Attendance at events sponsored by Marquette Student Government has fluctuated this semester, but MUSG plans to boost publicity efforts in an effort to increase attendance for the group's spring programs, according to Program Vice President Chris Hoff.

Attendance at the Nov. 15 Ben Kweller and Matt Nathanson concert in the Varsity Theater was 500; most major concerts that MUSG sponsors sell all 800 available tickets.

However, MUSG sold all 500 tickets for its Nov. 17 Night of Chocolate within 30 minutes, Hoff said. The event forced MUSG to turn away a line that stretched from the Alumni Memorial Union ballrooms to the Brew Bayou two floors below, said Beth Feste, MUSG executive vice president and a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Hoff, a College of Health Sciences senior, said the reason for the drop in attendance at the concert probably had to do with the name recognition of Ben Kweller and Matt Nathanson.

"People probably didn't realize who they were," he said.

Feste said bad timing, since many students had exams or papers due the week before Thanksgiving break, and changes in student interest may also have contributed to the sluggish attendance.

"The attendance of an event doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of it," she said.

Hoff oversees seven commissions that plan events to involve and draw as many students as possible. He said the special events commission raised ticket prices for the Night of Chocolate and increased the capacity to 500 in order to cover the costs of catering the chocolate.

MUSG Special Events Co-commissioner Kat Garcia, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said she dressed up as a Hershey's Kiss at a Late Night event and at the Ben Kweller concert to advertise for Night of Chocolate.

She said she never expected to have to turn anyone away from the annual program, which returned last year after a two-year hiatus.

"They wanted to get more creative programming in for those two years," Garcia said. "Not having it for two years would attract the students and get them interested in it once again."

The Program Board discussed pre-selling tickets or including Night of Chocolate in a Late Night event to accommodate more students at future Nights of Chocolate, she said.

Hoff and Feste agreed that an event's popularity often correlates to how long it has been around.

"As events become more of a staple on campus, they'll be met with greater success," Feste said.

She said MUSG-sponsored Late Night and After Dark events, which Hoff said usually draw about 300 people, were "even smaller" four years ago.

"We just had to take baby steps to get where we're at," Feste said. "I don't know if it was a change in students or a change in mindset."

Hoff said the most effective way for MUSG to increase event attendance is to involve several students and organizations in every step of the planning process in order to "appeal to different kinds of people."

Next semester, Hoff said the Program Board plans to come up with new forms of advertising events and increase publicity by word of mouth.

"The student activity fee is mandatory for everyone, so we'd like to see everyone come to the programs," he said.

Upcoming events for the spring include the second annual "Bee the Difference" spelling bee, a spring concert and After Dark events.