Party promoters I’m Shmacked cancel CCU show

Coastal Carolina won’t be getting shmacked this semester.

The House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach announced this week that Thursday’s I’m Shmacked show has been canceled. The party promotion company also confirmed the event is off.

“CCU, we won’t be able to make it,” I'm Shmacked said on its Twitter account. “We’ll try to do something in the Fall. All tickets will be refunded immediately.”

Thursday’s event was supposed to be a return trip for the revelry-rousing business that chronicles the party scene at colleges and universities through web videos.

But at I’m Shmacked’s first Coastal show in August more than 30 people were arrested, including many students. Most of those cases involved underage drinking, public urination or disorderly conduct.

Those incidents, coupled with news reports about the upcoming show, led to the decision to cancel, said George Garcia, a promoter with All Axcess Tour, which handles public relations for I'm Shmacked events.

"Forcing a show this Thursday would have been, I think, just a bad decision for all," he said. "It could have happened. And it would have happened. But I just think there just would have been a very big microscope on that specific event, which would have deterred many attendees from coming in the strength they did in the fall."

Garcia did admit the fall show should have been handled better.

"They were definitely a little disorganized, a little premature," he said. "But the brand has grown up."

Garcia began working with I'm Shmacked in February and he pointed out that recent shows have not seen the problems the August one did.

"All have gone off without a hitch," he said. "We've really just dotted our is and crossed our ts and honed in on the essence of what the shows need to be about: being proactive about pushing a positive message [and] really educating the ticket holders on not showing up in an extreme, altered state of mind. It's more of a cultural thing right now rather than pointing the finger at a brand."

Students also expressed concerns about the show, which had sold under 500 tickets before it was canceled, Garcia said. That was well below the fall turnout.

"The sentiment just seemed to be from the student body that if they were going to sneeze the wrong way something could happen to them," he said. "I didn't want to put my hand over the fire and come into town and risk anything. ... We would probably reconsider a comeback on a future date when things calm down a little bit and we're able to really advance and prepare for a show of the magnitude that we're able to put together in Myrtle Beach."

Where I'm Shmacked can improve, he said, is polishing the product so it is "in line with the university and doesn't so much infringe the way the guys did in the fall."

Apart from I'm Shmacked's Coastal video, the company also drew the ire of the university when it began selling Coastal-themed merchandise on its website. Among the items offered was a shirt that showed Chauncey, the school’s rooster mascot, and said, "It’s not college, it’s Coastal."

The Chanticleer-related gear prompted Licensing Resource Group, the licensing agency that represents the university, to send a cease and desist letter to I’m Shmacked in September.

When that didn’t work, the licensing group fired off another letter in February. This time, the group threatened to sue the company if it continued to sell Coastal-related items.

University spokeswoman Martha Hunn has said I’m Shmacked officials responded to the second letter and agreed to no longer offer items bearing trademarked images.

On Wednesday, Hunn said the university had heard of this week’s cancellation from the company's social media posts.

Despite the area's past experience with I'm Shmacked, Garcia insists things are changing.

"We're treating every town from now on as if it's our own," he said. "That's what we want to do going forward. We're not about wreaking havoc or inciting riots. You can Google us and you'll find some nasty things. I think that'll change in the next few months."

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Party promoters I’m Shmacked cancel CCU show."