For the first time in its history, MOB has eliminated VIP ticket sales for its annual fall concert and is instead sponsoring a contest to win a Meet and Greet with Hoodie Allen, who will headline the concert on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in ATS.

Emily Barbasch ’18, marketing executive for MOB and creator of the contest, said the success of the event would determine if MOB will host similar contests in the future.

“Instead [of VIP tickets], I thought it would be really cool to give Dickinson students an opportunity to meet Hoodie Allen while also showcasing their creativity and talents,” explained Barbasch.  “This is the first time that a contest like this has been organized, and MOB hopes that if it is successful, they can continue holding them in the future.”

To enter the contest, students can submit either a painting or drawing of Hoodie Allen or a video of themselves lip syncing to one of his songs. Students can also post a photo to Instagram or Facebook to argue their case for meeting the artist. The deadline for submissions is Monday, Nov. 2.

The main idea behind the contest was to promote and generate excitement surrounding the concert, but Barbasch said that MOB also wants to recognize the talent among Dickinson’s student body.

“I really want to stress that you don’t have to be Picasso, Beyonce or a social media mogul to participate!” said Barbasch. “We just want to see what Dickinson students come up with!”

All current Dickinson students are eligible to participate in the contest.  Students are allowed to submit one or more entries for all three types of contest. MOB is also encouraging collaboration between students as they create their submissions for the contest.

Many students expressed interest in the contest, but were not able to meet the original October submission date due to Fall Pause and midterms, so the deadline for submissions was extended to Nov. 2 for all three contests.

“It was extremely important to me that anyone that wanted to participate felt like they had sufficient time to do so,” said Barbasch to explain the change of the deadline.

For more information on the competition or the concert, go to MOB’s Facebook page or the Dickinson College website.