With Homecoming starting almost a month earlier this year, its planning committee had less time to prepare for the week’s events.

Considering the shortened planning period, Jeramy Blackford, assistant director of student membership and marketing for the Alumni Association, said the week has run smoothly.

“We’ve had more turnout at our events this year than any other year,” he said.

The kickoff on Harris Field Sunday was especially crowded, according to David Drosback, a senior in engineering.

“There were a lot of people there,” he said. “It took ten minutes to get a T-shirt.”

Last year’s Homecoming fell within the last week of October, and students on this years’ committee has been promoting events like the parade and the Pack Howl pep rally.

Blackford said the committee has a $15,000 budget for publicity, and publicity chair Jai Kumar, a junior in biological sciences, said it has worked hard to promote Friday’s parade after last year’s was rained out.

“If we get a lot of students to show up for that, that would be really good,” he said.

Chris Pope, a sophomore in physics, said while he has meant to participate in some Homecoming activities this year, he has not been as well-informed about what’s going on.

“It just seems like I knew what was happening more [last year],” he said. “I haven’t really gotten into it this year yet.”

Kumar said the main way the group has publicized its activities is through the University, as well as sandwich boards, fliers, the WolfWeb site, the Free Expression Tunnel and Blackford said the committee placed pole banners on Hillsborough Street.

“We’ve got a bunch of banners on campus as well,” he said. “We’ve had one or two of them stolen. That kind of makes things difficult.”

Promotion was heavy for the Pack Howl concert this year, as the committee brought in hip-hop artist Common and alternative hip-hop group N*E*R*D for a cost Blackford said was around $60,000.

“We really just try to break even on the concert itself from ticket sales,” he said.

No one makes money off the concert because of the expense to bring in artists, and Blackford said if what he had heard is correct, it should be an extravagant show.

“It’s going to be the biggest production that we’ve ever done for a Pack Howl, ever,” he said.

Pack Howl ticket sales have picked up recently, according to Blackford.

“They’ve been slow until the last two weeks, and they’ve really started to pick up in the last week and a half,” he said.

But despite increasing sales, Blackford said students are still not buying as many tickets as they were at this period before Pack Howl last year.

“We’ve spent more money publicizing this concert with the big names that they are,” he said.

The money to pay for Homecoming comes from the Alumni Association and the sponsors that donate money to support events, Blackford said.

The Alumni Association provides $30,000 to sponsor Homecoming, and others can give anywhere from $650 to sponsor a banner contest to $5,000, which is typical for larger donors like University Housing and Dining.

Caitlin Garrison, a senior in graphic design, said small changes have helped to keep student groups organized in the week’s events.

A new two-line system, in which groups are designated a certain line at each event, has helped cut down waits, she said.

The attendance sheets for events are complete, Garrison said, so volunteers can make sure what student organizations to award points for the spirit competitions.