By Tara Turner
It seemed no one went home empty-handed this weekend from Boston’s annual back-to-school event, CollegeFest.
Despite the rain, thousands of college students flocked to Hynes Convention Center, where $10 admission and a valid college ID gained students access to free samples and prizes from visiting companies like Trojan, JetBlue, Monster and Playboy.
Collegefest also featured concerts, including headliners Chamillionaire, a Grammy Award winning rapper, and Soulja Boy, who is best known for his single “Crank That,” a party anthem which hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 2007. Other bands, like Bamboo Shoots and The White Tie Affair, performed as well.
The most popular exhibitor at CollegeFest appeared to be Playboy, with a line to get into the magazine’s lounge that stretched the length of the convention center and wrapped around the side of the building. Some people said they waited in line for up to two hours to meet the playmates and “cyber girls.”
Amanda Corey, model and winner of The CW’s reality show “Beauty and the Geek,” said the best thing about the day was meeting fans.
“The students are so much more excited than other fans I’ve met,” Corey said. “It’s a huge college town, and it’s so awesome that people are waiting in line to see us, because there are so many other things they could be doing.”
Students could also meet Miss October Kelly Carrington, Cyber Girl of the Year Jo Garcia and Miss Playboy Mobile Amber J in the Playboy Lounge. People waiting in line could win Playboy swag to take home and play a popular “pong” game at CollegeFest with the booth’s models.
Other companies took different approaches to attract students. Nantucket Nectars had its own “Nantucket Island,” with beach chairs and towels, where students could take pictures, play Nintendo Wii and get free samples at a “bar.”
For those students who came looking to help fund their academic future, Kaplan was giving away $25,000 for graduate school, and the Cramster.com booth offered students a chance to win $2,500 for academic purposes. For gamers, radio station WAAF and Microsoft featured Guitar Hero. For a makeover, students could get a free haircut, and for those who wanted a snack, the Wings Over franchise provided free buffalo wings.
Like last year, JetBlue was raffling off round trip airline tickets. The company featured “Blue Betty,” a simulated airline cabin where students could get the “jetting” experience in leather seats, with DIRECTV, XM Radio and in-flight movies.
Standing out with its yellow tent was Trojan. The company featured an “Evolve” bus, playing off the company’s recent advertising line, where students could put on pig costumes and race to put condoms on bananas. A large winners board displayed the fastest times.
Nearby, some students watched Boston’s hip-hop dance crew Status Quo, which gained nationwide fame after competing on MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
Cassie Choi, a freshman nursing major, said she didn’t know what to expect during her first time at CollegeFest.
“I thought it was going to be a rip off since it was 10 bucks, but it was totally worth it,” Choi said. “I got easily over 20 bucks in energy drinks alone. Plus, I met Chamillionaire and hung out with him after the show. Totally worth the money.”
Most students said they agreed that the event was worth the cost of admission. Sophomore Jay Donovan, finance and music industry double major, said going to an event like CollegeFest is a cash-strapped student’s dream.
“There’s nothing poor college students love more than five to 20 pounds of free stuff they’ll never need,” Donovan said. “Plus, coming home with 10 T-shirts means I don’t have to do laundry for another 10 days.”
