The AC Hub hosted an information planning session on Oct. 16 for interested students to brainstorm ideas for a set design contest that will feature the winning set at the TEDxAlgonquin event on Nov. 21.
“This could be awesome,” said Kevin Holmes, who works as the project manager at the Health and Wellness Research Centre at Algonquin, about the competition. “But we have such a small space to work with.”
“But I want to do something with balls,” said Holmes. “Like a ball pit or something.”
Holmes helped organize the event and offered tips to the group of five students who attended the information session.
The competition, which asks for a theme that suitably reflects “body, mind and spirit,” offers complimentary tickets to the TEDxAlgonquin conferences as well as having the design immortalized forever on the TEDx channel. Also, there are bragging rights.
This would be Algonquin’s second time hosting a TEDx event, the first time being in 2011, hosted by TEDxOttawa. This would be TEDxAlgonquin’s first event.
You must be a current Algonquin student to take part in the competition. A grant of $1,000 will be given to the teams to pay for the cost of assembling the set.
“We’d work much better as a team,” said Brendan Wilson, a third-year graphic design student. “That would be the best thing to do.”
The others agreed, adding that they could each focus on a different aspect of the project.
“The stage has to look awesome for video,” said Anna Trojanowska, a third-year graphic design student at Algonquin. “The main focus should be the stage. The rest can come after.”
“Something that will trigger people to talk about it,” added Holmes.
TEDxAlgonquin is a newly formed program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to shared TED-like experiences. TEDxAlgonquin focuses on Algonquin College.
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a set of conferences ran by the private non-profit organization, Sapling Foundation.
TEDxAlgonquin is hosting a conference on Nov. 21 at Algonquin College. The winners of the set design contest will be announced on Nov. 4.
This would be the first time TEDx has hosted a student competition at Algonquin.
“We should just put a big canoe right in the middle of the set,” said Holmes jokingly. “That would be funny. Everyone thought I was being crazy.”