EVOLVE: DISCOVERY 2022 - Recap
And just like that—Evolve: Discovery 2022 was a huge success!
This past month, we wrapped up our annual event Evolve. Before we get into the recap, you’re probably wondering, what is Evolve?
Evolve is CMNSU’s revamped take on the traditional FROSH. It’s a sophisticated and modern evening night out, rebranded as EVOLVE to describe the growth one makes during their time in university. Since then, Evolve has become a staple welcome-back event for Communication students and those interested in the program, from first years, college transfers, to all of the second, third, fourth years and those in between.
Last year, CMNSU took Evolve online in a three-day zoom conference, but this year we brought it back in-person following restrictions related to COVID-19.
EVOLVE: NETWORKING
Networking is a key component we strive to incorporate into all of our events at CMNSU. As our first in-person event since the start of the pandemic, this was an amazing (and much needed) opportunity for students to get to know each other face-to-face again. To help break the ice and encourage groups to mingle, our Events team kicked off the night with a game of bingo. Attendees were tasked with finding the person in the room who flosses twice a day, arrived late to class today, and much more.
Then came the Scavenger Hunt! We split our attendees into five groups, allowing them to rotate between stations dedicated to each of our speakers – plus one for us, the communications team, and our podcast! This was a great opportunity for each group to hear from industry professionals and SFU faculty and to ask any questions they might have about their professions.
EVOLVE: SPEAKERS
Evolve was a great way for students to connect with industry professionals to give them insight on the communications job market along with opportunities and programs for students to join. CMNSU wants to give a special thanks to Andrea Tan from Microsoft, Marzia Sager from Glow Within Foundation and IABC, Kayla Hilstob from Digital Democracies Institute, and Mark Villar from the IBM foundation for being amazing guest speakers for this event. Students had a great time connecting with these speakers during our scavenger hunt and won great prizes in the process.
EVOLVE: SPONSORS
Connecting with sponsors is one of the most integral parts of any event that we put together. We are always thankful for our sponsors, through our events we allow organizations to connect with SFU students in unique and exciting ways. This year we were thrilled to work with great sponsors for Evolve Discovery. A big thank you to Boiling Point, Grounds for coffee, Hell’s crust Pizza, Steve’s poke bar, Lapani skincare, Vancouver mysteries, Meet restaurants, Pepita Jewelry, SFU Bookstore, The Improv Centre, Wolf Circus Jewelry, One Bowl, Bread x Butter, Beijiang restaurant, Pawtato Pet, Aritzia, Best Buy and The School of Communications.
Our sponsors' contributions are vital in allowing CMNSU to continue putting on successful events for the SFU community and bringing students together across all three of our campuses. We cannot succeed without the generosity of our sponsors and want to extend a warm thank you for all their support. All the products obtained from our sponsors were used as door prizes, raffle draw gifts, speaker gifts and as scavenger hunt prizes. If you ever see a CMNSU event happening near you, drop by and you might walkway with a plethora of goodies, courtesy of our amazing sponsors.
Although the entire CMNSU team played a part in making Evolve a success, we want to give a special and well deserved shout out to the dedicated work of our Events team. From securing the venue to thoroughly planning the itinerary, and much more in between, our Events team worked tirelessly to organize Evolve. Below, our Vice President of Events, Joaquin Suarez, offers insight on his experience:
“On behalf of my events team, it was a great pleasure planning this year's EVOLVE Discovery. Being the first large-scale CMNSU event since 2019, my team envisioned our attendees to have the opportunity to foster new friendships, discover career paths in the department of Communication, and learn about opportunities as a student -- hence the theme 'Discovery.' Our journey in planning this event came with unforeseen obstacles such as venue changes, catering, and finding guest speakers. Nonetheless, we achieved everything we hoped our event to be thanks to the extraordinary support of the entire CMNSU team. I am extremely grateful for my exceptional team and we are excited to plan more stunning events for the CMNS community in the future.” - Joaquin Suarez, Vice President of Events
With our biggest of the year out of the way we asked CMNSU President, Kirtana Menon to share her thoughts on the event and give us a little sneak peak on “what’s next” for CMNSU:
“Evolve Discovery was a dream come true for my team and I. We worked incredibly hard over the course of four months to give students the best experience possible. We were able to create real impact in many different ways. Be it through the sale of our School of Communication hoodies - designed exclusively by our Creative team, the amazing industry professionals we invited to network with students from Microsoft, Glow Within Foundation, IABC and IBM, and the wonderful prizes we gave away valued at over $1000 - Evolve Discovery was everything I could’ve dreamed of and more for my first event as President. This is just the beginning for CMNSU - keep an eye out for some holiday socials before our next big event happening in the Spring - Careers in Communication 2023!” - Kirtana Menon, President of CMNSU