Over two dozen local musicians and bands visited the University of South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP) campus over the summer to participate in the school’s first season of the community concert series Tiny Office.
Tiny Office is made of sweat, stress and great music. It’s a labor of love for the staff of Connect, USFSP’s student-run digital media group. Carrying wagonloads of equipment through the heat, musicians came to be filmed performing in an office the size of a college dorm, all for the sake of spreading their music. The Connect staff filmed student musicians as well as local performers.
Tiny Office is the brain child of Warren Buchholz, the multimedia program coordinator of the University Student Center at USFSP. Buchholz and his team of student staff became interested in the concept after watching NPR’s concert series Tiny Desk.
“I thought it was a great idea to get students involved with the local community,” Buchholz said. “And so why not showcase musicians.”
The Connect office is unbearably hot when filled to the brim with people and lights, and in a general sense, what can go wrong will go wrong during the performances. Yet, the staff are not dismayed.
“It’s been a lot of trail and error,” Buchholz said. “Growing pains basically. Our first few record sessions were traversing new ground mainly because we didn’t know what to expect, and this is the first time our staff has created such a project.”
Connect is currently editing footage of the summer performances and will release them weekly to the community via Connect’s website starting Monday, Sept. 25.
Buchholz has high hopes for the future. He wants Tiny Office to incorporate more kinds of art and community connection and hopes to incorporate a poetry series.
“I see a conversation between students and the community where we can open up different collaboration efforts,” Buchholz said. “Maybe not only with music, but maybe poetry, writing, art.” Buchholz also hopes to inspire students who want to be artists.
“Our goal is to network with everyone in the community,” Buchholz said. “And to show that ‘hey, these people are professionals, and they succeed at what they do. And you as a student, you can do the same.’”
Connect is a student-run media group serving the University of South Florida St. Petersburg community. Connect is focused on connecting current and prospective students with each other and the USFSP campus, and serve as a creative outlet to all students.
For more information, visit Connect’s website at usfspconnect.com/
