Our 25,000th Twitter follower is a tech intern. Here’s how he might stick around

It really doesn’t get more arbitrary than the order in which people follow a Twitter account.

So when we set up a lil contest to shout-out our healthy Twitter growth (now over 25,000 followers) we had no clear expectations about meeting the winner:

We're just 50 away! Our ~25,000th Philly-based follower wins:

– A #PTW17 t-shirt 👕

– A VIP office tour 🏢

– Coffee with @TorresLuzardo ☕️

— Technical.ly Philly (@TechnicallyPHL) May 23, 2017

On June 1, at 11 a.m., a 19-year-old Relay intern by the name of Nick Wojtelwicz smashed that follow button on our beloved @TechnicallyPHL account and earned himself the above prize.

Wojtelzicz, who grew up on the Main Line, is a business student at the University of South Carolina. He was ready to head out and see the world beyond Villanova and Radnor after high school, so a Capstone Scholarship lured him down south. That is, until he nabbed a Relay internship for the summer through common friends.

At Benjamin’s Desk’s Washington Square location, home to Technical.ly HQ, Wojtelwicz looks around in wonder. He praises Philly’s growth in the short time he went away to college, particularly Comcast’s rising Innovation Center. He’s surprised how quick it’s getting up there.

“When I left for college it wasn’t like that,” he said peeking out of a 12th-floor window.

The blazer-wearing youngster talks about a future in tech. But maybe not yet: as part of his college experience he’ll be spending a year abroad. In the option in which he continues to grad school, Philly’s academic offerings are an attractive lure. But it’s more than that.

“I don’t wanna be a suit when I get out of college, and Philly has become a hotspot to not be a suit,” Wojtelwicz said. He speaks of wearing shorts and sneakers at Relay’s Radnor offices.

The young Wojtelwicz, a very blonde white male, is also aware he’s had more opportunities than others: going to a good school, then a good college. When prompted for his thoughts on diversity, he goes back to praising his experience at Relay.

“In tech you want to have different points of view,” he said. “You need people who are thinking different things. I wouldn’t want to work in a place that’s not diverse, and at a place like Relay, diversity is encouraged.”

More jobs in tech that embrace that philosophy and offer collaborative workplaces are the two main factors that could land Wojtelwicz back in town. And as more and more reports come out about Philly’s need to keep attracting talent to its tech sector, it may be wise to listen up.

Thanks for dropping by @nickwoj_! pic.twitter.com/l3IQrzoqu2

— Technical.ly Philly (@TechnicallyPHL) June 12, 2017