THE PARTY PLANNER

It's pretty much assumed that college students know how to throw a good party. But what if you could throw a party every day? Or better yet, what if you could earn a living by throwing parties?\nThat is exactly what senior Danna Hawley had in mind when she decided to major in "Music Venue Design and Management," a major she created within the Individualized Major Program. \nThe program offered Hawley, who is graduating in May, the opportunity to dip her hands into aspects of management, audio, acoustics, music, telecommunications, marketing and entrepreneurship.\nA musician for over 11 years, Hawley decided to apply for the IMP after spending her freshman year as an audio major and finding out it wasn't right for her. She became an exploratory major her second semester and took a variety of classes to see which majors she would enjoy.\n"I always knew I wanted to work in the music business," Hawley says. "I've been a musician … I love to play, but always hated performing. I was much more interested in owning a label, agency or owning a venue … There's nothing more rewarding than someone sincerely telling you how much fun they had."\nAs an avid fan of concerts and clubs, Hawley would always attend events and critique them by analyzing the crowd, their reactions, the design of the club, the acoustics -- and then would figure out what she would have done differently. \nAfter discovering and applying to the IMP, Hawley then began looking for two sponsors to support her in her major. She was required to find one sponsor in music and one in business. She found audio professor Konrad Strauss as her music sponsor and marketing professor Joseph Miller as her business sponsor. In retrospect, Hawley says finding a business sponsor was difficult, stating that most professors urged her simply to get a minor in business instead of incorporating it into her major.\n"They couldn't understand why I would ever want to not follow the strict restrictions of their majors," Hawley says. "Personally, I think the music business is completely separate from other businesses and therefore cannot be fully encompassed in a business or management minor. There would be too many aspects left uncovered."\nStrauss, impressed with her enthusiasm and intriguing major, worked with Hawley on her course choices and discussed the scope of her final project.\n"I encouraged her to go abroad and gain some real-world experience," Strauss says. "Regarding her final project, she had big dreams ... probably the best advice I gave her was to limit the scope of the project -- and make it more manageable."\nAlthough the title of her major seems as if it holds a lot of restrictions of its own, Hawley says she actually had a lot of flexibility and was even able to fit in a semester studying abroad in London. While in London, Hawley began working for her favorite record label, Trouble on Vinyl, a successful drum and bass label.\nHawley began working closely with Clayton Hines, a promoter and owner of TOV, and they developed a solid friendship.\n"We'd have these inspiring, long conversations," Hawley says. "He'd give me great advice … I learned the different aspects of owning a label, how he does business and, most importantly, how I would love to become a promoter."\nWhen she returned from her semester in London, Hawley began interning at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, working closely with theater director Danielle McClelland. While there, Hawley saw more of the business side of promoting and managing such as working on contracts, forming a database of promoters and agencies and house managing the theater for shows.\nAfter discovering her love for travel and realizing the amount of work required to own a venue, Hawley decided to put her dream of owning a venue on hold and focus more on booking and promoting shows.\nHawley then returned to London during the summer and was hired as the head of promotions and street team leader for Movement, another drum and bass promotion company located in London and Brazil. Although Hawley realized the environment at Movement was different than the one she was used to at TOV, she also realized that seeing a variety of managerial techniques allowed her to use some of their techniques and create a managerial style of her own.\nLately, the majority of her focus has been on her senior project. Although the IMP gives its students a variety of options such as writing a paper or having an internship, Hawley decided to develop a creative project. She wanted to show off the skills she had been developing by promoting a benefit concert and giving all proceeds to the Boys & Girls Club.\n"My mom works in early childhood development and one of her friends actually runs the Boys & Girls Club in Chicago, so I'm appreciative of their efforts and know that it's an extremely solid organization," Hawley says. "I love what they stand for and really wanted to support them."\nThroughout the semester Hawley worked hard to promote her concert, The Midwest Hip Hop Throwdown held April 6, at the Bluebird. Hawley chose to have the concert at the Bluebird because she favors their sound system and identifies them with holding strong underground hip-hop acts. Artists such as Pugslee Atomz and Psalm One from Chicago, The Mudkids from Indianapolis and two IU students: Half Blown and The Prophet participated in the show.\nSenior Micah Haskell-Hoehl, a.k.a The Prophet, has been friends with Hawley since their freshman year. \n"It was the first project that she planned," he says. "She was stressed, but … the amount of work she put in -- she packaged and organized everything -- was very professional."\nSince she developed this project on her own, Hawley had a lot of duties throughout the night of the concert. \n"Since she is in charge, all of the performers go to her for everything and everyone involved in the venue goes to her for everything," Haskell-Hoehl says. "She has to keep a lot of people happy at the same time."\nThroughout the process of creating her senior project, Hawley had a difficult time finding support and sponsors for the concert. \n"People kept telling me disheartening things like 'It's not as easy as you think,' 'Don't be surprised if things don't work out,'" Hawley says. "I'm not that lame. I don't need to be told the music business isn't easy. I don't need someone to tell me to appreciate the aspects of the business and you know what? Things did work out!"\nHawley says she is really fortunate she had the opportunity to be in the IMP.\n"It [the IMP] gave me a remarkable education and showed me tons of options," she says. "A lot of kids are terrified to graduate and enter the real world, but because of the knowledge I've gained, I can't wait."\nStrauss remains supportive of Hawley as she prepares for graduation.\n"I'm extremely proud of her. She had big goals and the drive to achieve them," he says. "She encountered some major obstacles along the way, but managed to find creative solutions and all the while remaining positive about the experience."\nAs for the future, Hawley still dreams of owning a club someday. However, she plans on moving back to London in June and is planning on working for a record label there.\n"This major became a reality more than a dream," adds Hawley. "That's what a college education does -- it makes your dreams a reality"