Kendrick Lamar plays at Mason with the help of PAC

One of the biggest events at George Mason University each spring semester is Mason Week, especially it’s spring concert. The week is celebrated at the university with a slew of events. For this year’s spring concert, the Patriot Activities Council (PAC) will be hosting hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar at the Patriot Center. Recording artist Kendrick Lamar was named “The Hottest MC in the Game” by MTV this year.

PAC is a student organization that puts on major events such as Mason Day, Patriots Day and the fall and spring concerts. They also host comedy shows and numerous educational events.

PAC used to be known as Program Board, but has merged with Weekends at Mason to become what it is now. The result was a more cohesive programming committee.

The booking process PAC used to host Kendrick Lamar was not simple.

Before Kendrick Lamar was booked to come to Mason, PAC sent out a survey to the Mason community in which students could vote for who they wanted to perform for Mason Week’s spring concert.

“We could see that he was high on the list,” said Jessica Scott, an executive on PAC’s board.

“Once we figure out who students like, then we contact the artist”  Scott said.

Picking the artist to come to Mason involves various factors. PAC not only has to consider who their audience is, but also how to cater to Mason’s diverse community.

PAC members also have to consider what their budget is for concerts. Some artists may not be within the budget that PAC has and artists may even turn down PAC’s offer.

Once the artist is booked, PAC then works on making sure that the artist’s requests are met when they arrive.

“We make sure everything that they want is together,”  Scott said.

This often includes PAC members fulfilling last minute requests from the artist or fixing details right before the concert. On the day of the event, Scott may have to make sure that the dressing room is stocked with whatever the artist asks for in their contract.

Taren Henry, lead public relations director for PAC, worked on the promotion for Kendrick Lamar.

“We threw a release party the week before we sold tickets,” Henry said. The event was aimed to get the community excited where people could be entered for a raffle for free floor tickets. At the party, HBO representatives attended the event and gave away Game of Thrones DVDS.

PAC has also used social media to promote the event by sponsoring Tuesday Ticket Takeover. By following PAC on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, students were able to win tickets by guessing the answer to a riddle or question that PAC posted.

Students were also able to win a golden ticket where they could win a floor ticket.

Many of the Kendrick Lamar promotions were also used to increase the number of followers for PAC.

“Each week PAC would give out multiple tickets per day. However, the promotion to win free tickets ends this week.”

Kendrick Lamar will be performing at the Patriot Center on April 23, 2013 at 8 p.m.

You can follow PAC on Facebook and on Twitter.