The Convocation Center hosted more than 40 events during its first few months of operation, but brought in financial losses for more than a quarter of the events it held, making $100,000 from its events last semester.

The earnings from last semester only include the profits and losses from individual events. The costs of day-to-day operation of the building, the salaries for its 14 full-time staff members and the building’s construction costs are not included in this figure.

“We’ve got to find our niche,” Convocation Center Director John Gordon said. “So, we’ve got to experiment with different kinds of events.”

This experimentation showed mixed results. Bill Cosby, Counting Crows and October’s Fall Home Show were among the biggest dollar earners for the center.

Cosby was the most expensive and ambitious event that the Convo Center has held to date. Bringing in Cosby cost the center more than $150,000, but ticket sales totaling more than $200,000 recouped all expenses.

However, 16 of last semester’s events were financial losses for the center.

The greatest losses were from the President’s Opening Address, Mike and Joe and the open house that took place during Cornfest.

“We knew that Mike and Joe would cost us money, but it was an event we wanted to have for the students,” Gordon said.

Many of the losses were because of low ticket sales and over-staffing at events.

“We knew that in the first year we would over-staff,” Gordon said. “You have to err on the side of caution to have more people available to show people the building.”

Many of the events that lost money, like the open house, were designed to introduce the building to the community. Those events are one-time costs for the center and required a great deal of money.

“It takes as much as two to three more years to figure out what average costs are,” Gordon said.

By late summer, the university should have a clearer picture of its total gains and losses from the Convo Center’s first year of operation. Then, administrators will begin to piece together a long-term plan for the facility.

For now, event planners will continue to hold diverse events in the arena in order to find what is successful.

“At least for the first year or two, we want to be as aggressive as we can,” said Robert Albanese, associate vice president of Finance and Facilities. “So, we’re willing to take a loss. In the second and third year, we’ll start focusing on what was successful.”

In February, the Convo Center will host a variety of events, including a monster truck show and a theatrical event that will be announced this week.

“We go on a run starting on Feb. 5,” Albanese said. “We’ll, probably, in a 30-day period, do over 20 events.”