Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, graduate student Mike Sangid was accustomed to attending concerts at the United Center. To catch his favorite bands, he even made trips to Cleveland, Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Sangid never expected to see his favorite bands a mile from his front door, as he did when Red Hot Chili Peppers performed at the Assembly Hall during his freshman year in 1999. Sangid attended a Pearl Jam concert as a graduate student four years later, but the location was still the same – Assembly Hall.

Since opening in 1963, Assembly Hall has become the official concert venue of C-U, hosting 20 to 30 shows during the school year. While the performers come and go, much of the operations and management work that goes behind the scenes remains the same.

Over the last 12 years, Kevin Ullestad, the director and booking agent of Assembly Hall, has gone into the office each day with one thing in mind – “Putting the best foot forward for the University and Illinois.”

For Ullestad, making strong impressions means making sure that the Assembly Hall showcases itself as a “full-service multi-purpose facility,” not just a venue where concerts take place where a basketball court usually sits.

Ullestad said that on the day of a show, employees can work anywhere from 12-14 hours.

“The (show) trucks start rolling on at 5 to 6 a.m.,” Ullestad said. “It takes the stage hands all day long to unload the trucks.”

For big acts, this means unloading 14 to 16 trucks worth of stage equipment. And on days that basketball games and concerts are held back-to-back, the job becomes an all night event.

“144 floor pieces, 4′ by 8′ (in size), 140 pounds (by weight) has to be removed,” Ullestad said.

For the 46 staff members at Assembly Hall, the chaos that surrounds the event days is all part of the job.

“What I love most about it (the job), is it’s not a 9 to 5 monotonous job,” said Sue Walker, one of the five assistant directors at Assembly Hall. “It’s about dealing with different promoters and entertainment shows, just the variety of it.”

On event days, Walker can expect to direct more than 200 temporary front-of-house staff, including ushers, security, the police, parking help, medical staff, and ticket workers.

Months of planning, however, precede the chaos on the day of the show. While Walker manages the building’s calendar of events on a daily basis, the initial bookings are done by Ullestad.

“The whole (concert) booking process is very relationship driven,” Ullestad said. “It is about staying in touch with the (artist’s) agents and seeing what’s in the industry on a daily basis.”

Ullestad said while WCIA Broadway Series (not part of the 20-30 other concert shows) are often scheduled a year in advance, bands and singers are usually not confirmed until two to three months before their shows.

“Routing is very essential; artists like to stay within 400 miles of their prior destination.” Ullestad said. “We have to look at routing date options, and from there look at marketing.”

Due to its small size, C-U is not on most artist’s agent’s list of top performance locations, Ullestad added. To market itself as an attractive venue, Ullestad focuses on Champaign’s relative location.

“It’s about the marketing of 500,000 people from a 600 mile radius,” Ullestad said. “With the Dave Matthews Band (and other big bands), you have people coming from Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis.”

Geographical drawing power has worked effectively over the decades, drawing in headliners including Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Garth Brooks, and Elvis Presley – who still holds the attendance record for a concert at the venue.

For Ullestad, the key to drawing crowds at headlining events is to think of it as a competition.

“It’s like competing with ourselves – not keeping two (music genre) shows scheduled too close,” Ullestad said.

For his staff members, the key to success is about building upon improvement.

“You have to go with the changes, always looking for a better way to do something,” Walker said. “What works now, in two years time may not be the best way anymore.”

For now, Ullestad and his staff can agree on one thing: a renovation is needed at Assembly Hall.

“It’s time to upgrade,” Ullestad said, adding that elevators, air conditioners (currently only available in the dressing room) and additional bathrooms were a must.

“Only through renovations can we get on top with other arenas.”