Last Spring, when my High School Senior daughter was notified of acceptance in both her first and second choice Universities (Clemson University and Drexel University), our family knew that the situation called for a road trip to visit both.  I came up with the concept of a “sponsored” trip that would document our travels. 

I used existing relationships that I had forged through blogging and social media to pitch the idea to several major companies.  They would provide products and services that we needed-in return for my blogging, Facebooking, FourSquaring and YouTubing about the trip.  Chevrolet immediately agreed to be our Title Sponsor.  The ChevyUnivTour was born!  With a name and a Title Sponsor, I then approached other companies to gauge their interests.  Within days, there were other sponsors–including Dunkin’ Donuts of South Florida and Onstar.

We made our 8 day, 3000 mile journey in early April 2010.   We had a blast. 

**Update** Many have asked–and I’m proud to say that my daughter is a Clemson Tiger!!!! 

Throughout the journey, given the #ChevyUnivTour hashtag on Twitter, we kept wellwishers abreast of our progress.  This resulted in more than 200 tweets over the 8 days, 30 Foursquare Checkins, several blog and Facebook posts.  Our adventure garnered many reTweets on Twitter, as well as viaPosts on Facebook.

Here’s how ChevyUnivTour went:

• Day 1  Drove from South Florida to Clemson University
• Day 2 Accepted Students Tour at Clemson University
• Day 3 Drove  from Clemson, South Carolina to Washington, DC
• Day 4 Drove from Washington, DC to  Drexel University
• Day 5 Drove back to Washington, DC
• Day 6 Drove  to Fayetteville, North Carolina
• Day 7 Drove to Palm Coast, Florida
• Day 8 Home!

Here are the pics from Clemson 

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