Ninth Annual Emoti-Con Digital Media and Technology Challenge Unites New York City Youth Around Technology and Social Change

NEW YORK CITY, June 5, 2017— On Saturday, June 17th, youth from across New York City will connect, compete, and present their technology projects at Emoti-Con, held in the Celeste Bartos Forum in The New York Public Library. In its ninth year, Emoti-Con is New York City’s biggest showcase for young designers, makers, technologists, and tinkerers who believe in digital innovation as a tool for positive change in the world around them.

Through this annual event, Emoti-Con brings together diverse middle and high school students to collaborate with their peers, connect with those with whom they share a common identity as youth media producers and technologists, and receive recognition for the incredible work they do throughout the year.

Emoti-Con ensures that young people in NYC can offer their voice about pressing issues, gain vital exposure to industry mentors, and most importantly, be part of a community that will be instrumental in helping solve the challenges of their time.

Emoti-Con is the largest event of its kind among informal learning programs in NYC and has been developed through a unique collaboration between NYC youth-serving organizations and Hive NYC Learning Network members. This year’s organizers include Mouse, Mozilla, Hive Research Lab, The New York Public Library and Parsons School of Design at The New School.

The event will include keynote presentations, hands-on activities, and a Youth Media Expo, showcasing youth projects from several organizations, such as All Star Code, Girls Who Code, Global Kids, Girl Scouts of Greater New York, Mouse, Nano Hacker Academy, NYC Parks/EVC, STEM from Dance, and ScriptEd.

This year’s projects include:

• A web application to provide resources to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking. (Girls Who Code)

• Games designed with a social purpose, including focusing on global issues for women/girls, handling emergency situations, and understanding the experiences of refugees escaping from their countries. (Global Kids)

• Assistive and adaptive technology projects designed for individuals with disabilities and limited mobility, including an electra wallet, line of clothing, wearable GPS tracking system, and portable game controller (Mouse)

• A display of wearable circuits created by sewing lights and a microcomputer onto shirts using conductive thread, worn by students in choreographed dance performances (STEM from Dance)

Emoti-Con 2017 will be hosted by Rudy Blanco, Director of Digital Learning, DreamYard Project, and will include keynote presentations from:

• Kweighbaye Kotee, Founder & CEO of Bushwick Film Festival (BFF) and host/creator of Indie Cinema New York (ICNY)

• Tina Kang, tech enthusiast from SUNY: Maritime

More than 20 judges will be part of this year’s competition, with professional roles that span many areas in technology and youth development, including  design, product innovation, animation, software development, engineering, education, writing, and research.  

Judges will select projects from the Emoti-Con Challenge to be recognized as: Most Innovative, Most Potential for Social Impact, Point of View, Most Entertaining, and Best Pitch.  Youth attendees will select the Crowd Favorite.  Winners will receive awards 3D-printed by Shapeways.

Sponsors include Blick, Best Buy Foundation, Capital One, and Mozilla Foundation.

Find more information about Emoti-Con and follow our updates:

• Website: emoti-con.org
• Twitter: @EmotiCon_NYC or #emoticon2017
• Facebook: facebook.com/EmotiConNYC

Media Contacts

Susan Schwartz
Senior Director, Communications, Mouse
susan@mouse.org

Kevin Zawacki
Communications Manager, Mozilla
kevin@mozillafoundation.org

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Participating Organizations

Mozilla Hive NYC Learning Network (Hive NYC) Hives are a constellation of communities around the globe run by Mozilla that champion digital skills and web literacy through connected learning. The nonprofit Mozilla is a public interest initiative that believes the Web should be open and accessible to all. To protect the Web as a public resource and empower its users, Mozilla creates open source products, teaches 21st-century skills and spurs grassroots advocacy campaigns.

Mouse is a national youth development nonprofit that believes in technology as a force for good. Mouse empowers all youth to create with technology to solve real problems and make meaningful change in our world. We are committed to creating more diversity in STEM and opening opportunity for students from underserved communities across the country. Founded in 1997, Mouse programs have had a positive and lasting impact on nearly 40,000 youth nationwide. Learn more at mouse.org.

The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org.

Parsons School of Design at The New School, founded in 1896, is one of the leading institutions for art and design education in the world. Based in New York but active around the world, the school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the full spectrum of art and design disciplines, as well as online courses, degree and certificate programs. Critical thinking and collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. Parsons graduates are leaders in their respective fields, with a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the complexities of life in the 21st century. Visit newschool.edu/parsons/

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