Behind the Scenes at the Spot
Entertainment Management students at Bay State College get a hands-on education, gaining experience with everything from managing talent to running the box office. The Spot, BSC’s student-run venue, is a great example of how that works. We caught up with Napoleon McCall, ’19, a senior in the Entertainment Management program with a minor in audio production. McCall serves as co-general manager of The Spot with Valentina Arcilaare, and we talked about what it means to work at The Spot.
BSC: Can you tell us a little bit about what it means to be a general manager of The Spot?
NM: Valentina and I are in charge of communication and making sure everything is being handled, like our marketing and our talent booking, our production, our supplies and that sort of stuff, so that our shows can go on.
BSC: How have you gotten on top of all the details?
NM: I've learned how to through the Entertainment Management program at school. I've taken Venue Management, Tour Management, Concert Production, Concert Promotion. So it's a lot of ins and outs of the live music industry that we learn through the program.
BSC: How did you know you wanted to work at The Spot?
NM: I was taking Venue Management, and for one class we took over The Spot, and I took on an organizer role, trying to make sure everybody was on track and my professor noticed. She suggested after that project that I should try to be the official operations manager at The Spot.
BSC: What kind of shows are at The Spot?
NM: Twice a semester we do open mics, we do indie rock, rap, singer-songwriters. We did an acoustic set earlier this semester, which was really neat. We're doing a drag show coming up in March, which we're really excited about, and we’re planning on doing a video game tournament in April.
BSC: What do you like best about working at The Spot?
NM: I really look forward to the camaraderie and I really get a kick out of watching people have a good time and facilitating that. We get people in and they’re happy. That’s always a really good feeling. Succeeding as a team is really great also.
BSC: What are you learning by working there?
NM: Communication for sure. Learning how to be a good communicator is key to succeeding. And learning how to delegate and leadership skills. We’re trying to keep people motivated. Learning that sort of leadership skill is very useful and doesn’t necessarily come easy.
BSC: Was it scary at first?
NM: Maybe slightly intimidating. But I’m working with a team of people that I’ve done two classes with, and I have faith in their ability. I know we work well together, because we’ve done classes and we’ve all volunteered at The Spot. We’re a pretty tight knit group that has each other’s back.
BSC: What do you want to do in the future with your Entertainment Management degree?
NM: I’m still not totally decided. This semester I'm taking Sound Design, which is like doing audio for films, video games, and stuff like that, and I really am into that. Or go for the live music. I'm not sure. Wherever the opportunity presents itself.
The Spot is open during the school semester every Thursday. Door are usually 6:30, shows start at 7:00, and we go 'til 9:00 p.m. It holds 80 people with standing room.