COCA: Solid Programming or Solid Drinking?

So…

I am doing my report on the COCA Conference I attended and I keep rolling the same question through my mind; is COCA worth it?

For those that do not know, COCA stand for the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities (website here: http://www.coca.org) and we at the ULSU pay a membership fee to access their resources with businesses and professionals in the world of campus programming.

We also get to go to this conference that I suspect you have heard of once or twice in passing.

Now as an organization COCA makes sense to be a part of; contacts, education, and resources for first time programmers or experienced veterans alike!

But what about that darned conference?

In case you haven’t heard some the rumors, COCA has been framed as one giant party filled with free alcohol and ample opportunities to engage in “questionable” behavior. Rooms full of naked people. The Devil play card in the back corner for someone’s soul. That kind of stuff. And now that I am back the question a lot of people have been asking me is, “so how was your time at COCA?” wink.

(That little wink at the end of the question makes reference to all the lovely rumors that circulate around the conference.)

Really, though, I can’t say that anything that went on during our stay in Ottawa would be rumor worthy material; yes there were the rooms with free alcohol, and yes we took a late night swim in a pool, but COCA is not this huge monstrosity of party that I keep hearing about.

Was it a good time? You bet! I saw some awesome bands, I got to hang out in bars with lots of cool people 5 nights in a row, and I got to talk to people doing the same job as me across the country.

So back to that first question; is COCA worth it?

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is yes, because it gives programmers the ability to become instantly comfortable in their job, develop their skill sets to create better events at their respective campuses, and make dozens of contacts across the country for professional purposes.

Cheers,

Eric
VP Internal

VP Academic – COCA Travel Report

My official report in relation to my attendance of the Canadian Organization of Campus Activites (COCA).

This can also be found on the ULSU website.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Executive travel report – VP Academic

June 18^th, 2008

Conference attended: Canadian Organization of Campus Activities (COCA)

Dates attended:  June 6^th 2008 – June 11^th 2008

Myself and Eric Hawthorne attended COCA this year on behalf of University of Lethbridge in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. The purpose of the conference is to educate student leaders and campus programmers on event planning and execution. The conference gives delegates a variety of education session options which one can tailor to suit their campus’ needs. Outside of the education sessions, the showcase’s provided by COCA provides delegates the opportunity to hear upcoming Canadian musicians who are interested in playing campus events. The showcases also give delegates the opportunity to talk to the artists and agencies in a more comfortable, less pressured atmosphere which is much more conducive to forming positive relationships.

There were two education sessions I attended which proved to very interesting and helpful in garnering new ideas for the UofL; “Unconventional programming” and “Small schools – Big ideas”. I also attended, along with Eric, two regional meetings which gave the opportunity for the schools in certain regions the chance to come together and discuss possible acts they are interested in bringing in. This allows smaller school’s a better chance to book bigger bands as it gives us a chance to block book acts that would be harder to bring to smaller schools with smaller budgets.

COCA also provided a trade show which gave delegates the opportunity to meet promoters, agency reps and Promotion Company and find out more information about them, as well what they can offer a particular school.

Overall, I feel that COCA provided a great opportunity to meet programmers and student leaders from across the country to foster stronger working relationships which can aid our small school in achieving bigger things. The conference was well attended and well organized and I genuinely feel as if I did come away with a better ability in event planning as well as a stronger comfort in having those pertinent contacts.

As always, more information is available via the World Wide Web on the ULSU blog at www.ulsu.wordpress.com.

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic

Back from COCA with too much A/C

Greetings!

Back and fresh faced from the lovely and amazing COCA. Eric has been diligent on updating on bands and the other wicked showcases we saw, so no need to be redundant. I do have to say that my personal high lites are seeing Dan Mangan, The Coast, Hey Rosetta! and Hey Ocean! live. All these artists put on amazing live shows and they all are very very worth checking out.

The showcases in general were great and incredibly helpful for ideas on booking. If you personally heard any of these artists and are super jazzed to bring them to Lethbridge, than let us know! Chances are one of us exec’s will be equally jazzed so please don’t hesitate to throw in that opinion.

Besides seeing amazing bands and meeting equally amazing people, I got the chance to look at speakers available in the upcoming year and will be following up on a few people. Two themes I am going for this year in planning speakers and academic related events are “Politics can be sexy?!” and “Sex, drugs, Rock n’Roll”. If there are any suggestions out in the crowd, please comment and let me know if there is anyone you would like to see brought to the UofL. The sky is the limit right now, so give me all you got. I would love to see some people brought who are prevalent in Canadian culture and home town hero’s are always in my favourites.

While in Ottawa I got the chance to watch the Residential School apology while sitting on Parliament Hill. For a political junkie such as myself, this was an amazing event. The ability for our government, for any government, to stand up and apologize for past atrocities that Canadians committed shows true strength and true belief in what it means to be Canadian. Regardless of your political leanings, this event truly shows that we can work as a country to better ourselves and our society. As Adam posted earlier, I do recommend you taking the time to learn a little about this past but also remembering that Canada is an amazing country with an identity not always easily defined. Each and every one of us believes in Canada differently and identifies what it means to be Canadian differently. It is when we come together, as that day in The Hill, that we see really, we are all Canadian and that does mean something.

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic

bands! + songwriters!

The last batch of artists!

We saw a great deal of talent at the COCA conference in Ottawa this past week. Here are some shots from the last showcase:

Day 4:

Kobo Town – From some very deep roots, “Kobo Town” brought a great performance. With traditional reggae styles as well as some worldly influences these guys had a great sound. I was very impressed with these guys.

The Salads – The hardest performance of the entire conference. They definitely played their genre and showed their own personality in their short set.

The Johnstones – Oh Ska music, you will always hold a small place in my heart. These guys were both entertaining and ridiculous at the same time. But they sure got the crowd going and their energy definitely made a huge impact on me. A bit silly, but very fun.

Nadine Medawar – It seem very hard for a softer sound like Nadine’s to translate to the COCA atmosphere. She played well and her band did their thing, but I am afraid she got lost in the crowd a bit. Still, very well done.

Sweet Thing – A male vocal lead, who does nothing but sing?! Well done sir, well done! “Sweet Thing” was the best of the night for me and while at times the lead singer seemed a bit over the top, there has to be something said for an guy to go up there and sing as well as he did and do nothing else.

Day 5:

Day 5 saw the Singer Songwriter showcase, and it was very worth while. We were very lucky to see the likes of Craig Cardiff, Lesley Pike, Jessica Rhyne, Robyn Dell’Unto, Casey Desmond, and Colin Munroe. All of these artists showed a great deal of passion as they really tried to present exactly what they had to offer for us with their music. It was a great way to cap off the musical showcases that had been abundant throughout the entire conference.

And so with that, COCA 08 comes to a close for its musical portion. I will be posting later on the organization itself and how it has affected me in my job at the ULSU.

Cheers,

Eric
VP Internal

more bands!

Ok, in case you can’t tell, my camera is very poor at getting everything right when it comes to taking pictures. Sometimes the shots look great, and sometimes the shots look poor, so dearest bands, if your picture looks crappy I apologize. I tried to pick your best shot. But I digress;

We just saw the strongest showcase of the conference. Don’t get me wrong; the variety/lecture showcase we had in the afternoon that featured the likes of Darrin Rose (comedian) Jason Escape (escape artist) Daniel Packard (speaker) Cory Johnson (speaker) and Garbage! The Revolution (documentary) was great for our programming. But these bands were just a great night; they have been the capstone event at COCA as far as I can see.

Day 3:

Hey Ocean – What a preforming band! They had a great flow from song to song in such a short set (you only get 20 mins each at COCA. Yuck!) They brought out some new instruments for an indie band, including the flute and a few different percussion lines. A knock out performance!

hey rosetta! – You have to respect a band that puts strings in their set. My picture does not show it well, but “hey rosetta!” features two string instruments. On a purely personal note, I love hearing strings mixed into pop and folk music. These guys did very well.

God Made Me Funky – Wow. If there was a party band that would kill every show they played, then “God Made Me Funky” would be it. The crowds at COCA have been moderate at best, but all of a sudden those funk notes hit the air and people were just having too much fun. They brought the room to life. Arms went from folded to pumping fists and clapping in the air. As I said, wow.

Will Currie and the Country French – I am not to sure about these guys. Will Currie (I assume is the front man) on the piano and lead vocals was great. He made the show more enjoyable for me. I am just not sure about the rest of the band. They seem fresh and full of life, but not really sure about a larger show. Maybe nerves got the best of them; still well done all around.

The Coast – <insert Jenn Prosser screaming like a teenage girl over the Backstreet Boys circa mid 90’s> These guys did alright. Reportedly (since I am a bit ill-informed here) their original EP is much better than the content they played for us off their new album. Still, new or old content, they sounded a bit off. Who knows maybe the sound guy just didn’t know what to do. I still enjoyed these guys, but they weren’t the best we have seen for the conference.

Once again folks, these are just my opinions on the bands we have seen at COCA 08 in Ottawa. Jenn and I are having a blast, but it is very late, and I am very tired. Until tomorrow (when Jenn attempts to kill me for giving “The Coast” a less than absolutely stellar review)…

Cheers,

Eric
VP Internal

Bands!

Here are a few shots from our two nights out on the town so far:

So far we have seen 11 bands play over the past 2 days. For what its worth, here’s what I have to say about them all.

Day 1:

Creature – Great band with some funky beats. They really do their own thing, but wow do they rock! They have such a high energy show and a great presence for the stage.

Escalate! – The kind of band you would hear in a high class lounge; their songs flowed together. Awesome sound and entirely instrumental.

wordPEOPLE – A solid six person crew with male and female vocals that blended well. The had some great crowd interaction.
Day 2:

More or Les – These guys were the surprise of the night for me. A killer DJ (she is called DJ KillaJewel) and man could she spin those beats. More or Les kept the club going near the end of the night and played an awesome show with some very quick rhymes.

Crash Parallel – Rock out! They sounded great, but nothing about them was innovative or overly exciting. A great show, high energy, but I am afraid they are competing with a saturated market in terms of genre.

The Carps – Haha! These guys got kicked off the stage but damn they got the crowd going! COCA started them late and didn’t give them the extra time they should have! Boo! But they have balls and a great show to back up their attitude. (They promised to play nice if we ever book ‘em at our school.)

The John Henrys – Yee-Haw! Really though these guys had some very impressive showmanship. Need a good opener out west? These guys are what you are looking for.

Jon and Roy – We meet again! These guys played the Zoo two years ago. Their surfer rock tones are as good as they have been and they have a new disc out! A personal favorite for me and they capped the night off at the venue with some great songs.

Kae Sun – Some great beats. He seemed very political and conscious in what he was saying. He has a larger group, normally, but all and all he preformed well.

The New Cities – These guys did their thing; unfortunately I felt like I had heard their thing before. Fallout Boy, Good Charlotte, Panic at the Disco… the list goes on. Sorry guys, but no thanks.

Dan Mangan – Best show of the night! A west coast boy with a real heart for music. He has such a good blend of folk sound, melodic vocals, and poetic lyrics, look out for Dan to start breaking out big time in the next year. He will need some solid promotion, but man this is the kind of music that reaches deep into you.

Tonight’s show is going to be sick! “Hey Ocean,” “hey rosetta!,” and “The Coast” have peaked some major interest around the conference as well as the funk sensation “God Made Me Funky.”

More pics to come.

Eric
VP Internal

COCA or: Jenn got a harmonica and is one step closer to touring with Bob Dylan!

Eric and I are in lovely Ottawa reaping the education and good time benefits from COCA!

Day two has given us amazing sessions – Small school, Big idea’s! Western Conference idea’s (How to make the West bigger and better) and Unconventional programming. Ergo, Eric and I are brimming with idea’s to bring back to UofL to make this year so awesome sauce other schools will have no choice but to stand and watch with mouths agape.

Last night we saw three amazing bands – Creature, Escalade, wordPeople – and man o’man were our socks off. Great energy, amazing talent and very very keen to come out west. Pictures were taken, and will be posted as soon as we find double A batteries which don’t cost $68688699.

Last thing – Its pretty humid up in here and Ottawa’s weather is WICKED! However, my hair is not standing up as well as Adam reports his did. I guess the proof will be in the pudding – or the pictures in this case.

Bouncing out.

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic and Eric Hawthorne, VP Internal

Golly Gee! Oh My!

Firstly: Weather update! – Its lovely outside. There is sun and everything. Word.

Secondly – Recieved a update from Adam and Brodie on the state of CASA and Adam’s hair. Everything is going swimmingly and The Fax’s humidity is doing little damage to the Vossepoel glory. (Side note – I can really only get away with making these blog jokes until he gets back from CASA this upcoming Monday. I am fully expecting an onslaught of hilarity at the expense of myself. Good thing I will be to busy being awesome to notice.) Once these boys return from CASA, they will be sharing their amazing experiences and giving some insight into what the organization will be looking to accomplish this up coming year.

Thirdly – Eric and I leave for Ottawa tomorrow to go to COCA. Today I checked out the artist showcase line-up. Immediately to the page loading I scrolled down and saw three things that made my sick body (I am little under the weather…vegetarian soup would be appreciated….actually, its appreciated even if I’m not sick. I just really like soup. Its got a little something, ya know?) literally jump out of my chair and then up and down while emitting noises of awesome excitement. Hey Ocean, The Coast and hey rosetta! are all playing one of the showcases. This has made my indie rock dreams come true.

This is an amazing part of being able to attend conferences like this. The chance to meet bands/presenters who are interested in playing universities up close and personal. The chance to talk to them, create those relationships and then maybe bring these amazing artists back to our lovely little city.

As well, the sessions on diversity programming, political awareness, low cost event planning, creating environmentally friendly events and how to maximize the potential at smaller schools all hold significant interest for me and I cannot wait to take the ideas and plans generated by these sessions back home!

Golly gee, if I get any more excited I could fly across to Ottawa.

Eric and I will be sure to continue giving you live updates from Ottawa on all the awesome stuff we are learning and doing. Feel free to check out the schedule and some of the sessions we will be participating in at the COCA website, linked above.

Later Days -

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic