

The Schottenstein Center staff also help OUAB negotiate fees because the center tends to be in tune with what actual going rates are for talent.

During the 2008-09 academic year, OUAB put on 116 events that drew 71,000 people, and planning for current events is completed halfway through the prior quarter.

“Really the exciting thing about this job is seeing an oddball idea actually come to fruition,” Masterson said. “But it’s also seeing how students affect the campus community. They get a lot of excitement out of people reacting to the events they helped dream up.”

Eyer said the students take their roles very seriously.

“OUAB is a large organization designed to represent the opinions and ideas of the largest and most diverse campus in the nation, and that is not easy,” she said. “OUAB means connecting students on campus and providing them with new experiences, and occasionally that means pushing the envelope. OUAB is about making Ohio State the best campus in the nation and it’s about developing the best leaders in the world.”

Ohio Union opening has OUAB planning ahead
Certain areas of the Ohio Union, which will be completed in spring 2010, were created with the Ohio Union Activities Board in mind. So OUAB member students are already deliberating on what type of events can best be paired with the new facility.

Woody’s Pub, for instance, will have an area for a DJ, singers and dance parties. The west side of the union has the electrical infrastructure to project a concert onto the South Oval.

“We’re in the process of brainstorming how to use the unique and interesting spaces,” said Colette Masterson, advisor to OUAB and assistant director of the Ohio Union and Student Activities. “What are the opening events, in the first 30 days, that will pack a punch and say OUAB is home in this building and the Ohio Union is all about the students? Some of the early thoughts are bringing in Ohio celebrities or Ohio State alum celebrities. Perhaps a performance we’ve never brought before to use the amazing performance hall we’ll have. Maybe we can use the instructional kitchen or the cartoon room for an event.”

Students are given access to any event first, but if tickets remain (a rare occurrence, usually two events per year) they are released to faculty and staff on a first-come, first-serve basis.

These tickets have been free to employees with a Buck ID, but Masterson said leftover tickets to events in the new union might have a fee charged with them.

For complete details, visit ouab.osu.edu.

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