Students in the Event Management Certificate took a trip to Los Angeles this spring to learn about the events industry. They learned about large-scale event production and sustainability at Coachella and visited The Music Center, GRAMMY Museum, SoFi Stadium, The Getty Center, and The Ritz-Carlton, hearing from alumni and professionals across the events industry.
The trip first began to take shape with traction for Coachella and other festivals in the classroom. “We’ve offered a class about festivals before, and it comes up a lot in our foundations class,” said Event Management Certificate Coordinator Heather Spangler. “They talk about Coachella all the time. I’ve probably seen 100 PowerPoint presentations about Coachella in the last ten years.”
Beyond that initial spark, the momentum behind the trip came from a connection with Megan Tierney, a friend of the program who has visited Spangler’s sustainable events class every semester for about five years. Tierney has talked to the classes about how she manages sustainability at various festivals, including Coachella. The prospect of the students visiting Tierney at work was casually tossed around.
Soon, what started as a hopeful idea shared in conversation became a reality as the students set out to experience her work firsthand.
Further connections helped Spangler secure the trip for the students. Tierney’s boss was a person that Spangler had known since childhood, and the two of them went to bat for the class, requesting access and a behind-the-scenes tour. “It all worked out beautifully,” said Spangler.
The first day in L.A, the students met with Isaiah and Jessica Scales, who set the tone for the trip with an emphasis on networking and to take full advantage of the experience.
One of Sandler’s personal goals for the students on the trip was to make sure that everyone saw the ocean since some had never seen it in person. This dream was realized when Scales gifted the students passes to the rides at Santa Monica Pier where they spent the rest of the day.
The next day, the students set out to fulfill the main intent of their visit. They were up bright and early to take the bus to Coachella. They met with Tierney, who gave them the promised behind-the-scenes tour and showed them how her team works to manage a composting process, setup, teardown, partnerships, and all kinds of things regarding sustainability. “It was unreal,” described student Grace Lathrop.
Even though sustainability isn’t a huge part of the culture of Coachella, unlike other festivals that are more “in your face” about it, it’s still an important facet of the festival. “It was so fun to see [sustainability] in action and to recognize all of the work that’s going on behind the scenes to make it a more sustainable experience,” said Spangler.
The group stayed at the festival until 7:30 that night, then headed back so they could be ready for the next day.
Monday was action-packed. They met with Gary Levitt, the President of Sequoia Productions, a company that puts on big-name events like the Oscar afterparties and other elite, celebrity-focused events. The students went to the Grammy Museum, the glamorous Ritz-Carlton, and SoFi Stadium. The night concluded at the Getty Center, which was having a college night where all kinds of college students from the LA area were exploring the museum. “My point on these trips is to make it like something that we can’t do at home. To see what’s happening in the industry there, that’s different from what we’re doing,” said Sandler.
The trip offered the students professional development, networking, bonding, and expanding horizons. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some, while for others, the first in a career of many to come.
Lathrop encouraged students to seize this opportunity in the future. “Even if it’s something that you don’t see yourself doing, everyone still has really great advice, and they have great connections as well...there’s layers there that you can take advantage of for sure.”
“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she added.