Tethering is a gathering and one of the efforts to maintain the continuity of student institutions, both agencies and student organizations, in making consistent contributions to Universitas Widyatama.
That was the essence of the opening remarks by the Manager of Digital Communication Marketing (MDC), Fikri Alwi Hasan, A.Md., when opening the event Tethering: Together, We are Sharing in Seminar Room A401 at Universitas Widyatama y on Monday, May 8th, 2017. The event, organized by the Marketing Bureau in collaboration with the Student Affairs Bureau, received a positive response from students, especially the administrators of student institutions and organizations at Universitas Widyatama. This was evident when registration opened at around 4:20 p.m., with many seats already filled in the first few minutes of the event. The event was hosted by Henny “Hehe” Yuliani, a well-known host from the marketing crew who is involved in Universitas Widyatama promotional events.
Another benefit of the Tethering event, aside from being a gathering, was the opportunity for student activity unit administrators to introduce themselves and promote the student activities carried out by each unit. Representatives from the Islamic Student Family, Rival and Fansuri, shared the success of the Widyatama Islamic Festival entitled Generasi Akhir Zaman (End of Times Generation) which took place on Saturday (6/5). Mallyda from the Investment Gallery also shared a little about what she learned about capital market investment and public speaking from her activity unit. There was also a short demonstration by Ivone, a representative of the Tarung Derajat activity unit, on how women should deal with street crimes such as snatch theft. “This is really beneficial for women. To protect themselves,” she said. Through this event, the robotic angklung developed by students of the Faculty of Engineering could be promoted to a wider audience, considering that one of the objectives of holding this event and forming the MDC team was to expand and strengthen the positioning aspect of Universitas Widyatama’s marketing.
“Universitas Widyatama must keep up with the times in order to compete in the global era. The most important thing in marketing is having a direction and goal (marketing). Without direction, we cannot achieve our goals. Without goals, we don’t know where we are headed,” said Devi Mawarnie Puspitasari, S.E., M.M., in her speech as Head of the Marketing Bureau. “In the future, the Marketing Bureau and the Student Affairs Bureau can work more synergistically in branding Universitas Widyatama. This (read: Tethering event) is a good first step.” The same thing was also expressed by the Head of the Student Affairs Bureau, Mucharam, S.E., M.M., in his speech. He also joked a little in his speech. “Perhaps in the past, we were familiar with the nine basic necessities or sembako. Now it is different and has become ten basic necessities. (One more is) phone credit.” Inevitably, this was met with laughter from the audience, considering that this is true in this era where everything is connected to the internet, including things such as promotion and marketing, which have entered the realm of social media.
In the talkshow he participated in, Fikri gave an example of how the power of social media greatly influences the success of a promotion. “We know that one of the reasons Mr. Jokowi won the 2014 election was because he was close to young people, who are notably social media users, so he took advantage of the power of social media. The same strategy was used by Donald Trump, who won the election in the United States (US). He often made controversial tweets on his Twitter account. The more he annoyed people, the more famous he became,” he said. Fikri acknowledged Trump’s efforts as a powerful engagement strategy to introduce himself to the American people. This method is known as electronic word of mouth (e-wom). E-wom is considered very important because it is a new method of marketing.
As the event reached its climax, namely the awarding of prizes in four categories – The Best Student Event, The Most Popular Official Account, The Most Favorite UKM, and The Most Up-to-Date Official Account – the atmosphere in the room became even more boisterous. The first and third categories were participated in by five student activity units, while the other two categories were participated in by five official social media accounts of student activity units. Several representatives of student activity units sounded anxious.
The “Sashimi” event from the Japan Community emerged as the winner of the Best Student Event category. Through its representative, Lutfi, the Japan Community expressed its gratitude and thanks. “Alhamdulillah, we were nominated and won. We are very happy. Thank you.” There was something interesting about the Barudak Widyatama account when it won the Most Popular Official Account category, where its representative finally revealed the identity of the admin behind the famous Instagram account at Widyatama University and one of the most popular accounts in Bandung. “For the first time, the identity of the Barudak Widyatama account administrator has been revealed,” said Fahmi Deva, who turned out to be the administrator of the account. “Barudak Widyatama has joined the Bandung campus news account. There are already eight campuses that have joined. Let’s just pray (for success),” he added.
Meanwhile, the category The Most Favorite UKM was won by the Student Art Group and the category The Most Up-to-Date Official Account was won by the social media account of the Widyatama University Student Government. “Thank you for the support of all students who have helped the Student Government, especially the Ministry of Communication and Information,” said Istanto Dwi Aprilianto, Student President for the 2016/2017 period. The Ministry of Communication and Information is one of the departments in the Student Government responsible for collecting and disseminating information. “Let’s just pray that student activities at Widyatama University can continue to progress,” he concluded.
(W. H. A. Farel – MDC UTama Editorial Team)
