Super NACA 2011

By: Billy McDonald, Marketing Coordinator 

Finally it is here. The NACA Northern Plains Regional Conference starts today and goes to April 3, 2011 in St. Paul, MN.  (http://www.naca.org/nplportal.aspx). NACA is the National Association of Campus Activities. Over the course on 4 days we will watch dozens and dozens of acts such as magic, music, other random talents, and etc. 

 

Design by NACA Northern Plains Region

We also will take part in many Ed sessions to learn how to better program and promote events to our campus. There is an active marketplace where agents and their talent interact with student campus programmers. There is a lot of deal making and smooth talking that happens on the Marketplace floor. The Group members are the voice of the entire student body of MSUM when programming for campus, so we are very cautious to not sign contracts on impulse. Instead of signing contracts and block booking forms on the marketplace floor, we sign strong intent forms. Then we collectively debate each of them at a semi-annual programming meeting. 

The whole Dragon Entertainment Group is so pumped for NACA Northern Plains Conference this year. We are planning to show up and blow up this year. The theme is Super NACA, and we came prepared show our super powers. 

We are introducing our blog to the world this weekend, so…hi world. I am stepping more and more in to marketing position in the group. I made the move from Showcase to Marketing in February and I love it. We are getting out tweet on and our Facebook is the place to be. Checkout the twitter feed to the right of this blog to see what the group thinks about the artist and Ed sessions. 

I can’t wait to see all the acts this year. I am even more excited to wheel and deal with the agents on the marketplace floor. I want us to win the CAMP award this year. What is the CAMP award?

CAMP Award

This award is nominated and voted upon by associates in attendance at the conference. The Campus Activities Marketplace Award is given to a school that does exceptional business during the Marketplace. It is NOT necessarily for the school that books the most talent. The award takes into account the interaction students have with associate members, and whether associates believe the students come away with an understanding of what the agencies are or have to offer.

Schools will be judged on the following criteria:

• Stopping at non-showcasing and showcasing booths;
• Asking questions of the agency (what do you offer?);
• Calendar readiness, budget awareness;
• Understanding of the CO-OP Buying process;
• Making an effort to work with associates;
• Delegation visits to booth, including CO-OP Buyer;
• Understanding of the benefits of the Campus Activity Marketplace;
• Learning how to do business & building business savvy; and
• Other supportive comments.

We are going to win this award this year. The Dragon Entertainment Group is full of strong confident student programmers that always act professional. Our very own Mikky Daub has plans on rocking the graphics competition in the following categories:

 • One-Color Poster/ Flyer
Entries using one ink color on either a white or color background
• Multicolor Poster/ Flyer
Entries using two or more ink colors printed on a white or color background
• One-Color Clothing Item
Entries using one color on any type of clothing
• Multicolor Clothing Item
Entries using two or more colors on any type of clothing

I am currently debating entering one of my buttons into the Miscellaneous Publicity competition. I will keep you posted.  

We’ll be super busy all day, take a look at our schedule:

THURSDAY

11 am–7 pm ..................CAMP Load-in/Associate Member Registration
11 am–7 pm ..................School Conference Registration
2 pm–2:45 pm ...............Conference Welcome
2:45pm-3:45pm ..............Sampler Showcase (Mid America, Mid Atlantic, West only)
2:45pm-3:45pm ..............Special Events (Central only)
3 pm–4 pm ....................Educational Session 1 (Block Bookers' Orientation)
4:15 pm–5:15 pm ...........Associate Member Orientation
4:30 pm–5:15 pm ...........Latecomer’s Conference Orientation
5:30 pm–7 pm ...............Conference Dinner
77 pm–8 pm ....................Campus Activities Marketplace Grand Opening 1
8:15 pm-10:20 pm ..........Spotlight Showcase 1
10:20 pm–11:30 pm ........Campus Activities Marketplace 2
11:35 pm–12:35 am ........Staff/Associate Member Reception & Speed Networking
11:35 pm–12:35 am .........Special Events Showcase

You can follow the action by joining the Twitter conversation! Use the hashtag #nacanpl11 for all your NACA Northern Plains Conference tweets  during and after the Conference look for @MSUMTheGroup @MikkyDaub @BAsnowflake @CHIA_McDonald @MeganNitschke and @JackStenerson.

I’ll keep you all updated with pictures and artist that grabbed our attention. Thanks for reading the Dragon Entertainment Groups very first blog. #NACAnpl11