Lighting up Awesome!

Wow!  An awesome group of people dropped in to the Drop In Centre tonight and we were enlightened by an amazing array of very interesting ideas and the incredible vocal talents of the fabulous Heebee Jeebees! 

The pitches ranged from projects to assist International grad students to hone their teaching skills while at the same helping new immigrants learn computer skills - to an amazing Uof C student who wants to create an electric vehicle challenge- to 2 very different LED lighting projects.



In the end, and after some amazing a Capella, Awesome Calgary awarded the $1000 cash grant to the pitch perfect team of Claudia and Vlad for Illuminating Calgary Landscapes.  Watch for this fun project starting on Aug 12th to light up some dark areas of the city to make them inviting and accessible.  The location is a secret for now but we'll shed some light on it soon.  :) 

Congratulations to Claudia Bustos and Vlad Amiot - totally awesome! 

Thousand Dollar Thursday - July 28

Don't miss out on the fun this week with our 4th Awesome Calgary $1000 grant for an awe-inspiring project to help make Calgary the most awesome place on earth! 

Thurs. July 28 at 6pm at the Calgary Drop In Centre (423 4th St SE). 

• Opening act - The world renowned Heebee Jeebees!  - 6pm 
• Four 90second pitches (Team Zeus, LED Dominos, Illuminated Landscapes & International Computer Literacy) where the teams will duke it out for $1000 in cold, hard cash to get their idea off the ground 
• Q&A session with Awesome Trustees and audience (that's you!) to dig a little digger in to each of the ideas 
• Meet & Greet with the Awesome Calgary Trustees (the awesome people who donate $100 each month to help foster innovation in this city)
• The Drop IN Centre staff & volunteers will be available to give tours of the Centre following the event.   
• Close to transit and Free parking!  (in the DI Centre lot or across 4th St SE in the gravel lot)

How to find Awesome Thousand Dollar Thursday Event: 

1. Come to the Drop In Centre by 6pm July 28 - 423 4 Ave SE (see map below)
2. Someone will meet you and let you through to the elevators 
3. Presentation room is on the 6th floor 
4. Cheer on your favourite Top4 idea 
5. Ask questions, be awed, get inspired ... and have FUN!
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Why is Awesome so pink?

The Awesome Foundation logo is kinda cool but if you don't know the meaning behind it, it might appear as if it's only pink triangles ... but it's really SO much more.

The triangles represent the "fast forward" symbol that we all know so well from PVR, TiVO and the rest of life.  :)

The pink is actually Crayola colour "Awesome"  - how cool is that?

Fast forward awesomeness ... that's what Awesome Calgary is all about.

• Rapid submissions
• Rapid decisions
• Rapid pitches
• Rapid cash
• Rampant awesomeness!
  

July Top4 Finalists announced

It was another very tough selection night to narrow our 14 awesome submissions this month down to only 4 finalists to pitch to us on July 28th.  Team awesome met at the fabulous Calgary Folk Music Festival (on Thursday and thankfully not Friday!) to make our top4 selections to the fabulous backdrop of the main stage and amazing music.  

Here they are (in no particular order): 

• LED Dominos - a digital urban community art project to show the world that Calgary is both modern and cool, with the world's first LED Domino urban art. (Shannon Hoover)
• International Computer Literacy - program to have International Grad students teach computer skills to immigrants -  to help the grad students hone their teaching skills and to help immigrants gain computer skills to more quickly become productive members of the Calgary economy (Leanne Wu)
• Team Zeus - a competition for post secondary students to build, and then race electric/efficient motorcycles - then take the learnings to high school classrooms to engage kids in further education and the idea of creating for the future (Jules LaPrairie)
• Illuminated Landscapes - invite Calgarians to light up overlooked city spaces with LED lights to add new vibrancy by changing these spaces into welcoming and magical environments at night.  (Claudia Bustos and Vlad Amiot)

Join us on Thousand Dollar Thursday to watch these 4 teams vie for the $1000 cash on July 28th at 6pm at the Calgary Drop In Centre (423 4 Ave SE - 6th floor presentation area).  Special guests The Heebee Jeebees will perform with the Top4 teams to really set the stage for an awesome showcase of the amazing talent and people of Calgary.  Don't miss it!  

Cowboy Hat for a Cause

Awesome Foundation Calgary was thrilled to be asked to submit a cowboy hat for the "This is My City" Tip Your Hat charity auction.  It was a last minute request and after a mad dash through the glitter aisle and craft section in Walmart at 10pm with fellow Awesome Trustee Janet Clarke Bell, we pulled off an amazing feat ... and an awesome hat! 

TMC is a not for profit organization that uses the arts to create awareness about the issues of homelessness and poverty in Calgary.  The hats will be auctioned at noon July 13th on Stephen Ave (200 block SW) and all of the money raised will go to support their efforts. 


Get out there and bid on the once in a life time chance to own this one-of-a-kind, totally Awesome cowboy hat! 

Thanks to model student and model cowboy hat model, Shae Konschuh.