UD graduate re-launches event management company

By: Danielle Pohlman – Lead A&E Writer

Searching for a big event on campus or something fun to do on a weekend? University of Dayton graduate Nathan Pyle ‘12, founder and executive partner of Blue Monster Entertainment, may have the answer.

The event management company specializes in live concerts and events by providing unique opportunities to small colleges and universities that produce “monster” events. Larger campuses have bigger budgets to work with, but Blue Monster Entertainment believes through empowerment in strategic networking and partnerships they can compete to develop strong relationships with students, sponsors and artists.

Blue Monster Entertainment began after Pyle worked for UD’s concert board, currently known as Campus Concert Committee. He began working independently, booking and promoting shows, especially with Timothy’s Bar and Grill. Due to rapid growth, Ohio Northern University 2012 graduate and Pyle’s classmate from high school, Andrew Jacoby, signed on as Pyle’s managing partner.

“We realized through our experiences attending smaller colleges that students’ demand for music was just as high as students’ at larger colleges,” Pyle said. “Why can’t smaller colleges have similar artists come to their campus? With this goal in mind, Blue Monster transformed itself into the answer for small to mid-sized colleges.”

Blue Monster prides itself on being built by college students for college students. Pyle and Jacoby come from smaller universities and share in the experiences of their clientele.

The duo has a flexible office that has constantly changed from place to place, city to city in the past year and a half. Blue Monster has worked mainly from Dayton, Columbus and Nashville, out of various coffee shops, restaurants, apartments, houses and even cars.

“Our office is always changing and we are always on the move,” Pyle said. “We pride ourselves on being mobile and being able to adapt to our markets’ needs.”

Based off internship experiences and the feeling of wanting to have more ownership, Blue Monster started an internship program.

“We wanted to recreate an internship where students were able to hold vital roles while gaining the experience needed to pursue a career in the entertainment industry,” Pyle said. “Through our experience in working in the industry we have created five vital roles that are necessary to create a successful event: event coordinator, graphic designer, photographer/videographer, journalist and production crew member.”

Pyle and Jacoby, re-launched the company and its mission in September to colleges and universities in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. After traveling 3,000 miles in 30 days to spread the word about their company, Blue Monster gained interest from around 12-17 schools, and are planning to be in full swing next fall.

Some of Blue Monster’s past events include Dayton Debut, The 3 Amigos Tour, St. Paddy’s Day Bar Crawl, FREEFAHL and the Halloween Bar Crawl. Among Pyle’s favorite and biggest turn outs were musicians Timeflies and 2 AM Club.

“As a rock ‘n roll lover and player, I think it’s really cool that a graduate is still connecting with his university to bring entertainment to smaller colleges and universities. I would be interested in going to an event with my friends,” said Joe Rajka, a junior accounting major.

Hearing from students is always a plus for Blue Monster and its interns.

“Pursue your passion,” Pyle said. “The road will be tough, but never give up and never stop looking for the next opportunity. Always look at failure as a key to a new opportunity.”

For more information visit bluemonsterentertainment.com.