FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Online School of Design ,
Sessions, Announces Latest Design Competition for Not-for-Profit
Organizations
NPower is the latest participant in online
design school's innovative Design Competition Program
in line with mission of “preparing design professionals”.
New York - May 25, 2005
-- NPower chose Sessions.edu (Sessions) to help
launch their Technology Service Corp program (TSC).
TSC is an innovative technology training program focused
on giving New York City young adults an entrance to
a technology career, while simultaneously providing
affordable and trained technology staff to nonprofit
organizations. NPower in NY is part of a growing network
of independent, locally based nonprofits dedicated to
putting technology know-how in the hands of nonprofit
organizations to expand the reach and impact of their
work.
Sessions, Online School of Design, has worked with
numerous not-for-profits to help with design needs on
a pro bono basis. Those organizations include: Big Brothers/Big
Sisters; Tuesday's Children; City Project; Urban Word
NYC; Global Action Project; Cambodian Arts and Scholarship;
and GenArt. Students compete on a pro bono basis to
design and print Web marketing pieces and publications
that will be produced and used by clients in the non-profit
sector. A faculty panel judges the entrants and presents
a list of finalists for final judging by the sponsoring
organization. The student works with the organization
through the final execution of the project.
Tuesday's Children (TC) was the first “client”
of the Sessions' Design Competition Program. A non-profit
family service organization founded by family and friends
of 9/11 victims, TC has made a long-term commitment
dedicated to the needs of every child who lost a parent
on 9/11.
Chris Burke, Founder and President of Tuesday's Children,
selected the work of Jason Greeley, an American student
living in Norway . "I knew that the work would
be good,” Burke said. “But the end result
exceeds my expectations in every way.”
"Our objective is to offer students every opportunity
to build a strong and diverse portfolio of design work
so they will be prepared to reach their career objectives
in design,” said Doris Granatowski, CEO of Sessions.
“Our students already enjoy a rich classroom experience
and portfolio-building projects with every course they
complete, but we wanted them to also get a taste of
the demands of projects delivered to an actual client
and all the trappings that come with it: aggressive
deadlines, specific creative needs, and a message that
needs to be communicated visually.
“We believe this competition helps validate the
online learning model in a way outside the typical job
market. In 1997, in the infancy of online education,
our premise was simple, yet daring: We believed we could
transform the way creative people would learn design
skills and concepts. Further, we believed we could transform
online learning, and we did. We created a nurturing
learning environment that fostered artistic expression
taught by accomplished designers who are passionate
about teaching.”
Another recent participant was the Cambodian Arts &
Scholarship Foundation (CASF), based in Portland , Maine.
CASF is a non-profit organization that collaborates
with local communities in Cambodia to identify potential
students, provides financial, emotional and medical
support to these students and their families, and sustains
this support for as long as the child wants to learn.
“I cannot tell you how grateful I feel for the
opportunity to be a client of this competition,”
stated Jonah Rosenfeld, Vice President, CASF. “Sam
Fisher's (winner) work is amazing and his Web site design
is going to benefit our organization in ways that are
impossible to even imagine. You are making a huge difference
in the lives of young people 10,000 miles away.”
The need for smart design is not limited to geography,
gender or age. Sessions global community of students
from over 100 countries can readily meet any client
requirements.
GenArt, a non-profit arts and entertainment organization
with offices in New York , Los Angeles , San Francisco
, Miami and Chicago , is dedicated to showcasing emerging
fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual
artists. Founded by a group of young art enthusiasts
in 1993, GenArt works to provide access to the film,
fashion and art worlds for those that are interested
in these areas. GenArt has a loyal following amongst
a 21 to 35 year old demographic generally comprised
of hip city dwellers who keep in touch with new developments
in the arts.
Tali Sedgwick, Fashion Program Manager, Gen Art, said
“In the end, Gen Art was so thrilled with the
design that we wound up using the invitation for both
our New York and Miami events. On the first day of sending
out the invitation, we got 25 ticket purchases and a
lot of positive response from people asking ‘who
did your design for the invitation?'”
Given the high success of the Design Competition Program,
Sessions plans on continuing the program for the foreseeable
future.
“We welcome inquiries from any n on-profit company
with worthy goals, limited design budgets, and urgent
communications needs who wish to gain the services of
talented student designers,” stated Granatowski.
About Sessions.edu, Inc. (www.sessions.edu)
Sessions.edu, Inc., founded in 1997, was created with
the goal of bringing new media design education to graphic
and web designers worldwide, through online education.
Once a pioneer and now a leader in the distance education
industry, Sessions has delivered tens of thousands of
courses to students in over 100 countries. Sessions
is accredited by the Distance
Education Training Council (www.DETC.org) and the
first of only two online schools licensed by the New
York State Department of Education . The expertise
and experience that has created the proven success of
the online school is now offered to select colleges,
universities, and corporations that seek to enter or
expand their presence in the growing and competitive
world of distance education.
Sessions Online Design School , offers certificate
programs and courses in graphic design, web design,
multimedia, business marketing design and digital arts.
For more information about Sessions.edu Online School
of Design, visit www.sessions.edu
For more information contact:
SCOTT CHAPPELL
Sessions.edu, Inc
scott@sessions.edu
(212) 239-3080 |
