Letter from Bill Stetka to Dan McCarthy

G TO: FROM: Dan McCarthy Bill Stetka RE: SG Speaker Series Dan, in my two years working with the SGA on its Speaker Series, few of the speakers have drawn well. Certainly none have drawn anything close to the numbers that series in years past drew. I think there are a number of reasons for this, all of them connected in some way to the marketing of the series. 1. GETTIG A LINEUP. The process has taken too long - into September last year, into mid-August this year to put the series together. There is not enough time to put together brochures or do the proper advance advertising, The SGA vice-president as been in charge of putting the series together. The VP doesn't take office until April, and it's not until summer when school is out and the VP is not on campus often that most of the work is being done. Speakers should be lin ed up at least a year in advance the 1989-90 speaker starting now. Not only would this solve time problems, it would mean potential speakers' have more free dates. 2. INPUT IN WHO'S SPEAKING. Last year, it was the SGA VP and a faculty member, whose own personal interests were reflected in five of the seven speakers. This year, the VP was lining people up and asking me what I thought about this person or that, but not until we were into the ''crunch time" for getting the final peakers. 3. SPACING OUT OF DATES. Last year there were simply too many speakers, often 2-3 weeks apart. This year, the first two speakers are two weeks apart. This is simply too often for the type of speaker we're getting. 4. No CLEAR DEFINITION OF MARKET. Who is the series for- students? faculty? the public? Who are we trying to satisfy? Part of the campus screams when the speaker isn't "academic" enough. Another part screams when few tickets are sold. Students often stay away, it seems, unless thy are required to go for class (which few instructors force, apparently). The marketable person - someone who immediately elicits recognition and controversy/entertainment - in the 1987-88 series ( 7 dates) was George Will, who has spoken at TSU and in Baltimore quite often in recent years. This year, Ed Bradley is probably the most marketable name and face, but I'm not convinced he's stimulating or controversial enough to draw a large crowd. Linda Ellerbee is both of those, but she's probably not as well known.