via Facebook Events
Finding promoters' advertisements for parties (such as this one) is easy on Facebook.
How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
You're invited: Come to an 18-and-over party at the hottest club featuring your favorite performer. College IDs accepted! No cover, no waiting in line and an open bar to top it all off.
When a new round of impressionable freshmen flooded NYU's campus in droves at the end of August, many of them found their Facebook inboxes inundated with event invitations like the one above. They came from a host of promoters who boasted events at the trendiest venues with big-name acts and low cover charges.
But on the first night of Welcome Week, when those same impressionable freshmen lined up outside The Imperial, they found themselves being herded in like cattle and were asked to shell out $20 just to be let inside. For that first night at The Imperial, the Official New York City College Events group on Facebook claimed that the cover charge for 18- to 20-year-olds would be $10 to $15 at the door — not $20.
Steinhardt freshman Tatum Gormley, who was at the club Promenade to watch the MTV Video Music Awards, said she was told the event would cost $10. But she ended up paying $20.
LSP freshman Asli Durak said she has had several bad experiences with club promoters.
"They always say that there's going to be some big performer, and there never is. Or it turns out to be some performer that nobody knows, and they claim to be famous," Durak said. "The other night Robin Thicke was supposed to be performing at Touch, but of course when we got there, there was no performer."
Gormley's had a similar experience at a VMA party that was supposed to feature a performance by Asher Roth. "They claimed that [Roth] was coming to perform," said Gormley, who recalled how Promenade made many excuses for Roth having not arrived yet.
"They would say he'll be here in one hour, he'll be here in 30 minutes. He's coming at this time. He's running late. He's on his way," Gormley said. "Pretty soon it was 2:30 in the morning. He was supposed to be there at one and he just never came."
Gallatin freshman Zach Halberg also went to one of these events during Welcome Week. He said he was immediately discouraged from attending others.
"It seemed like they were trying to take advantage of new students who don't know where to go," Halberg said.
But not all students' experiences with Facebook event promoters have been negative.
"I think there are some promoters who [lie and take advantage of students]," Durak said. "But I think there are others who actually care about what they are doing, because it's actually a career for them, and it's not just a college student trying to make fast cash."
CAS freshman Natalie Holovko has yet to encounter any dubious promoter tricks and had only positive things to say about such events.
"The last [event] that I went to was in Studio 34 in Queens. I went to go see T.O.K. and Jay Sean," Holovko said, adding that all the scheduled performers were there. "I used to go to Touch a lot because a lot of people performed there. I saw 3OH!3. I actually know the promoters. I know they're reliable."
