Attending college in the nation’s capital has its benefits- great dining, close proximity to the political scene, and of course an excellent club scene. How do students know which to attend?
Through strategic marketing and promotion by party hosts each week.
Howard student nightlife is primarily run by two party host groups. Rebel Events and Ojla Juice have taken over with the help of their student promo teams.
Being a part of the ‘promo’ team is free, and allows free entry to the events a person chooses to help market. The team is responsible for resharing flyers on Instagram, passing out physical flyer copies on campus and checking tickets at the party venue.
To join either of their promotion teams, “You just fill out the link in my bio. You only promote events that you want to attend, and you get free entry and express entry for story posting 2-3 times a week,” Ojla Juice said.
Samar, or Juice is a college and Miami event curator who understands the importance of his promotion and marketing team which has helped him grow as a host.
“The promo team is the reason I got on out here. If I didn’t have the number or quality of promoters it wouldn’t work, lots of my promoters are influential people in their social circles, it’s important to have a lot of promoters and to get promoters that will help bring a large crowd,” Juice said.
There are many people who attempt to promote and create the best experience for college students every weekend, but very few succeed in retention. Event curators such as Ojla Juice and Rebel Events have successfully created events for college students the last few years, and their popularity grows weekly.
Recently, the two have collaborated to host events for students with attractive titles such as, “Life Is Good,” “Rebel Juice” and “Met Gala”.
Hosting weekly helps to ensure students know which events will be most enjoyable, especially when other people are throwing parties at the same time.
Over the summer there were many outdoor events and pool parties held, but as it becomes cooler events will be moved indoors. These events will follow local guidelines and require attendees to wear a mask while present, except while eating or drinking.
Taylor Thompson, a junior at Howard, shared that her favorite venue is, “Pure Lounge’ because it’s very lively there in regards to the people and music. There’s a lot of space to move around which is fun and not common for a club scene.”
Both event curators have the help of large promotion teams to ensure their parties are a success. The groups are typically students at the college the events of the week are catered towards. Over the course of many weekends spent together, the students form an unbreakable bond.
Cam Lewis, a senior at Howard, promotes Rebel Events. He expressed that, “Rebel Events is deeper than a party group. The members of Rebels are my brothers.”
Their next event is set for Sept. 17. “Ice Qream” is a party in collaboration with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. Tickets can be purchased here.
Maurice Robinson, another Howard student, is in one of Ojla Juice’s many promotion group chats. Robinson chose to join after he had gone to a couple of Juice’s events.
“I enjoyed it so I thought it was fitting to help promote for him and we both get something out of it. Also I want to become a big promoter and host myself,” said Robinson.
Their next party is Sept. 18 entitled, “Who’s the Real HU” at an undisclosed location. Only ticket holders will be sent the address. Their tickets can be found here.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve had…and for all of my promoters and supporters who consistently show love,” said Juice.
