UCF turns 50 years old this year, and students from 4EVER KNIGHTS, the official Student Alumni Association, used social media to help break a Guinness World Record. The previous record for most contributions to a greeting card stood at 5,339 signatures, which was broken at an Iron Man 3 premiere event earlier this month.
4EK planned on breaking this record on Wednesday, April 10 by having students and anyone else who wanted to participate sign a card celebrating UCF’s 50th birthday. The organization’s goal was to have 6,050 signatures, and in order for a person’s signature to be accounted for, one must include the message and a signature on the 4×10 foot card.
According to 4EK’s tally, the card received 6,352 signatures, not only surpassing their goal but also beating the previous world record. They are waiting on official word from Guinness.
The birthday card was located at various locations on campus for anyone to sign. The card made its campus debut 9 a.m. at the Reflection Pond, at noon it was located outside the Student Union, and at 3 p.m. it was located at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center.
Alex Lemoine, 4EK Ambassador and VP of Marketing said the organization came up with a teaser campaign at first to get people excited about something “BIG” that was going to be happening on campus without giving away too many details. Two days before the event, there was an announcement on Facebook that the organization would be attempting to break a Guinness World Record.
The day of the event, the marketing team kept all of 4EK’s social media fans informed about location changes as well as sharing the link to get online signatures. Since anyone could sign the card, UCF was able to share the experience with the world.
“Knights really stepped up to the plate to demonstrate that we are one of the largest universities in the nation by sharing the link with friends and family,” Lemoine said.
Participants of the event were encouraged to keep track of the card’s location by following the club’s Twitter, @4EVERKnightsUCF. There was a hash tag “#UCF50Card” for Instagram and Twitter to keep a collection of students signing the card.
4EK Ambassador and graduating senior, Nicole Cruz said she came up with the idea to break the Guinness World Record because the organization wanted to come up with something unique that would show UCF pride.
“This particular record would be perfect in honor of UCF’s 50th Anniversary,” Cruz said.
For those who wanted to sign the card but were unable to be at the three on-campus locations, the UCF Alumni Association website featured a link to sign electronically. Students and anyone else who wanted to participate in the event were able to sign the card.