51¸£ÀûÉç

Author Miranda Hasani '25 is a Sports, Entertainment, Event — Management major and works as a student assistant at 51¸£ÀûÉç, contributing to 51¸£ÀûÉç News.  

This April, the Providence Sports, Entertainment, Event — Management (SEEM) major showcased a series of student-run events facilitated by SEEM Professors Elizabeth Panciera ’09, ’11 MBA, CHE and Julie Viscardi-Smalley. These events provide students with the ability to gain hands-on experience in their career paths beyond the regular classroom experience. 

I was able to attend and be a part of each of the three events, getting a behind-the-scenes look at what the student planners had to do for each of them. From an exclusive tour of a new stadium to a music festival in Gaebe Commons, there were many new experiences to capture. 

The first event was the 11th Annual SEEM Leadership Conference, an event that students research, plan and execute. The conference includes a Keynote Panel, a SEEM Professional Panel that highlights the successes of SEEM alumni, and a Professional Panel.  

Bringing this event to life requires two student teams: one in the fall semester to work on pre-planning and one in the spring to execute the event. Not only do these students learn the ins and outs of planning a major conference, but all 51¸£ÀûÉç students attend the event to learn from the industry professionals who are speaking and get the chance to grow their network.

As a student ambassador for the event, I escorted the keynote panelist this year, Aaron Lampkin ’13, a 51¸£ÀûÉç alumni who has made strides in the sports industry and is currently the head of ticketing strategy & operations for LA28, the Olympics and Paralympics. “It's crazy to think that I graduated 12 years ago at the Denver Campus,” he shared. “It’s cool getting to experience the Providence Campus as a speaker sharing the successes of my career.” 

One of Lampkin’s first memories in the SEEM program was a tour of a newly built arena in Denver, the Pepsi Center (now known as the Ball Arena).  While on the tour, he met the arena’s event manager. This experience led to a job opportunity at the arena, which showed the resources available to SEEM students. “I was at a greater starting point than other people in the industry because I went to Johnson & Wales,” said Lampkin. 

I also chatted with Emily Bocchino ’25, who was a program manager for both fall and spring teams. Through this experience, she managed an actual event budget, drafted meeting agendas for every class meeting and oversaw a whole team of students. “I went to last year's conference, which was amazing, and I'm very thankful to be on the producing side of that. I gained a lot of tools for my tool belt. I feel more prepared to step out into the industry as a graduating senior after producing an event of this caliber,” says Emily.  

Stella Lee ’25, Emily’s co-program manager, had some new experiences for her own tool belt. “As someone who continues to seek out managerial roles, I was able to get real world practice in a safe environment of managing a team of my peers. Professor Panciera facilitates a real-world industry experience,” says Stella.  

This year’s conference also included an exclusive tour of the newly built Centreville Bank Stadium, the new home of the Rhode Island FC, thanks to Joie Nodhturft ’26. She is currently a sales and event intern at the stadium and used her connections to plan this experience for 51¸£ÀûÉç students. “Students saw the behind-the-scenes work of building the stadium. There are construction workers there still working, so students saw event spaces before they were done, which is a great opportunity to see the growth of it.” 

The second event of SEEM Week is the SEEM Leadership and Management Expo, which is a trade show that is produced by the SEE 3170: International Exhibitions and Events course. Through this event, students gained hands-on experience working with several external stakeholders to bring over 32 exhibitors in the SEEM industry that are looking for volunteers, interns, part-time and full-time staff. After learning about different companies and job opportunities, I got a glimpse of everything it took to put the event together. 

Will Jones ’25 was the project manager for this year's expo. His role included overseeing the student committees, the event budget and making sure every exhibitor was taken care of the day of show. 

“I've never been a part of the production of a trade show until this project,” Will said. “This has given me the opportunity to really get hands-on experience with an event that is high stakes, but also not high enough that it would make or break my career, as it’s still under the shelter of 51¸£ÀûÉç.”  

His favorite part about the event was seeing students interact with exhibitors. “The whole point of the event is to help students get set up for success,” said Will. 

Antoinette Jacques ’25, who is a Hospitality Management student with a minor in Beverage Management, had the chance to expand her knowledge of hospitality with a taste of the event world. 

She served as an assistant program manager and head of operations for this year's expo and oversaw elements of the set-up and design of the event. Her favorite part about the event was taking in the work that she and her peers put into the event. “I enjoyed looking around today and seeing how much work we’ve done. My team's worked really hard since January, and seeing it come to fruition was amazing,” Antoinette shared. 

“Bands in the Basement,” which is an entirely student-organized concert produced by the Concert Production course, was the third SEEM Week event. Students planned it entirely from the initial creative concept to a full-day execution. This one-day outdoor festival took place on Gaebe Commons and brought in performers Arlo Matthews, Milk St. and Kids That Fly. Students grabbed some free Poppi soda, Insomnia Cookies and smash burgers from Griddle Me This, which is owned by 51¸£ÀûÉç Safety & Security Officer William Jones. 

Anannya Rawat ’25, one of the general managers for this project, built relationships with new sponsors, built upon existing relationships with internal stakeholders within 51¸£ÀûÉç, and was part of creating a great atmosphere for students.  

“We have a lot of different and great events on campus, but we don’t truly have live entertainment to this scale,” said Anannya. “This gave us a chance to host this kind of event on campus for students. This concert was by the students, for the students.” 

Her favorite part of the event was when the team gathered for a team meeting before the setup of the event; students encouraged each other for the upcoming chaotic but exciting few hours. “It was important for us to know that we had each other’s backs for the entirety of the concert and that no matter what happened, communication between each other was kept throughout the event. We all knew we had one another for moral support,” said Anannya. 

I also served as a general manager on "Bands in the Basement,” which allowed me to exercise and put into practice exactly what I want to do with my career within the domain of my college campus before I step into the industry this coming May.  

Building upon my experiences as a general manager of last spring’s concert production “Not Your Dad’s Music Fest,” this year the Concert Production course was executed as a Directed Experiential Education (DEE)  for the first time and made a tremendous difference in ensuring that those that wanted an experience producing live entertainment were able to and to a greater scale.  

This was one of the most informative experiences of my whole college education and continues to make me and other SEEM students stand out when going into the industry.  

Thank you to all of my peers, faculty and additional SEEM support systems for making my final SEEM Week experience a meaningful one. 

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