Noah Biswell, junior in management information systems, transformed his living room into an expansive local area network hub last weekend, hosting over a dozen students and Manhattan residents to hold a weekend-long gaming party.
“In the olden days people had to all come to the same house, bring their ethernet cords and plug in to play together,” Biswell said. “My goal for this event was to bring back that type of scenario for me and some buddies. We [were] all in one living room, tightly packed with a window cracked so that it kind of stayed cold inside, playing a bunch of games on offline servers.”
Biswell created an atmosphere akin to the ‘90s to provide attendees with a classic gaming feel.
Biswell said he sent formal sponsorship proposals and exclusively sought out local businesses to sponsor the event.
“This event is so much more than just getting together and sitting in the living room playing video games,” Biswell said, “It’s a community event at the end of the day. Having these K-Staters here at the house, having some family here, is just the way that I promoted it to companies.”
The venue was filled with numerous sponsorships from local businesses. Event attendees received catered food, drinks and free merchandise from Hawaiian Bros, MHK Caravan Co. and Sweet Pieces by Natalie.
MHK Caravan Co. owner Tara Geiber said, “He could have just asked me very nonchalantly at any time, but he didn’t. He sent me a formal email and introduced himself again and told me a little bit about the event, what it was and why it would be beneficial for me as the Caravan Company to help them out … it was a no-brainer.”
Geiber, professor of entrepreneurship, said it takes “a lot of ambition” for a student to put on an event like Biswell did.
“A lot of times, people don’t realize the undertaking of what it is to put an event like that together,” Geiber said. “Even though it was for a small amount of students, it still made a big impact. He really is a go-getter … It’s just really cool to see that he took the initiative to do this, and it’s something that he did on his own without having to be asked or without having to assign it.”
Jacob Power, senior in management information systems said, “It’s really fun being able to take what we learn in class and implement it in real world applications. We started Friday at 7 p.m., set up desktop computers, joined the network, downloaded all the files and had everything set up. We hung out until 2 to 3 a.m. each night. It was an awesome bonding experience and I can’t wait for the next one.”