For UF faculty members, an active presence on Twitter could earn them a juicy slice of pork tenderloin.
About 100 UF faculty and staff members were invited to a pig roast Sept. 8 at the Earl and Christy Powell University House as a reward for their engagement on social media. The invites were sent out Friday to faculty and staff who are active on Twitter and have shared something about the university, said Todd Sanders, the director of digital communications and social media.
Some staffers are new to Twitter, with only a handful of tweets and followers, while others are owners of verified accounts with thousands of followers, Sanders said. As of Tuesday, 71 faculty have RSVP'd, including the journalism department’s Ted Spiker and the Center for Latin American Studies’s Emilio Bruna.
To all of those starting their college journeys: May your experience be even greater than you thought it could be.
Work smart, have balance, build tribes.— Ted Spiker (@ProfSpiker) August 22, 2018
Having faculty and staff who are active on Twitter helps to extend the UF brand, Sanders said.
“Our faculty and staff use Twitter to share things that make UF great,” he said. “They also keep it real and let us know where we can improve.”
Sanders said the social media team takes note of interesting conversations and adds them to a list as potential retweets for the @UF account.
Sanders said he said he is unsure if the event will be a one-time affair.
“We're just focused on making the upcoming event a fun one where faculty and staff can get together and maybe add some new followers,” Sanders said.
UF President Kent Fuchs said that he and the social media team bounced around a few ideas before landing on a pig roast. One suggestion was a private barbecue where Fuchs would flip burgers and hot dogs himself.
The only issue is that Fuchs said he’s not very good behind the grill.
“I’m good at eating pig but not at roasting,” Fuchs said.
Nicholas Vargas, a UF sociology and Latin American studies assistant professor, tweeted about his invite Friday.
Apparently, my university rewards faculty Twitter engagement with a celebratory Pig Roast at the (former) President's House. It's not merit, and doesn't count for T&P--but it's pork, a close second--and I'll gladly take it! See you there, @PresidentFuchs @UFsocial
— Nicholas Vargas (@_NicholasVargas) August 24, 2018
Vargas said he feels that social media can be a useful tool to communicate research findings with other leading scholars across the country, and looks forward to attending the pig roast.
“Public recognition can take many forms, but I personally love the idea of celebrating informally around food,” Vargas said, “Especially at a place as beautiful as the former home of our UF Presidents.”
Contact McKenna Beery at mbeery@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @mckennabeery
Larry King, 76, loosens a rack holding a roasted pig as Jim Ferrer, 66, makes a tent out of aluminum foil to keep it warm for a day-after-St. Patrick's Day party at the corner of Northwest 14th Avenue and Northwest 18th Street on Saturday. King and Ferrer roasted the pig for about four hours before serving it.
