Announcing the final lineup of bands is the result of a five-month process for Veishea’s Entertainment Committee and the Student Activities Office. The process of selecting, approaching and finally booking the bands involves extensive research and planning, as well as a little bit of luck.

The search for artists began right after the formation of the 2010 Entertainment Committee in October. The committee creates a list of possible bands, based on student feedback and advice from the committee’s adviser Steve Satterlee, the entertainment programs coordinator at the Memorial Union.

Satterlee also works with the Maintenance Shop and the Student Union Board and uses his connections with agencies to coordinate performances in the venues and at various activities.

“We started off with an extensive list of desired bands and narrow it down through agents based on availability and general pricing and fit for the event,” Satterlee said in an e-mail. “We work with a multitude of agencies throughout the year for Veishea and other concerts, like [at] the M-Shop and even the 10,000 Hours Show. We start with trying to get headliners and then weed it out from there.”

The budget for booking all of the bands comes from $80,000 of the Entertainment Committee’s budget, which also goes toward funding Battle of the Bands. Finding bands that will be near the Ames area when the performances are scheduled to take place April 16 and 17 is another major challenge.

“Routing of artists is the key with all of that, and artists are cheaper if you can get them routed through the area versus them playing a solo date that they specifically come out of hiatus for,” Satterlee said. “That can be the difference between $15,000 and $30,000. And colleges often are subjected to different pricing, since we are not open to the public and aren’t charging the same [rates] that a club does.”

In addition, having a single weekend available rules out a lot of artists.

“It’s difficult for Veishea,” said BJ Brugman, Veishea Entertainment co-chairman.

“Some place like Hilton Coliseum will give a band a time period of four weeks and ask when they can come perform in those four weeks, and for Veishea we just have one day. That in itself rules a lot of bands out, because they have other festivals and things to go to.”

The late-night lineup also poses challenges.

“It’s also really hard to get people to play after midnight, especially when we want them to start at like 1:30,” said Meagan Hennessy, Veishea Entertainment co-chairwoman.

In spite of these challenges, both Hennessy and Brugman are pleased for the lineup their committee’s efforts have produced and hope their lineup will draw students to the concerts.

“I’m personally very excited for this lineup,” Brugman said. “It’s a tough year for Veishea as far as budget goes, and we’re really thrilled with such a big lineup for Veishea.”

With the lineup set, the Veishea Entertainment Committee will continue working to coordinate the various events they’re in charge of planning, including Battle of the Bands, Veishea Says I’m Funny and Cyclone Idol. The committee strives to make the concert a little different every year and hopes the concerts will continue to improve and reach new students each year.