When Simple Plan arrives in Penticton for their Feb. 9 concert, there are going to be a few excited teens in the stands.
OK, there are going to be a lot of excited teens in the audience at the South Okanagan Events Centre. But a dozen of them are going to be there on complimentary tickets, thanks to a contest organized by the SOEC along with Penticton and Princess Margaret secondary schools.
“They’ve really jumped on board with this and they are going to host karaoke/air band/lip sync competitions at lunch,” said Carla Seddon, marketing manager for the events centre. Not only are both high schools involved, but their leadership classes are taking the contest to KVR and Skaha Lake Middle Schools.
“We’re always trying to involve the community as much as possible,” said Seddon. “Really, I have just provided an idea and some tickets to a super-cool show. They are turning it into their own lunchtime contest.”
Seddon is also happy that the contests will involve a range of the student population. Besides the leadership classes, she expects music and tech students to be involved with setting up the karaoke machine and lights, etc.
“We’re really letting the kids run with it. They are the ones organizing it, I really have no idea how it is going to turn out or how many kids are going to be a part of it,” said Seddon. The contests will start at the two middle schools on Jan. 27, before moving on to the high schools the following week.
And while this contest is only open to students at the four schools, the SOEC is making sure all the students have a chance at the 12 tickets.
“It’s not necessarily a competition, it’s just come, be a part of it, and you automatically get entered to win tickets to see the show,” said Seddon, explaining that they didn’t want to see just the school’s best performers competing for the tickets. “Just by entering, you automatically get put in to win the tickets. Then, the school is providing a pizza party and we are going to give away some Vees tickets as a follow up.”
Getting the younger members of the community involved was especially important for the Simple Plan concert, Seddon said, since the band appeals to a younger demographic. While she would like to get similar community involvement for all shows, sometimes it is not easy.
“It’s way easier with some shows, like Disney or the Harlem Globetrotters, because that’s their mandate too. They like to come into town and get the community involved,” said Seddon. “I got to do it with Burn The Floor; I got to get the Penticton dancers to be a part of the show, which was huge for us.”
But with Simple Plan, she said it wasn’t as easy to find a way.
“We pitched a couple of different ideas to Simple Plan and they were resistant until we really explained how our town works,” said Seddon. “The schools just want to be involved and we’re trying to provide a link between the community and the SOEC. It’s community building and that is really what I strive for; I grew up here so I want to make sure there are these opportunities.”
