Social media users attended an event sponsored by Cru Wednesday night to network with other students and student organizations.
Over 100 students gathered in the multipurpose room in the Union to attend the “Follow the Falcon” event wearing name tags that read, “Hi, My Name is…” followed by their social media handle from Twitter or Instagram. Those who attended listened to live performances and were treated to free pizza from Marcos.
The event was the idea of student Will Webb who said the goal of the event was to give students the opportunity to meet and gain new followers on social media as well as give students a chance to interact with their current followers they might not have had the chance to meet in real life.
Webb said he was hoping that at least 50 people would attend the networking event and was happy they surpassed that number.
“We wanted to give people a free concert because a lot of them on campus don’t have money for concerts and so they could see their followers,” Webb said.
Webb, a free-style performer who goes by the stage name Will the Space Kid, brought his own fans and followers to the event to swap their social media identities.
The networking event aligns with one of the many core aspects of the Cru organization and their sponsorship just made sense, said Thursday Night Cru Program Director Dylan Murphy.
“We have a high value in connecting multiple student groups on campus to one another,” Murphy said.
Cru hosts a weekly event on Thursday nights in Olscamp 101 that sometimes features local artists and speakers and gives students a chance to mingle and talk about all facets of life. Cru’s website describes the weekly event as being similar to a late-night show; “Think: Jay Leno. Er wait, even cooler and less chin… Jimmy Fallon.”
Junior Liz Sampson helped organize the event alongside Webb and said she hopes she sees more networking events like this from Cru in the future.
“I’m hoping it will be an ongoing event,” Sampson said. “Hopefully annually but maybe more than that.”
Sampson said that social media is playing a crucial role in how students and people in general are meeting each other in our society today.
“This is an easy way to [introduce] people who don’t know each other,” She said. “Social media is now a big part of connecting people in our culture.”
