Engaging the Millennials – Wake Forest University’s Springfest

Mary Grace Thomas is a junior at Wake Forest University and is a summer intern here at Esprit Productions. In this month’s Showcase feature of our eNewsletter, Thomas shares her experiences in planning events that appeal to Millennials. She served as the chair of Springfest this year at Wake Forest.

At Wake Forest University, the student body looks forward to Springfest, a week at the end of the year which is comprised of fourteen different fun and exciting events. Springfest included such events as Marketplace, Battle of the Bands, Tuesday Trivia, and the tradition of Shag on the Mag (a southern dance).

A highly anticipated event packed into a short span of time, it is essential to get the word out about each individual event and what better way to do that than through social networking. Because Millennials are constantly using technology to find information and to communicate with one another, Student Union religiously utilized Facebook to advertise upcoming events by creating groups, pages, events, and updating statuses.

Another mode of social media that was highly used to market Springfest was Twitter. Not only did the updates inform students, but they also gave them an opportunity to win prizes for contests during the week of Springfest. This ensured that the word of mouth campaign would flourish because students would be raving about how they won tickets for Shag on the Mag at the end of the week or a t-shirt. Winning these prizes gave the students a purpose for being involved in a school tradition, making them feel important.

A noteworthy characteristic of the Millennials is that they are able to multi-task more than any other generation and they thrive when they are in-group settings. This was taken into consideration when planning this week of activities because during many events, there are a lot of things to do at once. For example the Marketplace and Battle of the Bands overlapped in time so that students that were attending the Marketplace could also listen to the Battle of the Bands contest nearby. Also, students were fully engaged in the performance of the bands because they were able to cast their vote – giving the audience’s opinion the respect that it deserved.

The use of social networking helped gather the students at each event but in the end, the word of mouth campaign is the strongest motivator. Social media enhanced the experience of Springfest but nothing is better than the emotions that can be evoked through a face to face interaction with someone. Creating new experiences and memories that will last a lifetime comes through personal interaction, at that’s what they will take with them after they leave Wake Forest.