Alex Kochan, AEG Live, Instructs Students

Alex Kochan visited Entertainment Management on Monday, October 26, to offer insight into promoting and booking live shows. Kochan guest lectured in MGMT 401: Event Management and MGMT 101: Introduction to the Entertainment Business. Kochan is Vice President of AEG Live, Northwest. He supervises the booking and operation of the WaMu Theater at Qwest Field Events Center. He is also in charge of developing strategies to expand the AEG Live brand and presence in the Northwest.

"You never want the artist to freak out," Kochan explained in class on how to manage an artist if a mistake happens in the production schedule. Kochan shared these pointers for success, "the clock is king, there should be no surprises, and check your ego at the door (except for the artist)."

Kochan also compared a 1965 Beatles' rider to a typical rider used today. The Beatles' rider was four pages long and a rider from today is 40 pages or more. Lengthy riders could be in part due to insurance companies capitalizing on the risk of the music business.

At the end of the presentation, Kochan explained to students the biggest thing to remember, "there are no bad shows, just bad deals."