Students plan entertainment conference

A group of arts management students is assembling the school's first-ever entertainment business-centered conference.

"The Entertainment Industry: Your Gateway to Adventure" will be March 31 in the Homsey Family Moot Courtroom in Sarkeys Law Center. The day-long event will feature a series of lectures and question-and-answer sessions with award-winning entertainment business professionals.

The conference, geared toward OCU students, is open to the local community.

"It is specifically designed for students interested in looking into the business of show business," said Rachel Jacquemain, associate professor of arts management . "The entertainment industry is one of the largest American exports. It is a vast industry that is vital and growing."

Tickets to the conference are available for $20 at the OCU Performing Arts Ticket Office in the Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center or by calling 208-5227.

The conference features Chicago native Jeanne Bavaro, a theatrical personal manager in Las Vegas; Cort Cassady, Emmy Award-winning director and executive producer of TriMedia Productions in Los Angeles; Kyle T. Coker, a 2003 OCU entertainment business graduate from the prestigious Donna DeSeta Casting Agency in New York City; Barbara Earheart from Corporate Magic and Gaylord Productions in Nashville, Tenn.; Phil Randall, production manager for Farrington Productions and for Robert Goulet and vice president of Tarragon West Entertainment; and Jodi Shilling, a 1999 OCU dance performance graduate currently working in Los Angeles as a television and stage performer and producer. Shilling can be seen as Tiffany on the Disney Channel's "That's So Raven."

"Our experts have a wide range of specialty areas," Jacquemain said. "I encourage people to come and learn from these experts who are out there making things happen in today's marketplace."

Supporters of the conference include arts management students at OCU's Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management, the Inasmuch Foundation, Ann Lacy, the Coca-Cola Company and Student Senate.