By Alice Horner
Editor-in-Chief
Ed Hoegg gives the phrase “behind the scenes” a whole new meaning. Hoegg, who has worked the sound and lighting at over 600 WC shows, is wrapping up his year as President of the Student Events Board.
Hoegg first learned the intricacies of light and sound in the second grade.
“My elementary school did a fifth grade musical, and my dad would always build the sets,” he said. “I learned how to use power tools and hand tools at the age of two. By sixth grade I was designing all the lights for the shows.”
He met his light and sound mentor in high school, and got to travel to Austria, Germany, and Paris for a show tour.
A chemistry major and drama minor, Hoegg has gained experience and knowledge from all points of the academic spectrum. He claims his favorite classes to be organic chemistry and stage management.
“The reason I went into chemistry is because I like to challenge myself. I absolutely just fell in love with it. I know that’s where I want to end up, I want to continue to challenge myself,” he said. He brings a distinguished work ethic to both academics and to his extracurriculars. Outside of WC, Hoegg estimated that he’s worked almost 1,500 shows.
Yet the most challenging part of his time at WC was learning to say no. “It was especially hard as the program production intern,” Hoegg said.
One of his defining moments was stepping away from his job as program production intern at the Office of Student Activities and becoming president of the Student Events Board, which opened up a new avenue of involvement.
“I’ve been doing Sound and Lights for fifteen years. I wanted to help plan the events rather than just help run the events,” he said.
“A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum” was one of the most memorable shows for Hoegg, who stage managed the musical last spring. “We didn’t finish the set until the day of,” he said.
Another unforgettable performance was Nick Swardson, the comedian who came to WC in the fall of 2008. “It was a lot of fun, and we had 1,000 people show up,” he said.
Yet Homecoming this past fall stands out as one of Hoegg’s favorites.
“The school came together and it really opened lines of communication between SGA and the SEB. We put it together in less than three weeks,” he said.
One of Hoegg’s biggest achievements was founding the Tech Program under the leadership of Director of Student Activities Jared Halter.
“We had all this equipment that no one knew how to use, but it was really good equipment,” said Hoegg, who got a small team together to work any show from an Open Mic Night to a major concert.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous the things that we’ve done. We’d get notice on Thursday that there was a concert on Friday. Tom Stattel, Saad Bilal, and I would be there until three or four in the morning while everyone went out to party.”
Hoegg, who landed an internship with Energetics Inc. this summer, believes in a selfless work ethic, one that has distinguished him as a student and a person.
“It’s hard to get people to realize that it’s not for the pay, you’re doing it because you want to. It’s not always about yourself. ”
May 6, 2011
Volume LXXXI Issue 25