“Secrets are the currency of intimacy,” PostSecret founder Frank Warren said.

Warren, who was a small business owner before starting PostSecret had no particular background in artistic endeavors, but found himself compelled in collecting strangers’ secrets on postcards, despite the apprehension of friends and family members. He found that by sharing secrets with those held dear, one can build healthier relationships with peers.

His blogging prompted a magnitude of postcards sent in by individuals and praise from news and entertainment organizations around the world. In 2006 USA Today called Warren the “all-around media ‘it’ boy of the moment.”

PostSecret is a community art project in which people share their secrets on a postcard and send them to Warren’s home in Maryland. His event came to CMU Saturday night. Warren shared some of his favorite cards, cards that had been “banned” from his books by publishers. He took the time to share his own testimony before opening it up to students who wanted to share their secrets.

PostSecret spread to a variety of media since its founding in 2004. Warren enjoys the aspect of touring with his presentation and sharing his and others’ secrets with live audiences the most.

“(Touring) is my favorite part of the PostSecret project,” Warren said. “I get a chance to get out of the blog and the website and travel the country sharing some of the secrets that have never been seen before. Really the most fascinating part for me is to share the stories behind the secrets, the funny ones, the inspiring ones, and listen to audience members stand, sometimes in front of hundreds of classmates, and really break your heart with secrets that they’ve never expressed publicly before.”

ASG Vice President, Adrienne Barlow, and Club Activities Board Student Director, Jeremy Watson, initiated the idea to bring Warren to CMU. Both pointed out the size and prominence of the PostSecret community.

“This has been a lot different than the events I’ve done before on campus,” Watson said. “Most of our other events we can throw together in about two weeks, this one has been about a month and a half of planning.”

A problem in the past has been attracting student interest for school-related events, even as recently as the ASG elections that took place April 16-18. In an effort to spark more of a student interest for this event they had to change things up a bit.

“I know one thing we did, that I think is going to help us in the long run, is pairing up with all of the other student organizations,” Barlow said. “Not only that but we had conversations with Residence Life, you know, just to get people talking about it and to get people excited about it.”

Approximately 450 people were in attendance for the presentation and a number of them shared intimate and sometimes emotional secrets with the rest of the crowd. The turnout, while not entirely as many as was hoped for, was still regarded as a success.

“I am very proud of the turnout. It was mostly students which is great,” Barlow said. “My hope is it meant something to each one of them.”