DANIELLE KRAMER STAFF WRITER
Large event ticket sales for Seth Meyers, a comedian and lead writer for the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, have been slower than expected.
ETK chose Meyers based on evaluations from past ETK events, which showed that students were more interested in having a big-name comedian than a genre-specific musical performance.
“It’s really ironic because this is what people wanted,” Anna Javellana, vice president for ETK, said.
Sarah Glascock, director of campus programming and ETK adviser, said getting into specific genres typically brings in less attendance.
The ETK staff was also concerned that students were shying away from buying tickets because of the difference in price from last year’s event.
Tickets for last year’s large event, David Cook, sold for only $5, compared to this year’s $10 student price.
However, ticket prices were lower last year because Cook also performed at the University of Northern Iowa. The price decline was to help Wartburg have a competitive advantage over UNI to attract students and community members to buy tickets through Wartburg, said Javellana.
Wartburg student Kristin Vale said she’s not going to Seth Meyers because of the time of year the event is taking place.
“It’s way too early for a large event. The large event should be in the spring. It’s something to look forward to, and it’s a really stressful time right now,” said Vale.
Another reason for students’ hesitation on buying tickets may be due to the seating arrangements.
“Since the past events have been concerts, you buy a ticket, go in and it doesn’t matter where you sit because you go up to the front anyway,” Audrey Sturtz, ETK president said.
Javellana said this is not the first time ticket sales have been slow. She said the ETK staff is confident that ticket sales will pick up closer to the event.
Even if this year’s large event does not sell out, ETK’s budget for future events will not be affected. The cost of the event, which comes from student activities fees, will be covered no matter what.
“There has never been a tremendous amount of revenue from these events. What it essentially is designed to do is let students who go to Wartburg know that there are some amazing acts that are willing to come here and that’s something not a lot of schools our size get to do,” said Glascock.