Podcast for Comm

Cornstalk is an annual tradition at Concordia College that is based on the legendary Woodstock festival. It is free for Concordia students and they can bring one guest for an extra charge. The event has undergone changes over the years, including a shift to a single evening concert and a change in venue. The Campus Events Commission aims to feature both headline acts and local bands. The future of Cornstalk could involve more community involvement, a larger venue, and additional activities to attract a wider audience. Students who attended Cornstalk enjoyed the performances, but some felt that the venue was hot and there should have been more beverages available. Overall, it was a fun and exciting event. Oh my gosh, Thomas, what is Cornstalk? Well, Lauren, Cornstalk is a copper annual tradition that is based off of the 1969 legendary Woodstock. Wow, am I invited to it? That's so cool. Have you ever been? Yeah, I have. Every copper is invited, along with one outside guest. So in other words, yes, you are. Isn't that so exciting? Yes, what is the cost to attend? The cost per Concordia student is free. However, if you decide to bring a guest, there is an extra charge. It is $20 for pre-sale and then $40 for the night of. I'm definitely going to be attending then. What should I wear? You could just wear your regular clothes. Or there is new Cornstalk merch every year to buy. Well, when and where is it? Do you know? You know? That's a very good question. Traditionally, it is hosted on Olin Hill, but this year it is being held in Memorial Auditorium. Okay, I can't wait to see you there. Let's talk about a brief history of Cornstalk. Lisa Fugel is recognized as the creator of Cornstalk, an event initiated in April of 1989. The first Cornstalk was jointly supported by the Campus Entertainment Commission and the Inter Hall Council, with financial contributions from each group to ensure the students could attend the event without charge. Cornstalk took place on Olin Hill for over 10 years and predominantly showcased local artists. Initially, it spanned a whole day, typically starting around noon and ending in the late afternoon or early evening. By 1991, its popularity soared, with a remarkable turnout of 1,200 attendees. Cornstalk has consistently aimed to support various causes, including food drives, Earth Day, and breast cancer awareness. In 1994, the event underwent a reduction in duration and enlisted national and regional bands to boost attendance, which surged to 2,500 by 1996. In the late 1990s, attendance dwindled as Cornstalk struggled to maintain audience engagement, particularly with lesser-known artists. To rejuvenate interest, the format shifted to more of an evening concert featuring a single band, with tickets sold to the broader community rather than just the students. Additionally, in the 2000s, there was a change in venue, with many Cornstalk concerts hosted at the Jake Christensen Stadium instead. Throughout the 2000s and extending into the 2010s, Cornstalk has undergone ongoing evolution to its structure. Various contests, games, and other forms of entertainment have been incorporated to help keep student and public engagement. The Campus Events Commission, otherwise known as the CEC, has made many efforts to satisfy the student community by featuring both headline acts and local bands. The main objective of the CEC is to secure the aforementioned well-known acts and bands while maintaining it to be cost-effective as well. Cornstalk is usually kept under wraps leading up to the event. Many students are suspicious and eager to find out who is coming to perform. CEC members pick out musical artists that they enjoy and then send their final choice to the commissioners. Then, the commissioners figure out the logistical side of things, such as timing and or the cost of the event. We are looking forward to seeing how this event unfolds with years to come. Let's talk about some of the future changes we would like to see at Cornstalk. Thomas, what are your thoughts? Well, one of the ideas that I have is involving the community to bring in more of an outreach. Maybe selling more tickets, involving them more, having them vote to pick out who they would want to see as the local artist. I totally agree. Concordia has a huge promise to be engaged in the community. Only allowing students to come to this event and not outside guests kind of cuts off that connection we have with our community. I realize that maybe our venue is too small, which could be part of our problem, but potentially moving to a bigger venue like the Fargo Dome could be really good for us. Then, we could have local businesses sponsor the events, which could bring good attraction to those businesses as well. Exactly. We are bringing in money so that people would have to pay less. If we don't want them to pay less, we could maybe incorporate that money into something else, such as food trucks to generate more interest. Absolutely. Maybe like, I don't know, a corn food truck. That would be great, kind of like the state fair corn. I think that would be really fun. It's also a way to attract students to Concordia as well. Having younger kids and students from high schools and middle schools attend these events in the community could make them feel our sense of welcoming to Concordia College and also attract new students. Specifically on that, to make them more interested in coming to Concordia, there could be more activities, such as, I don't know, maybe like a karaoke contest, bean bag throws, maybe like another silent disco throughout the day instead of just the event at night. Absolutely, because I know we only have the event at night now, and it used to be a full-day event. I think switching back to having that as a full-day event involving the whole community with more than just the concerts at night could bring in a lot more interest towards corn stalk. Oh, 100%. And then maybe we could make this more like a state thing, make it more state advertised instead of just having the concerts that are in Minneapolis and at the Army all the time, something that students want to come to here. And they see Concordia, and they're like, whoa, I want to go here. Absolutely. I think these are some great ideas. We'll have to see what they incorporate in the future. Corn stalk has been so much fun so far. Wouldn't you say so, Taylin? Yes, Katie, I completely agree. Everyone is extremely pumped and ready for all the fun festivities. What are you most excited for leading up to corn stalk? I'm extremely excited for the concert and getting the opportunity to hang out with my friends outside of class. I've heard so many great things about it from other students and staff. What have you heard about it, Katie? I actually haven't heard much about it yet. Should we go around and ask people about corn stalk? I think that's a great idea. Let's go. Okay, so what is everyone's name and grade level at Concordia College? I'm Malik Smith. I'm a first year. I'm Claire Lowry. I'm also a freshman. I'm Emma Doty, and I'm a freshman as well. Had you guys been to corn stalk prior this year? No. No, I have not. Me neither, no. What were you guys most excited for going into corn stalk? I was just really excited for E. Miller. I was also really excited for E. Miller and hanging out with friends. I was excited to see what Rainy in Paradise would do. I was excited to see what songs they'd play. Yeah, and then what was your guys' favorite part of corn stalk this year? Being front row for E. Miller, duh. Yeah, E. Miller was definitely the highlight. I have to agree. I loved her. I loved her performance. What artist would you guys like to see in the future perform at Concordia? You know, it's kind of hard to get good artists with the budget that we have for the artists. I think it would be really cool to maybe get some, like, Vinton Boone. I don't know. I would say, go big or go home. I'm trying to see some NLE. Ooh, that's good. They had AJR at some point. They did, they did. Well, Malik heard my answer. I didn't hear your answer. So, I would also love to see Vinton Boone perform here. And then, anything else you guys thought was, like, interesting or different about the concert? Something that you'd want to change? Like, was it too hot? For my, well, at least for me, I think it was good. I feel like there wasn't any, like, necessarily changes. I think it was different because I'm in CEC, so I got to see the behind the scenes. And I think, I don't know if Emma's going to say this, but me and Emma would wear concessions. And it was just kind of hidden in a spot. So, I feel like not a lot of people knew where concessions is. That's just kind of, like, behind the scenes thing I would change. But Cornstalk itself, I don't know, it was fun. And I like that we're able to bring, like, guest people. I didn't bring anyone, but I think it's cool to invite other college people from colleges that don't get to do what we do. 100%. Yeah, I agree. Awesome, thank you guys so much. Hi, my name is Lauren. I'm Katie. I'm Taylin. And today we are going to be talking about our experience at Cornstalk last night. What were your guys' thoughts on the openers this year? I thought the openers were really good. I loved that they had local bands. I wish that there would have been a little bit more attendance for the openers. But overall, it was a great experience. Yeah, I have to agree with what Katie said. I think that it was a great opportunity for local bands to get out and be recognized. I wish that they didn't play for so long. They had some good music. It was just, I thought, a little too long. Yeah, not many showed up for the local performers. Many of them just came at the end for the headliner. But hopefully in the future that can get a little better. What did you guys think of Bam Miller? Oh, I was extremely hyped for it. I thought she did a terrific job performing. I loved all the songs that were performed. And I'm excited to see what they do in the future with that. I'm honestly a big fan of Bam Miller. So I thought that she did a great job. And her music is just something to get the crowd into. And she was just great with getting involved with the audience. Yeah, I really loved it too. She's a great artist. I did wish it was outside, though, because it was really hot in the venue. Don't you guys think? Yeah, I agree. It was extremely hot. And they didn't provide any beverages. We were not allowed to bring anything in. And so it was just terrible. Yeah, it was rough. But they did a really good job interacting with the audience. So that kept us excited the whole time. So we enjoyed that. They also had really good audio and really good background, DJs, bands, stuff like that. That was really good. I was impressed. I know. With, like, Babe Miller, like, her music, she has a, like, beat drop. So that really, like, played a factor in the audio. And the audio started really well with that kind of beat drop. Yeah, I agree. I think the quality of the audio was just incredible. Yeah, I especially love the Cornstalk light-up sign. It was really fun to take pictures in front of before the show. What did you guys think? Yeah, I think it's just always a good thing to have. Like, when there's an event going on, there's always a sign or somewhere to take pictures in front of, because there's a lot of individuals who like to take those pictures and have those memories in their phone. Yeah, I think it'll be fun to see all of these photos just, like, laid out and then know in the future the same thing will be happening. Yeah, it was really nice that Concordia had professional photographers at the event. And CAC was especially really fun. They launched merchandise into the audience. That was super exciting too. Yeah, I wish we would have got some. Same. Me too. Maybe next year. Maybe next year. Well, we'll have to go again next year. We're excited. Thank you.