Are you a passionate about supporting the next generation of tech innovators? If you have a career in design, media, and/or other tech-related careers then over 450 middle and high school students would love to receive feedback from you on their projects for the annual Emoti-Con NYC Youth Digital Media and Technology Challenge starting May 23rd! And the best part? You do not have to leave your home! Judges can live anywhere in the world as the event is remote and asynchronous.

What is Emoti-Con?

Since 2009, Emoti-Con has created a celebratory end-of-year showcase for teen digital designers, app makers, developers, gamers, artists, media storytellers, and activists to present their original innovations with support from a community of peers, educators and industry judges.

Emoti-Con is planned and delivered by a cross-institutional, cross-generational committee led by Mouse, several alumni, and educators from the New York Public Library, Code Nation, Parsons New School for Design, and the Hive NYC network.

Emoti-Con Judges

What do judges do?

Judges have over a week to review, score, and leave encouraging feedback for 5-15 student projects, depending on your availability. Projects may include digital games, apps, art/video/music, websites etc. Here’s an example project page from last year with judge's notes at the bottom.

Who can be a judge?

• Anyone in a design, media or technology-related career, and/or folks who represent relevant college programs.

• Judges can come from anywhere around the world!

• Representation matters: We'd love to have a diverse representation of identities (race, gender, gender expression, abilities, age) reflected in our judges. For youth, the research shows, “if they can see it, then they believe they can be it.”

What is the schedule?

• Week of May 16: Watch or attend a short Judge Orientation

• May 23-June 3: Review between 5-15 projects (based on your capacity).

• Week of June 6 (Optional): Some judges may be asked to record short video testimonials about the winning projects.

How are projects judged?

Student presentations are scored for their creativity, potential for community change, point of view, artistry, and their pitch – not for their technical expertise, which relates more to their access to resources and mentors than to the quality of their idea. Emoti-Con values unique ideas, authentic design process, documentation, and social impact over technical ‘completion’.

Become a Judge

We'll need at least 50 judges so that each project is reviewed fairly. Last year, we had 145 project teams presented (over 450 students). This year – with your help – we hope to have even more teams!

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