Right about this point of the semester, the doldrums of winter really begin to show their teeth. Gray, snowy days roll monotonously on and make travel and many activities impractical.

Fortunately, Student Entertainment exists to combat this tedium. Recently, the group announced a partnership with Waterfront Concerts, a booking agent based in Old Town, which is owned by Alex Gray, who says two-thirds of his employees are University of Maine graduates.

Before, Student Entertainment used a booking agent based in Boston. This mean all discussions about upcoming events involved a long journey to Massachusetts. And audio and production equipment had to be transported from Boston, which was expensive and time consuming.

Now, not only is all production equipment kept at Waterfront Concerts’ facilities, which benefits the local economy, but it has other advantages as well.

At a recent performance at the Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor, 134 discounted student tickets were sold to The Band Perry’s concert. And Patrick Fortier-Brown, vice president of Student Entertainment, expects this kind of benefit to only grow in future collaborations.

In the past, Student Entertainment has sponsored events that have not been well received. Working with a booking agent whose employees are mostly recent college graduates will doubtlessly eliminate the chance of this happening again as they are more tuned in to the entertainment preferences of students.

Fortier-Brown also announced that, in the future, tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster, which will allow Student Entertainment to track who purchased tickets for what price. This logistical information will provide feedback as to what is popular among the student body. It will be a learning process that can only benefit attendees of sponsored events.

And, now that interstate travel is not part of planning events, Student Entertainment anticipates being able to produce more entertainment. Previously, Student Entertainment has sponsored only one large concert per semester. Now, with amenities, including those already mentioned possibly providing transport for attendees of off-campus events, they anticipate raising more revenue and being able to hold smaller events with more frequency.

UMaine is a fairly large state school. Logistics alone make it nearly impossible for the campus community to be well connected on a day-to-day basis. Great variety of interests, in academic disciplines and extracurricular fields, also create division within the student body.

Aside from rooting on university sports teams, there are few opportunities for the student body to unite as one community. Concerts and other university-sponsored events help facilitate this atmosphere. Gray states that he and Student Entertainment have discussed bringing more events to more on-campus venues, such as the Collins Center for the Arts. This can only enhance the relationship between different groups within the student body.

Student Entertainment’s decision to utilize the resources found in the local community helps create ties between the campus and surrounding areas. The facilities on UMaine’s campus don’t just serve the needs of students. They are also amenities for individuals who live nearby and are affected by campus goings on. It makes sense that this becomes a reciprocal relationship.