“It’s students supporting students and that’s what I love about it. It just adds one thing to the calendar that students can look forward to.”
Jack Oliver, junior class treasurer and co-planner of Spring Swing and Shop, was excited to see the turnout at this campus event centered around student business-owners.
The Spring Swing and Shop event, which took place on March 27 on the quad, featured tables with 21 student businesses, Eugene’s Hot Chicken, cotton candy, giveaways and live music performed by students. This is the third year that Samford has put on this event, and the number of student businesses feature has doubled every year.
Oliver was in charge of the budget for this event and helped organize it with the other class presidents.
“I think one cool thing about this event is that it runs itself,” Oliver said. “We ask for student input, and they bring it.”
His favorite thing about events like this is getting to see students come out and support each other.
“It’s super exciting,” he said. “It’s just a really cool opportunity, and now adding live music and giveaway prizes to the mix, it’s just really cool getting a ton of students here.”
Ethan Speights, a junior graphic design major who has owned a vintage clothes resale business since spring 2022, had a table at the event and used the opportunity to talk to students he normally doesn’t get to.
“Events like this make me excited to sell,” said Speights. “I usually just do Instagram selling, [but] what I like most about selling clothes is the interactions with people that I get. Usually, I do it out in Birmingham but doing it on campus is really nice. I get to talk to a lot of people that I see in passing.”
Speights is thankful for the experience that Samford provided in the Spring Swing and Shop event.
“I think giving students opportunities like this has really helped me,” he said. “I don’t have to pay to be a part of it, they asked me to be a part of it.”
Luke Ferris, a sophomore finance major with a professional sales concentration, also had a table at the event to promote his window washing business, Variety Washing. He started Variety Washing with his three Samford roommates in April 2023.
“We’re kind of using this event to really grow by hiring people,” Ferris said. “We’re at the point where we need more people to grow, so instead of selling our service, we’re selling the job itself to try and get more people to work for us.”
Ferris and his roommates had a window at their table, which passing students could try their hand at washing and cleaning.
“The opportunity to do this is amazing, being able to have this space on the quad and this free traffic is huge for us,” Ferris said.
Spring Swing and Shop isn’t the only way that Samford is helping Ferris and his roommates promote their business.
“I think this has been huge – getting the opportunity to actually promote our business – but also, we’re applying for the Samford Startup Program, which we’re hoping to get into in about a month or so,” said Ferris.
Student events like this provide the Samford community with opportunities to engage in each other socially and professionally.
“One thing through planning this event, I think it was cool [to see] student support and student engagement,” Oliver said. “That’s like the ‘We’re number one in student engagement,’ but realistically, it’s events like this that bring us all together.”
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