Nearly every college student, by virtue of owning a cell phone, has immediate access to a camera and to the Internet. Why not incorporate National Chemistry Week (NCW) into the social media networks in which students are already engaged? Throughout NCW 2014, the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) Chemistry Club participated in the inaugural #MIGoggleFace contest. All UDM chemistry students were encouraged to take photos of themselves, their friends, and even their professors in lab safety gear. Contest submissions were allowed on any website where hashtags are used, with Twitter and Instagram being the most popular choices. Creativity was highly encouraged, and prizes were awarded to the photos that were deemed the best of the best. UDM also competed against University of Michigan-Flint for a #MIGoggleFace trophy to be awarded at Michigan's annual Battle of the Chem Clubs in January. Though UDM students may not have won the coveted trophy last year, they submitted the most photos by far. The idea behind this contest was to spread the word about NCW beyond the Chem Club to all chemistry students, with a competitive incentive to encourage creativity and make things more fun. Students' responses to #MIGoggleFace were overwhelmingly positive, with photo submissions rolling in constantly throughout the entire week. The 2015 contest promises to be an even better competition, with involvement from more schools and even from the Undergraduate Programs Office of the American Chemical Society.

#MIGoggleFace: Stayin' fab in the lab

251st National Meeting (2016)

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