By Matthew Cimitile, University Communications and Marketing
A spark was lit for Brooke Elrod when she attended her first music festival.
“Music has always been extremely important to me growing up,” she said. “When my parents took me to my first music festival, “Welcome to Rockville,” in 2021, I thought, ‘Why couldn’t I do this, why couldn’t I put something like this on?”
Since then, Elrod has pursued a variety of opportunities to gain the knowledge and training needed for such a career. She is graduating this summer with a bachelor’s degree in management in just three years along with wide-ranging job and internship experiences on all facets of live event and entertainment management.
Elrod (front right with other graduating seniors) was a member of the Rho Psi chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, a leading professional co-ed business fraternity.
Born and raised in Tampa, Elrod became familiar with USF at a young age and had a feeling she would end up a Bull. She attended various events over the years at the university, and when it was time to decide, chose the St. Petersburg campus because of its location in a downtown setting and smaller class sizes.
With her passion for music and goal of becoming a festival director, she landed on management as a major because of its broad applicability to a variety of industries.
“From my classes, management is a lot about how to work with people at all levels and situations, which is vital in working in the music industry,” she said.
Going into her final year, Elrod sought hands-on experiences in the live event field to bolster her education. In August 2024, she simultaneously secured two part-time jobs in event management on and off campus.
At the campus’ University Student Center (USC), which includes a 7,500 square foot ballroom that hosts everything from conferences to camps, she was hired on as an event technician. Elrod learned how to setup A/V equipment, lights, livestreams and furnishings while working directly with clients to ensure execution of events. She would go on to become a building manager, prioritizing tasks and managing day-to-day operations for events in the USC.
Elrod (front row, center) with the University Student Center staff at the Annual Rocky's Leadership Awards.
Outside of the university, Elrod got experience at Rhino Staging as a stagehand, working on a team that converts stadiums such as Raymond James Stadium and Amalie Arena into massive concert venues. She has set up video walls, built stages and installed lighting for artists Sabrina Carpenter and Zach Bryan, and even set up a wrestling ring for a WWE event. The experience has taught her how much goes into setting up a show at such large scales.
“One of my most memorable moments was setting up the stage for Metallica, one of my favorite bands since middle school,” Elrod said. “And then I got the opportunity to go to the show. The perspective of being on the floor and looking up at all of the seats during the setup and then later being in the seats looking down at the performance, it was just incredible.”
While juggling two part-time jobs and a full-time class schedule, Elrod also found time for an internship.
During the spring semester, she attended an event at Bayboro Brewing for people in the music industry. Through networking, she connected with the organizer who booked music for the brewery and other venues in St. Petersburg. Her internship with Matchless Concerts has allowed her to work with the director and talent buyer, assisting in marketing, promotions, ticketing and show running.
“By grabbing opportunities left and right, it has allowed me to get such well-rounded experiences,” she said.
Looking back, Elrod is grateful for the many people who have helped her along the way, from supportive parents and friends to the USC event team to faculty and students in the Muma College of Business, the Judy Genshaft Honors College and Delta Sigma Pi professional co-ed business fraternity.
“I can’t remotely describe how much I’ve loved being at USF,” she said.
Elrod graduates on August 9. Her next step on the journey to becoming a music festival director begins on August 25 as she starts a master’s program in management at USF Tampa.