It all starts tomorrow for the Hobart and William Smith classes of 2019. That’s exactly where I was just 4 years ago. Recently The Colleges asked alums to give some advice on social media with the #HWS2019 hashtag, so this is my two cents. I’ll make it brief because I know you’ll be getting lectured enough in the coming years…

Classes of 2019, you’re about to embark on the 4, 5, or 6 best years of your life. Of course I kid. But with all sincerity I urge you to enjoy every minute of it with all of the ups and downs. Don’t take these years for granted and be sure to live in the moment, for the moment. Go abroad, go to Joe’s Hots, frequent the lake, go on wine tours, go to The Glen, and love Geneva. This is the beginning of a great ride that you will only experience once. Oh the places you’ll go, the things you will learn, and the spectacles you’ll see. On some levels I’m jealous of you all. 

-John Conard-Malley, Hobart College ’15

Update: It’s live!

In between the Formula 1 British Grand Prix and the Fifa Women’s World Cup final I had some time to burn. It was Sunday, a slow news day, thus as any Gen Y-er would do I opened up Snapchat. I viewed a few snaps that were sent to me and noticed there were some new Geofilters. Geofilters are user-submitted filters that add a bit of flair to a photo. It generally explains where the photo was taken with a mixture of colorful text and design. As I replied I found that there were no Geofilters for Simsbury. I had heard stories of people finding post cards and cropping out the letters with minimal effort (looking at you Geneva, NY) so I thought to myself: how hard can it be?

I searched for something that people both in and around Simsbury would recognize. Something that I could replicate with Photoshop or Illustrator. There is the Pinchot Sycamore, Connecticut’s largest tree, however I wasn’t feeling quite that ambitious–all those branches would be a pain to recreate and if people in Simsbury like anything, it’s authenticity. Then I thought of Heublein Tower on Talcott Mountain. Yeah, that could work. It has fairly simple geometric lines and it’s recognized by both the state and federal government as a historic landmark.

Two hours and 30 layers later I had a simple but recognizable Heublein Tower.

With that finished, I chose a locally recognizable font, applied Simsbury’s colors, and exchanged the “I” with the tower. Now I’m waiting to hear back from Snapchat if it was accepted… We can only hope.

Mock up:

These things take time. Luckily this isn’t a state job.