Jan. 11 2016 will be remembered for a lot of things. It was the first day of class for the Spring semester. It was the day that the Alabama Crimson Tide won their 16th (or 10th if you are picky) national football championship. It was also a day in which more than 240 AUM students enjoyed a new and unique event, the Silent Disco.
Founded by Ryan Dowd during the 2005 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Silent Disco has users put on headphones with three unique sound channels. Each channel is represented by a color, so that users can change genres through the headphones that are provided on the fly. The event at AUM, sponsored by the streaming service Tidal, had three channels for students to enjoy, one of which was devoted to the national championship game. Some students assisted with the event by serving pizza, collecting and distributing headphones, as well as setting up and breaking down the DJ’s equipment. Other students chose not to wear headphones and to enjoy the championship game that was being played on a big screen in the room. Many students sang at the top of their lungs during commercial breaks, much to the amusement of those without headphones. Tidal also held raffles throughout the night to win tickets to a Rihanna concert in Atlanta on March 9, 2016.
During the event, I got the chance to speak with Maggie Malone, a representative of Silent Events and an Alabama native. I asked Malone why AUM was chosen for this event, which has also been hosted at other universities like LSU and the University of Miami. “It all started by Joel Hughes contacting us about possibly coming to AUM,” Malone said. Thanks to Joel, Associate Director of the Office of Orientation and Transitions, and Tidal’s sponsorship, AUM was able to host the Silent Disco at a reduced cost. “I would love to come to AUM again, if the students wanted us to come back,” Malone added.
Organizing events all over the country, Silent Disco is seeking to create a unique twist on the traditional party format. “Silent Disco does a lot more than just your typical college party format,” Malone told me. “Some events we do include weddings, corporate parties, and movie screenings.”
If you would like to know more about Silent Events or want to contact them about hosting your own Silent Event, you can visit their website at https://www.silentevents.com/. Silent Events is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can get in direct contact with Malone herself at maggie@silentevents.com.
By Matthew Robinson