Darren "Digger" Kane always wanted to start a Web site as a way to reconnect with his college friends. Inspiration to finally go through with the idea did not strike until he was procrastinating on his computer at work.
Kane, a 1995 graduate of the university, came across the homepage of fellow alumnus Jeff Kuhn. Kuhn said he began a site two months after his graduation in 1999, dedicated to his group of friends who lived on Wilbur Street. Kuhn's site is aptly named Wilburstreet.com.
After contacting Kuhn several times through e-mail, Kane said he learned the basics of configuring an online domain, and a couple of days later, he purchased the rights to Delaware95.com.
Although Kane said he felt it was important to reconvene with his core group, he felt something was missing.
"After a while, I thought it would be better to connect a larger group of alumni on a bigger scale," he said.
Being a comedy writer working in New York City, the 32-year-old Kane came into contact with many stand-up comedians, including fellow university graduate Craig Baldo. Kane said Baldo introduced a foreign concept to him in the form of MySpace.com.
"Baldo told me that many comedians, most notably Dane Cook, use MySpace to connect with fans," Kane said. "I thought 'what self-respecting 32-year-old man would join MySpace?' "
A few days later, Kane joined the phenomena. Four months after launch, Kane said he saw how deep the MySpace roots extended.
"It was amazing," he said. "I figured out how to search for people who graduated from Delaware, and I began to add them. MySpace really fucking works."
Kane said as his friend base grew stronger, so did his interest in starting his own Web site. To test how successful the venture would be, Kane began a group on MySpace called "Delgrads."
When Kuhn joined a week after the group's creation, he estimated 200 people had already latched onto the idea. As of last Tuesday, five weeks after its conception, membership reached 1,667.
Although the university's alumni relations department did not know of Kane's venture, Director Sharon Dorr stated in an e-mail message that the university is currently working on a similar idea.
"We are currently responding to the suggestion that alumni be able to connect electronically and are investigating the possibility of hosting an online community for the alumni population," Dorr said.
After noticing the success of the MySpace group, Kane's idea to create a bigger network fruition. Kane purchased the rights to the domain name of Delgrads.com, expected to launch this summer,
Kane said he hopes the site's popularity will expand past that of the previous group.
"MySpace has limits," he said. "I noticed that after I posted a blog, it would get a lot of responses, and then would be removed due to the 10 blog limit. I saw this most after I posted about the closing of the Stone Balloon. That discussion alone put me over the edge."
Kane said another disadvantage of MySpace is that only eight people can achieve the group's "Top Eight," meaning the group's most prominent members. Kane said five of his eight spots are portioned to his best friends, but sees a contest for the remaining spots.
"The last three spots have turned into a competition between the ladies," he said. "I mean come on, are you husband shopping?"
Delgrads will have no affiliation with the university. Kane said he sees his venture as a more CollegeHumor.com-oriented site with pictures and stories of old college adventures.
Although the future is learned most from the past, Kane said he does not want to go too far back.
"I want to keep it current, not about how 'we cruised down Main Street in our Model-T Fords'," he said.
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our feed
Contact us through email
Be the first to comment on this article!