Blown away.
Those were the first two words Cheryl Peterson and Donna Fulcher could think of after watching a team of student volunteers enrolled in Conestoga College’s graphic design and public relations copywriting programs unveil their work at 2017 CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington, held Oct. 19-20 at Alchemy Systems in Guelph.
“Honestly, we were amazed and blown away with all that they’ve done in such a short period of time,” said Fulcher, Elmira District Community Living’s manager of community participation.
The organization was among 18 non-profit groups, including one from British Columbia and another from Nova Scotia, provided with free design-and-marketing /rebranding expertise from student teams at the 24-hour creative ‘blitz’ event.
Providing their expert assistance to guide the young creators – some of whom worked overnight to complete their work – were about 100 volunteers, including art directors and account managers from Alchemy, as well as art directors and account managers and copywriters from Manulife.
Additional support was provided by four freelance art directors, along with voiceovers for videos courtesy of a professional sound studio.
Alchemy and Manulife, along with Capacity Canada, are partners in the creative endeavour which developed from a concept born in the late 1990s in South Carolina. The CreateAthon movement has now grown worldwide and the Guelph event has become the largest.
“They were amazing,” said Peterson, services director at Elmira District Community Living, referring to the team of students who worked on new marketing materials for her organization.
She says Elmira District Community Living, founded in 1961 to assist those with intellectual disabilities live with dignity was looking for new branding and CreateAthon provided the perfect solution.
The organization was a last-minute addition to the list of non-profits which had been selected by a committee from at least 50 organizations that applied starting in July to take part.
“We just talked our team on Monday (Oct. 16) and provided them with all the stuff they needed in the last couple of days,” said Peterson.
Among the items both her group as the ‘client’ and the students agreed upon were new infographics and a short video, something the organization can not only put on their website but use when reaching out to the community. The students also created a new PowerPoint presentation for the organization, something Peterson says they weren’t expecting during their initial consultations.
“We just found out about it (PowerPoint) on Wednesday after they said they would have the time to do it, and it was great,” she said, adding it will be ideal for community outreach. “We’ll be going out to all our service clubs with that PowerPoint to market and rebrand ourselves as to who we are now, but we will also tell our history.”
For Linda Maxwell, director of operations at HopeSpring Support Centre in Kitchener, another non-profit selected to take part in CreateAthon, the new design work will be a boost to the organization’s future.
The students were asked to create materials for a ‘donate a day’ campaign to help HopeSpring which has provided a variety of support programs for cancer patients, families and caregivers since 1995. It helps at least 1,000 clients a year.
“This is a new concept for us for our sustainability because, as you know, HopeSpring has run into some financial difficulty in the last year,” said Maxwell. The organization, which relies solely on community donations, was on the verge of closure earlier this year and launched a community appeal.
“This was really important to us,” she said, referring to be selected to take part in CreateAthon.
Maxwell said she was impressed by what the students came up, including new literature, a brochure and a short animated video.
“What we saw today was amazing,” she said.
Rebecca Brenner, a cancer survivor who helps at HopeSpring, agreed.
“It’s a very good representation of HopeSpring and goes well with branding,” she said.
June Macdonald, president of the Waterloo Potters’ Workshop, said the new promotion material presented by the students, including a bright new brochure, was exactly what her group was seeking.
“The one thing we were very clear about was the flyer has to do double-duty,” she said. “We must be able to send it out in the mail and have it be able to sit on a rack and catch your eye.”
She hopes the new materials, including an animated video created in partnership with Alchemy’s animator and the student team, will enhance the profile of the co-op group which offers pottery classes for all skill levels and operates at the Jacob Eby farmhouse in Waterloo Park.
The co-op has about 100 members but continues to grow. It also organizes annually the Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Waterloo Region Food Bank which to date, according to Macdonald, has raised more than $250,000.
“I think it looks very nice,” Macdonald said, referring to the new materials.
A positive reaction was something Marissa Ouellette, a second-year graphic design student who worked on the Waterloo Potters’ Workshop team, said she was looking for as CreateAthon started off. Grabbing a coffee during a break from her work on Thursday, she admitted it would be tough if her team did not live up to the expectations of their client.
“When you’re working hard on something like this, you really feel invested in it,” she said.
