MEET NYC’S YOUNG INNOVATORS AT EMOTI-CON! 2013 

5th Annual Digital Media and Technology Event is Largest of its Kind, NYC Teens Unite Around Technology and Advocacy

NEW YORK, May 21, 2013— On Saturday, June 1, 2013, over 150 New York City-area middle and high school-aged youth will gather at the New York Public Library Celeste Bartos Forum for the fifth annual Emoti-Con! NYC Youth Digital Media and Technology Challenge. Teens from across New York City participate in out-of-school learning opportunities at Hive NYC Learning Network organizations, where they are designing video games, producing films and building digital prototypes that address pressing issues in their global, local and learning environments. Emoti-Con! NYC brings them together to network with their peers and industry professionals and to share their projects in a science fair-style competition.

WHAT:  A project fair and competition for digital media and technology projects created by youth. Awards are given in the following categories:

• Most Innovative
• Point of View
• Most Entertaining
• Most Potential for Social Impact
• Best Pitch
• Crowd Favorite

Examples of projects that will be showcased include physical computing devices geared towards assisting people with cerebral palsy, wearable technologies that measure and broadcast environmental data such as air pollution, a community-generated narrative of the Hurricane Sandy aftermath, multimedia stories on topics related to US immigration, the water crisis in Haiti, and many more.

WHO:  Participants:

Youth in grades 6-12 from across the five boroughs, representing more than 10    non-profit organizations that offer interest-based learning opportunities and are members of the Hive NYC Learning Network.

Keynote speakers:

• Limor "Ladyada" Fried, engineer and founder of Adafruit Industries. Recently named Entrepreneur of the Year (Entrepreneur Magazine) ●
• Chloe Varelidi, game designer and co-founder of Athens Plaython, a street games festival transforming the city of Athens into a giant playground
• Teresa Rivera, alumna from THE POINT's teen community leadership group A.C.T.I.O.N, .and star of Michel Gondry’s feature film, “The We And The I”

WHEN:  Saturday, June 1, 2013 from Noon until 5pm

WHERE: New York Public Library, The Celeste Bartos Forum, entrance on West 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues

Photos will be available following the event. For photos from Emoti-Con! 2012, please visit flickr.com/EmotiConNYC.
Also visit http://www.emoti-con.org or @EmotiCon_NYC on Twitter.

Organizations serving on the Emoti-Con! 2013 Steering Committee include: Global Kids, Hive NYC Learning Network, Mouse, New York Public Library and Parsons The New School for Design.

About Mozilla Hive NYC Learning Network (Hive NYC):

Hive NYC was founded through The MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media & Learning initiative to fuel collaborations between cultural organizations and create new learning pathways and innovative education practices together. Hive NYC is comprised of 41 non-profit organizations—museums, libraries, media and other youth-facing organizations—that create opportunities for youth to explore their intellectual and skill-based interests using digital media and other technologies. Network members have access to funding to support this work through The Hive Digital Media Learning Fund in The New York Community Trust. For more information please visit http://www.explorecreateshare.org.

Media contact:

Lainie DeCoursy
Mozilla Hive NYC Learning Network
917-607-2525
lainie@mozillafoundation.org