NEW YORK, May 26, 2020 -- Like many events throughout New York City and the nation, the 12th Annual Emoti-Con NYC Youth Digital Media & Technology Challenge had to be moved to a virtual format because of the COVID-19 crisis. Mouse Inc., the organization that is one of the principal organizers of this popular youth science fair, had some doubts about how this shift would work out. Would students still be interested? Would the experience still feel the same as the real-life event?

“To our delight, the response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Meredith Summs, Senior Director of After School and Informal Learning at Mouse. As of today, the organization has received 85 student entries, more than it did last year. Entries were received from such well-known names in STEM education as the Information Technology High School, The Island School, MS 217, Beam Center, Girls who Code and many others.

Over the month of May, middle and high school students submitted their projects to Emoti-Con, now reconstructed as a virtual project fair and competition. These projects will be evaluated by a panel of judges drawn from the city’s academic, tech and nonprofit sectors. On Wednesday June 10th, the Emoti-Con committee will announce the winning projects with virtual fanfare and pageantry.

The keynote speaker at this year’s event is Errol King, a Creative Technologist at Google. In a specially prepared video, he exhorted young people living through this difficult time to “remain flexible, stay in the moment, listen deeply and create constantly.”

About Mouse

Founded in 1997, Mouse is a national youth development nonprofit that seeks to empower K-12 students to engage with computer science and creative technology to solve real problems and make meaningful change in our world.

With a commitment to fostering greater equity, diversity, and humanity in STEM and creative computing, we bring together the people, programs and platforms necessary to meet the full range of creative computing needs, today and for our future. Learn more at mouse.org.

About Emoti-Con

Emoti-Con is an annual conference for teens to express themselves through digital media and technology. They share projects across a range of interest areas, and address pressing issues in their global, local, and learning environments.

Emoti-Con is the largest event of its kind amongst informal learning programs in New York City. The event has been developed through a unique collaboration between NYC youth-serving organizations, including Global Kids, Mouse, the New York Public Library, and Parsons.

Following are some interesting facts and statistics about the event:

• 1200+ youth from over 100 schools and organizations have participated since 2009
• Judges from over 95 applied media and technology businesses have participated
• 53% of student participants are boys, 46% girls, and 1% gender non-conforming
• 89% of youth identify as students of color (27% Asian, 25% Latinx/Hispanic, 18% Black/African-American, 12% 2 or more races, 11% White)*
• 35% of participants are from Queens, 29% from Brooklyn, 15% from Manhattan, 11% from Bronx, and 7% from Staten Island.

Learn more at emoti-con.org.

Press Contact

Jeanine Reynolds
Chief Revenue Officer, Mouse
jeanine.reynolds@mouse.org
917-692-7601