To see a video of the flashmob, click here. After the daily tolling of the alma mater at noon, the sound of a conch was heard across the Quad, signaling the start of a flashmob dance.About 60 students participated in a flashmob organized by architecture sophomores Jonathan House and Sarah Alleman through a Facebook event. The event had gained 218 confirmed guests by Wednesday.”I think people should have the desire to shake things up from time to time,” House said. “People should go out and affect other people’s day in a way they weren’t expecting.”Alleman and House were inspired to create the event after the theater department hosted the freeze the Quad flashmob last spring.”It’s just a random event that makes people turn heads,” said Alleman. “It’s just for fun.”Participants in the flashmob danced to tracks on their MP3 players for two minutes.”We see people walking around with their iPods all the time,” said House. “For everyone to take that normal action and just start jamming out is pretty hilarious.” The flashmob participants danced to their favorite music or playlist, said Chelsea Norris, graphic design junior.Alleman and House created another Facebook group to continue to promote flashmobbing and to organize other flashmobs in the future.”I like it because it’s something you wouldn’t expect,” said Anthony Walker, computer science freshman.Flashmobbing has become a popular worldwide trend because of organizations like ImprovEverywhere, an improv group which staged the January 2008 freeze in Grand Central Station in New York City, which became a YouTube sensation.”This was our first attempt at doing a large-scale flashmob,” House said.Many students in the Quad during the flashmob were unaware the event was scheduled or even what was going on, said Emily Bozeman, agricultural business sophomore.”I pulled out my iPod and tried to participate, but I didn’t really know what they were doing,” said Adam St. Pierre, history senior.Several students joined the flashmob group after seeing or participating in the Quad flashmob last spring.”I was in the freeze the Quad,” said Charlotte Raphael, theater sophomore. “I’m in two different improv groups, so I’ll definitely participate in more flashmobs.”House and Alleman said they were satisfied with the turnout of the flashmob and were pleased with the reaction of other students in the Quad.”My favorite part was seeing other people I don’t even know dancing all over the Quad,” House said. “I’d say any event where you can go dance in front of a bunch of strange people is a success.”- – – – Contact Emily Slack at [email protected]