StuCo To Run Snapchat GeoFilter Competition

Several weeks ago, Student Council (StuCo) announced that a new Phillips Exeter geotag will be available for students on the mobile application Snapchat. To allow student input, the Public Relations (PR) Committee of StuCo, headed by seniors Cesar Zamudio and Sean Taylor, began a competition for the best geotag design and issued the challenge to the Exeter community. StuCo hopes that the geotag will add to the everyday experience of Exeter and also begin to address the cries for more school spirit.Many boarding schools around the country, such as Phillips Academy Andover and Deerfield Academy, have had geotag filters for many months, and many students think that Exeter is, in a sense, lacking without one. PR committee member and upper Brandon Liu said, “Andover has an—admittedly—excellent filter, and I’m constantly reminded of this fact by my friends down there. It’s time for Exeter to step up its game.”

“There are tons of creative and talented artists here, so it was in our (and PEA’s) best interest to make the contest open so that we all can have the best geotag possible.”

The call for a Phillips Exeter geotag goes hand in hand with the recent demand for more school pride. “Exeter has definitely been lacking spirit,” lower Pedro Sanson said. “No one really seems to care about sporting events, concerts and performance when people are just trying to focus on getting their school work done.”The PR committee believes the geotag competition, which boasts a chance to win a pint of Stillwells Ice Cream and “eternal glory,” might add some school unity. Submissions will be due on Nov. 1 and must be emailed to byliu@exeter.edu. A panel of PR Committee members will judge the geotags and determine the final design. The winning geotag will then be uploaded to the Snapchat servers for the use of the greater Exeter area.“The competition is a chance for Exonians to showcase their ability by creating the potential Exeter geotag to be featured on Snapchat,” upper Brandon Liu said. “There are tons of creative and talented artists here, so it was in our (and PEA’s) best interest to make the contest open so that we all can have the best geotag possible.”Once the filter is put in place, many think that Exonians will take more pride in the activities around campus by showing off the geotag on social media. Lower Emily Green said, “Exeter is a great place. There should be a geotag that we can use to show some of our pride for where we are. It will surely be a fun and useful tool for an app that's used by most of the school.”StuCo also hopes that the filter will create awareness for school-wide events and allow people from both on and off campus to become more involved in Exeter Life. “I think it’s important that we have this geofilter because it would be nice to use when there are fun things going on around campus,” Hood said. “More people will discover the amazing opportunities we have here at Exeter.”In only a few weeks, the design for the geotag will be finalized and Exeter will have a new presence on social media. Zamudio said, “We hope that by opening up this contest to all of Exeter we can look at an array of great designs and choose the best one to represent our community on Snapchat.”