Technology to enhance Alumni Weekend experience
June 3-5 alumni gathering benefits from use of latest technology, social media
12:47 p.m., April 5, 2011--Are you planning to attend Alumni weekend, June 3-5? Alumni Relations and IT University Media Services (IT-UMS) at the University of Delaware are using the latest technology to invite alumni, document the festivities and keep everyone engaged during the weekend’s activities.
“Alumni Weekend’s main focus is to reconnect alumni with their alma mater and peers,” said Stephen Mangat, assistant director of Alumni Relations. Because of an expected increase in attendance, the University is making good use of technology “to get the word out, collect online registrations and help members of milestone reunion classes communicate with each other,” he added.
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Recruitment for the reunion classes of 1961, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006 is already well underway. “The technology works well for all of our alumni. Last year, the majority of people registered online, including the Class of 1960,” Mangat said.
Alumni Weekend has both a Facebook and Twitter presence used to market the event and provide frequent updates for those already involved. All six milestone reunion classes have Facebook pages. Once a month, the class reunion committees hold conference calls and discuss implementing new ideas and answering questions pertaining to Alumni Weekend.
“It is a lot better to use social media than to send emails to 7,000 people,” Mangat said. “Using social media helps people connect with one another, the University and the event.”
The University will also use technology to make sure that everyone has a fantastic experience, even with an increase in attendance.
“What we’re doing this year is bigger,” said Carl Asti, director of IT-UMS. “The first year we had 1,200 people, last year we had 2,800 people and this year we may have over 3,500 people.”
“Mug Night Dela-bration,” Alumni Weekend’s most popular event, is a chance for alumni to catch up with each other in a festive atmosphere on The Green. Featuring the music of Love Seed Mama Jump, Mug Night kicks off the beginning of an exciting and fun-filled weekend.
Both Mangat and Asti agree that Mug Night is certainly the weekend’s most well-attended event, and it is important to create a memorable first experience for the thousands of Blue Hens who are coming back to campus.
“This year, we’ll provide video production equipment for Mug Night, making sure that everyone has an inclusive experience with old friends,” Asti said. Projection screens will display celebratory pictures next to the stage, and eight smaller screens will decorate the perimeter, inviting all who are attending the Dela-bration to flash their best smile at the cameras.
Asti said that LED screens will improve the brightness and clarity of the pictures, and more sophisticated cameras with longer lenses will be used to involve more people in the video celebration. In addition, live video footage will be interspersed with historical footage of the University.
“Seeing themselves and the shots from UD’s history on the screens should help strengthen the connection the alumni feel for the University,” Mangat said. “Besides, it will just be fun!”
Alumni Relations will also use social media during the weekend to promote UD spirit at the events and connect alumni from all over the globe. Alumni unable to attend will be able to follow events online via the web, Facebook and Twitter. “We’re excited about the role social media will play at the event,” Mangat said. “Each social media platform allows alumni to connect with one another and with UD in a different way.”
He expects that alumni may use Twitter to organize spontaneous “tweetups,” impromptu gatherings of Twitter users agreeing to meet at one Alumni Weekend venue or another. In addition, “We are working with the Office of Communications and Marketing (OCM) to incorporate Foursquare into the weekend,” he said.
Foursquare is a social media application that lets people check in online at specific locations using a mobile device such as a smartphone. This technology will help alumni locate old friends and classmates at Alumni Weekend, whether they are touring the new UDairy Creamery or viewing the Andy Warhol: Behind the Camera exhibition at Old College. “We’re planning to use Foursquare to encourage people to check in at different events and venues to be eligible to win prizes,” Mangat said.
In addition, photographers from OCM will take pictures at family-friendly events such as the picnic on The Green and the Blue Hen 5K. Alumni Weekend pictures will be posted online on UD in Photos, which partners with ephoto lab, as well as the University’s Flickr account and used to market Alumni Weekend 2012.
Alumni Weekend “is pretty exciting because it’s an opportunity to engage the 3,000 or 3,500 alumni that come to the event and the 145,000 alumni around the world,” Mangat said. “The technology we’ll be using will make the event more fun and help alumni connect with each other.”
For more information or to register, go to the Alumni Weekend website. Alumni who register by May 2 will receive “early hen pricing.” UD employees can sign up to volunteer at Alumni Weekend by emailing ddalex@udel.edu.
Article by Rachel Lipman