BHHA Berklee Campus Chapter MEETING MINUTES

Many thanks to those of you who were able to attend the first meeting of the Boston Hip-Hop Alliance Berklee Campus Chapter. We had a small meeting but some powerful ideas are already starting to take root! Some really great ideas came out of the meeting, and we look forward to seeing more people in attendance as time moves forward! We will have a meeting schedule very soon so please stay tuned!

In addition to a wonderful conversation with Prince Charles Alexander, who was in attendance, here are a few of the ideas that sprouted from tonight's meeting from BHHA Berklee Chapter leadership and students in attendance:

We see the BHHA Berklee Campus Chapter as a way to...

.... nuture relationships with each other to build projects and porfolios that prepare us with materials for graduation

.... combine efforts, across genres, instrumentation, skills, and professions

.... interact and build relationships with members of the Boston Hip-Hop Alliance organization as a whole

.... discuss issues, ideas, and provide peer mentorship

.... invite professionals who are in the field working who can can help students learn how to prepare themselves and hone their craft

.... continue to develop as professionals

.... engage in the projects of the main Boston Hip-Hop Alliance and/or customize their programs for Berklee students (ie collaborations with the MP&E department, the Berklee Hip-Hop Ensemble, The Music Business Dept., the Turntable Ensemble, etc.)

.... gain mentorship and professional opportunities through networking and teambuilding

.... discuss books related to Hip-Hop culture, business, artistry, and production

.... create an additional learning resource that encourages more indepth discussion of business and production issues, as well as musician support mechanisms, and enhances the education we are already receiving here at the College

We also had an indepth discussion with Prince Charles Alexander and Darcie Wicknick about the business of Hip-Hop, starting to talk about ways to maximize individual skills and learning about different models for success, both corporate and entrepreneurial, and a starting point for learning how to create your own marketing strategies while fitting into the larger corporate construct and also from the entrepreneurial side; kind of a continuation of the discussion we had at the Business of Hip-Hop workshop in February. This was one example of the types of discussions that this group can continue to have.

RECOMMENDED READING
Making Beats by Joseph Schloss

Remixing by Erik Hawkins (discusses genre specific BPM for Hip-Hop,House, techno, etc., drum and bass, compression, and so much more)

Hit Men by Frederik Dannen

PLEASE feel free to submit ideas at any time - we want this chapter, although it fits under the umbrella of an existing organization, to serve the needs of students and to help students grow professionally!

Thank you so much for your interest and participation! We will let you know about the next meeting sometime this week.