The Event {Part One}

Hey guys! How you doin’? Men, don’t I have a story to tell you! So up until this Monday, my being a GSA (see this post to get a background of what I am talking about) was just a theory. This is because me and +njihia jeremy, my colleague, had not held our first event yet. This had to do with the fact that our school was not in session and had only resumed last week. All this time we kept witnessing our other comrades from the other universities and countries have their events and be successful while at it.

The venue

So as you can imagine, the pressure kept mounting as our day grew closer. Were we gonna rise up to the occasion? Will people turn up? Will they be willing to hear us out? Will the schwag be enough? Will I remember all that I was taught? All these questions plus many others kept running through my mind in a complex web of confusion that previous night before our first event. And I would be lying if I told you I had a good night’s rest. The anxiety was unbearable.

Somewhat Googley

Fast forward to Monday morning, I woke up and got ready for the big day. I found Jeremy there when I arrived at the venue. He had already set up the banners and the chairs and tables that we needed. Better still, we already had some people on the queue waiting to hear what we were all about. This was a good sign. So I settled in and started playing my role.

Picture moment

However, our happiness was short-lived as it did not take long before life handed us one of those infamous lemons it is so fond of. And it decided to hit us where it would hurt the most…our internet connectivity! Arrrrgh, there is nothing more annoying than slow, terrible and unstable internet connection! All those who feel me say…‘aye’

At the time we were using Safaricom internet. We had already bought quite a huge bundle but because it was not working we had to buy the next best thing which was Airtel. I on the other hand was using Orange. It was pretty fast but it kept breaking after ten or so minutes. We tried everything…hotspots, tethering, the school Wi-Fi etc. but it was all in vain at some point. What saved us I think is the fact that our “clients” were patient and they understood. So there came a time we were just doing a verbal demonstration while we waited for our friends who had come to help us out to fix the internet problems we had. And all this time I kept wondering, ‘where is Google Loon when you need it?’

Activation of an Account

When the internet was somehow bearable we got to demonstrate to the attendees, what we were previously telling them verbally. We managed to open Gmail accounts for so many people and also activate many G+ accounts. I am pleased to say that those who had not previously used Google Plus did like the product a lot. They found it so easy to use and post. The User Interface also received massive applause.

Demonstration going on

Every time someone was making a post we encouraged them to use the hash tags that were assigned to us. They were #gsassa #gsakenya and #gsakenyattauniversity. We were super excited when we realized we got all those hash tags to trend in G+ at some point during the day. So much so that we took screenshots and could not wait to tag +Jeminatu Alabi-Isama  and +Tayib Fall for them to see the great work we were doing. They were happy for us but wait… it turns out we were using the wrong hash tag for the country. Instead of #gsakenya it was meant to be #gsassakenya! Wow, weren’t we shocked and a bit sad I might add. But we decided to look at it from the glass is half full perspective. And that was, if we managed to trend it once we could do it again as we still had day two of our event waiting for us :)

We trended the wrong hash tag

Later in the day, our school hash tag trended

Tuesday, day two, also came with its own challenges. The internet at some point was pulling a ‘now you see me and now you don’t’ but we were smarter this time. We had a way to combat it. Then there was the issue of schwagg! Everyone wanted a Google t-shirt! They thought we were being mean by refusing to bestow them the many gifts that were bestowed on us by this huge company. But truth be told we only had so much! But this situation was so funny to me and Jeremy because it was just last year that we also wanted shirts from our alumni GSAs and we didn’t understand why they never gave them to us. Well, sitting on the other side of the fence now, we can safely say that we now understand!! We decided to hold mini raffles after every hour or so and it then that winners got to walk away with the highly demanded shirts, mugs and bags! (The summit taught us well, hehe)

Jeremy making the tickets hehe

Winners of the raffle

Showing off the Google bands

After the end of the day, we managed to get the correct hash tag trending and we couldn’t be happier. 

The right hash tag, second time around

We made very many new friends, met old ones like +Lester Obbayi, +George Kamau and sooo many others. But most importantly we got people activated and talking in G+ which was the main aim of the event in the first place. We also explained to them the other Google product but assured them of an in-depth explanation at our next event (Google Scholar) which is supposed to take place next week. So watch out for, The Event {Part Two}

Random pics :)

All these would not be possible without our friends who volunteered to help us. So a big thank you goes out to you +Maria Mumoki, +Kennedy Murimi, +margaret adhiambo, +DANIEL KIHIA, +Robert Oruru, +Josphat Muchiri  and my best friend +wanjiru wainaina who decided to come and give us moral support but ended up being more of a distraction (don't tell her i said this though, hehe). But it was the good kind of distraction as she brought in some comic relief for those unavoidable awkward moments. And that's why i like her. I appreciate you all, especially those who even forwent their lunch break and decided to stick around to help us during the large traffic. +njihia jeremy we couldn’t have done this without you, so big ups man. But above all we thank the Almighty God for seeing us through the entire two days.

The friends that come out to help

After the long and tiring two days, we had some left over strength to be crazy and celebrate the conclusion of a successful event. Read, take weird pictures and make crazy videos. Watch the YouTube space, we might actually upload one!! Miley Cyrus, step out of the way LOL!

Crazy Pics

More sober pic. Naina, Maria and Me :)

Me and Naina, my bestie :)

Wishing you all a lovely afternoon. Stay well :)

Doing Cool Things That Matter

#happydays