Beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 10, continuing through Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College will be conducting their selfie contest for students, faculty and visitors. According to Director of the Redfern Arts Center, Shannon Mayers, participants are encouraged to take photographs of themselves while at the arts center and post them to either the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College Facebook page or on Instagram with the hashtag #redfernselfie.
Mayers said the prize, other than having a brand-new selfie to share with social media, is a ten-dollar gift certificate to Keene coffee shop Prime Roast. This will be rewarded to the first and second place participants who receive the most ‘likes’ on their selfies by October 15.
However, this contest is not strictly for the purpose of flooding the Redfern Arts Center Facebook page with self-taken pictures. It is a way to get students involved, according to Mayers.
“This contest was created to get students aware of the Redfern and try to get students to come to the events happening this semester and next semester,” Kayla Souza, assistant to the Redfern’s Marketing and Business Manager Jackie Hooper, said.
“The selfie contest is to promote the Redfern Arts Center in a fun, creative way,” Souza said.
Allie Norman / Equinox Staff
Mayers said she was inspired to create this event by the constant appearance of selfies on her Facebook timeline, as well as the viral 2014 Academy Awards-selfie taken by Ellen DeGeneres. In turn, Mayers said she noticed a common theme about selfies—they typically consisted of people enjoying themselves.
“It captures them having a really good time in a place and that’s what I want to promote—people having fun and being goofy in our arts center. The goal is for people to have fun in the Redfern and also to get to know it and to think about the center beyond being a place they go to for class. Some people don’t know about our building and everything going on,” Mayers said.
Mayers encourages participants to get creative with this contest by taking selfie’s that incorporate what the Redfern has to offer. Some suggestions made by Mayers include the stage, current exhibits, or even the musicians and artists who are coming to the arts center between now and the end of the contest.
KSC Junior Ali Lague said she briefly read about the selfie contest. “I saw a poster outside the bathrooms in the student center about the Redfern selfie contest, but I wasn’t sure what the event’s purpose was,” Lague said.
“I think if there was more social networking about the event or even an announcement on the Keene State web page it would get the word out more effectively. I would be more inclined to participate in the selfie contest if I had a better understanding for what it’s for and if they advertised the reward more. I thought it was just for fun,” Lague said. Cassidy Cetti, a KSC junior, also was unaware of this event. However, after hearing more about it, she thought it was a unique way for students to become involved in the Redfern Arts Center and their many offered activities.
“I’m usually only in the arts center for classes—I never think about it as a place with events,” Cetti said, “But I think a contest that is easy enough to enter and includes a prize for the winners is definitely a cool gateway to get people interested in the Redfern and look into what they have going on there. I’m definitely interested.”
Amanda Lashua can be contacted at alashua@keene-equinox.com
