As bands waited for their turns onstage, organizers from the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and Baylor University’s Uproar Records were optimistic about attracting 2,000 students to the first “Wac’d Out: Waco’s Back to College Music Bash” on Sunday evening at Heritage Square in the shadow of Waco City Hall.

The event was a fine-tuned successor to last year’s College Day, planned in the same location to introduce Baylor students to local businesses.

Activities then had to move into the Waco Convention Center because of the weather, said Alexis Weaver, the chamber’s director of community development.

James Carland performs at Wac'd Out at Heritage Square.
Jerry Larson/Tribune-Herald

Though a fair number of local businesses and nonprofit groups had booths at last year’s event, Uproar Records business manager Jacob Voncannon said it suffered from a lack of entertainment.

Together with marketing, that might have been the key.

Chelsey Schaffeld, a junior from Oregon who attended Sunday’s event with friend Amanda Castaneda, of Dallas, said, “We saw it on Facebook, and then we were at a party last night where it was announced. We knew there was going to be music, and we wanted to see what we could learn about the town.”

Other draws included free food and drinks.

Voncannon said, “Since last year, we’ve been working with the chamber to produce a bigger event. We might do one at the start of next semester, but we’ll definitely do another next August.”

The chamber wants to make sure Baylor students know there’s a Waco out there.

“We want to show them Heritage Square, for one thing.” Weaver said. “The students come school and immediately get into a routine of going from class to a few accustomed places, and then on weekends they head to Dallas and Austin. We’re trying to showcase the opportunities and entertainment we have for them here.”

The same principles apply to some extent at McLennan Community College and Texas State Technical College, both of which chipped in as sponsors of the event.

“Over 30,000 students attend these three institutions,” Weaver said. “That is a significant economic impact if we can engage them in our community through shopping, entertainment and community participation.”

About 35 businesses and nonprofit agencies that can aid students and use their services had reserved booth spaces across the square from the stage. Among them were BBVA Compass, a bank that has partnered with the student financial service Sallie Mae to provide student loans.

“We’re one of the few banks that still provides student loans,” said Eric Hasbun, a branch retail executive for the Compass downtown location. “We try to be attractive to students in various ways, and we don’t try to sell them on credit cards. We don’t want them to graduate under a big load of debt.”

A neighboring enterprise set to open in a couple of weeks is The Camille House Bed & Breakfast, which owners Ronnie and Michael Fanning have been bringing to reality since 2008 at 1515 Columbus Ave.

“We were really glad for this opportunity to meet students,” Michael Fanning said. “We hope students will see us as a weekend getaway to be closer to other entertainment in town.”

The chamber, Baylor and MCC were “gold sponsors,” along with Brazos Higher Education Service, Jack’s Stereo and the City of Waco Public Improvement District.

Northside Animal Hospital was a “silver sponsor.” TSTC joined Carbajal Realty, Courtyard by Marriott, Salon Savvy, and the David Wilson Allstate insurance agency as “bronze sponsors.”

Performers included the Austin bands SPEAK and Bright Light Social Hour and the local groups David Dulcie & the Ragtag Army, James Curlin Band and Zoo Studio. Some of the acts record with Uproar, which is managed by marketing majors with a concentration in music and entertainment marketing in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business.

“Uproar is in the business of planning events and festivals, and we wanted to make sure we were using a group that really knew how to tap into the college demographic,” Weaver said

dbolding@wacotrib.com

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