• 6th Annual National Student Show & Conference Creativity can come from anywhere

  • Sponsors:

    Student creatives are hungry for industry know-how. They often continue to use products or services that they are introduced to as students for their entire professional careers. We encourage you to take advantage of our sponsorship opportunities to tap into this under-utilized demographic.

    Every creative professional that specs paper, partners with printers, and purchases industry products starts out as a college student. Products and services introduced to them early stick with them, often continuing to use them for their entire professional career.

    The Annual National Student Show and Conference, now in its sixth year, is the only national event of its kind dedicated exclusively to student creatives. It attracts college-level designers, illustrators, photographers, writers and art directors from across the country to submit their work in a juried competition and attend a three-day Conference that will be held in April of 2010.

    The Conference, hosted by the Dallas Society of Visual Communications Foundation, is an amazing event for these young people. Not only can they hear and meet nationally-renowned guest speakers, they can also experience studio tours, participate in informative breakout sessions and roundtable discussions, and hear about the latest industry products and services — all culminating with an awards gala and dinner complete with prizes and scholarships.

    Last year’s conference was a tremendous success for sponsors, students and educators. We had nearly 3,000 Show entries and 700 Conference attendees from over 110 schools in 30 states. Due to the help of last year’s generous sponsors, we were able to award over $20,000 in scholarships. We are expecting this year to be bigger and better; we are anticipating at least 3,000 entrants and 700-800 students, educators and professionals to attend this year’s Conference. In addition, thousands of students from almost every creative program in the country view our website and receive our promotional materials.

    For more detailed information on the event, the participants and sponsorship levels, download the printable PDF from the link below. For other questions, or to set up sponsorship, contact this year’s event chairman, Angela MonDragon. We’d love to talk to you.

    Creativity can come from anywhere

  • Educators:

    We want to do as much as we can to further the passion of visual arts students by inspiring them with speakers, rewarding them for their hard work and great ideas, and exposing them to parts of the field that they might not normally get to experience. This is something you don’t want your students to miss out on!

    The Annual National Student Show & Conference, hosted by the Dallas Society of Visual Communications (DSVC), is a passion. We cannot tell you what an unbelievable amount of work the Show and Conference are to put together, especially when it’s all done by professional volunteers, not by paid staff. In fact, after expenses, all of our money goes right back into next year’s scholarship hopper and Conference planning.

    This event is exciting, inspirational, and valuable for students and educators. There are many design conferences around the nation that are designed for professionals, but we feel that a conference designed entirely for students and graduating seniors is something that the industry needs. It exposes students to things that they might not otherwise be exposed to, and will let them compete and interact with fellow students from all over the country.

    This year’s Conference will feature four to six huge nationally-renowned speakers, 15 breakout sessions and workshops, up close and personal roundtable discussions, studio tours, a portfolio review by some of the industry’s leading professionals and a job fair for seniors.

    Not only that, but we gave out over $20,000 in scholarships and awards last year, this year we hope to give away even more.

    We hope you’ll consider adding our Conference to your program curriculum, and encourage your students to enter our show for a chance to be rewarded with scholarships and accolades. It will be an experience they will not forget.

    And one last thing: educators attend the Conference free of charge. We know how much work education can be, and this is our way of saying thanks.

    Please contact this years event chairman, Angela MonDragon, if you have any questions about the show or conference.

    To receive a packet with Show & Conference posters for your program, click on the link below:

    Creativity can come from anywhere

  • Students:

    Three days of nationally-renowned speakers, breakout sessions and workshops, studio tours, a portfolio review and a job fair – seriously, could this get any better? How bout we throw in a show where you can earn a part of over $20,000 in scholarships and cash awards? Excited yet?

    The Show

    Entries deadline February 2010
    All of your good ideas and hard work are about to pay off. Enter your best work to be judged by leading industry big shots for a piece of over $20,000 in scholarships, cash awards and an all expenses paid trip to the 2010 HOW Conference.

    The Conference

    April 2010 in Dallas, Texas
    What could be better than three days filled with huge nationally-renowned speakers, breakout sessions and workshops, panel discussions, studio tours and parties? Not to mention a portfolio review by some of the industry’s leading professionals and a job fair for seniors? Besides a long weekend and a potential break from class? The price, of course. Because when you enter the Show and attend the 5th Annual National Student Show and Conference, you get to take part in all the fun – and you get a great deal on Show entries, too.

    Here’s just a small taste of what you get for your money. And yes, it’s okay to send this list to your parents:

    Job Fair: seniors get tons of interviews in one day

    Awards gala: 20k in scholarships, prizes and more

    Breakout Sessions: 15 presentations and workshops on printmaking, animation, interviewing, and more

    Roundtable Talks: Ask working pros anything you want

    Goodie Bag: filled with magazines, samples, and swag

    Portfolio Review: get real-world opinions on your book

    The Resource Center: bring an empty suitcase and load up on the latest industry goodies

    And let’s not forget: the creative high, the learning of things you never knew you never knew, the inspiration, the enlightenment, the networking, the professional exposure, the insider info, the friendships, the confidence boost, and of course, the creative reconnaissance

    Creativity can come from anywhere

  • National Student Show & Conference:

    This is The only national creative competition and conference just for students. All college-level design, art direction, illustration and photography students are invited to submit work to the Show and attend the Conference. This is the greatest thing to happen to student creatives since Spray Mount™.

    Six Years and Counting:

    What started out a regional student event put on by an independent creative club has grown into a national-caliber competition and conference. Since the first annual show in 2005, thousands of students have attended the Conference and entered the Show from across the nation.

    Our passion and purpose is helping students in our industry. We have inspired and motivated them with speakers and breakout sessions, showed them what students from competitive programs around the country are turning out, and connected them with professionals for creative feedback and job opportunites. And best of all, we have given more than $100,000 in scholarships and awards to date.

    What we’re most proud of is that we’ve managed to do all of this with only a small force of determined volunteers. In fact, all of the proceeds go into making the next year’s Conference better, the Show scholarships bigger.

    Whether you’re a sponsor, educator, student, or potential volunteer, we would love for you to share our passion for this exciting educational event.

    Past Conference Speakers Include:

    • Chip Kidd, Knopf Publishing
    • James Victore, James Victore, Inc.
    • Heather Amuny-Dey, Nike
    • Matt Owens, Volumeone LLC
    • Lanny Sommese, Sommese Design
    • Ellen Lupton, Author
    • Christian Helms, The Decoder Ring
    • Stefan Mumaw, Reign
    • Ann Willoughby, Willoughby Design
    • David Carson, David Carson Design
    • Debbie Millman, Design Matters
    Creativity can come from anywhere