Homecoming preparations at Winston-Salem State takes a lot of time, especially this year

It takes a lot to plan a "regular" homecoming at Winston-Salem State. 

But in 2009 it has been more challenging because  WSSU, NC Central and NC A&T all share the same homecoming date.

Jonathan Jackson  and Whitney McCoy were in charge of planning Student Government Association events. But Jackson takes on most of the responsibilities for planning homecoming  McCoy said.

"The scheduling of the three homecomings has created the perfect storm," said Jackson, the vice president of external affairs for SGA.

The similar scheduling has also created somewhat of a competition among the three universities.  

SGA President McCoy  said the three schools competed over acts.

"The competition is fun, especially this year," Jackson said.

 "April is when we begin planning [homecoming]," Jackson said. 

"This year I set a personal goal of July 15 for our [SGA event] schedule.  

"We have been in implementation mode ever since."

McCoy said she and Jackson spend their summers in Winston-Salem to plan homecoming.  

SGA created surveys to account for the interest of the student body and attended numerous meetings to decide performing acts and venues.  

Jackson said during the meetings SGA has to create arrangements for security, sound, the fire code and marketing strategies.

SGA uses feedback from the year before to look at what strategies need to be fixed.

"Trying to find an artist takes all summer," Jackson said.  He added that it is important to pick an artist that will please the entire student body and will have a buzz around homecoming time. 

Jackson said it is important to budget because homecoming funds come from the overall operation funds of SGA for the entire school year.  

This year SGA received an increase in funds from $100,000 to $150,000.  Jackson said they have used about $80,000 to plan homecoming.  

McCoy said the increased budget has made it easier to sign bigger acts than in previous years.

A lot of the funds go to paying artists.  

Jackson said the range of cost for signing an artist can be as low as $6,000 or as high as $650,000.

The SGA uses fliers, posters and other marketing tactics to promote the events because they have to reach the WSSU students, alumni and the Winston-Salem community.  

 SGA begins creating a homecoming buzz as soon as the students return for the fall semester.  

"The purpose of homecoming is why you love WSSU and supporting your school, despite what's happening at surrounding schools," Jackson said