Minneapolis/St. Paul a Week to Remember for DAF Winners
It was a week of non-stop fun and learning experiences as the winners of the Club Tech National Digital Arts Festival came together in Minneapolis July 21-25 to celebrate their victories. Winners came from all over the country – Arizona, Massachusetts, Georgia, New Jersey, Nebraska, Missouri, Maryland – and two came all the way from Camp Zama, Japan.
- Day 1 kicked off with a get-together dinner at Hardrock Café in downtown Minneapolis. In addition to members and advisors, representatives of local Clubs and the Best Buy Children’s Foundation and Microsoft (Club Tech sponsors) also attended.
- The second day began at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and included a hands-on print-making workshop. We met faculty and students and learned more about the college experience. In the afternoon it was off to the Mall of America for two of our favorite activities – eating and shopping! The mall was awesome, with tons of cool shops and even an amusement park and aquarium.
- Day 3 started at the Walker Art Center where we played an artist-designed mini-golf course. Then we toured the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. In the afternoon it was off to the Science Museum of Minnesota. We got a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s storage facility, which had everything from fossils to bottled mice to Native American artifacts. We also toured the Star Wars exhibit that had tons of costumes and props from the original movie.
- Thursday, Day 4. We started at one of the newest Best Buy stores. It is designed to be more appealing to women, among other things. It’s less noisy, easier to find merchandise, and has more relaxed lighting. We learned about merchandising and how and why stores operate. We then visited the Best Buy corporate campus. We were welcomed with a luncheon and recognized with awards and a multimedia presentation of our artwork. Later that day we were hosted by Microsoft at its nearby Bloomington office. Engineers demonstrated new products they are working on including games and operating systems. It was way cool!
See all of this year's winners! >>