When we were at UMass, music was everywhere. My name is Brian Appel. I graduated from UMass Amherst in 2001. The way that Boston Calling Festival came about actually grew out of my time and my partner, Mike's, time at WFNX. One of our goals was to put together a ticketed music festival in downtown Boston which hadn't really been done before. We had been charged with putting together a smaller festival for the radio station and then the station ended up going out of business. So we decided to go off on our own and get a company funded and ultimately that's where Boston Calling grew out of. What I remember from business school at UMass is the team approach to solving problems and building businesses. Most of our bigger projects were group projects, so you would learn how to work well with the team and you would see who's good at specific tasks, and trusting the people that you're working with to come to the table prepared and ready to work. And I carry that through with my previous company and now with what we're doing here at Boston Calling. I think the biggest thing I took out of UMass was you were an individual and you could be whatever you wanted to be. The exposure you get to the different types of people and opportunities that are out there really mimic the real world. When I talk to colleagues, I'm very proud about the fact that I went there. And if they have children that are looking at it, I'm happy to be the voice on the other end of the phone that's giving them the reasons why I think it's a great place. My name is Brian Appel. I'm the co-founder of Crashline Productions and the Boston Calling Music Festival. I stand for creating unique events in the city of Boston, and I stand for UMass.