Call for entries issued to college students across the US & Canada; IBM and Campbell Soup Company present 2017 brand challenges

New York (February 17, 2017) – The North American Effie Awards is eager to announce its Call for Entries for the eighth annual Collegiate Effie competition. Collegiate Effie has teamed up with two Effie-winning companies to introduce the 2017 brand challenges: IBM® and Campbell Soup Company, for Pace.

The Collegiate Effie Awards serve to recognize, inspire, educate, and engage the marketers of tomorrow. Modeled after the North American Effie Awards competition, the Collegiate Effies give students an opportunity to research, ideate, and execute comprehensive marketing communications plans that address professional-level marketing challenges.

The IBM® Brand Challenge is a regional competition, open to students in the US and Canada.

Students must develop a non-traditional integrated marketing campaign, focusing on IBM Watson®, to help make a younger generation of consumers aware of the IBM brand and Watson’s cognitive capabilities. The IBM Brand Challenge tasks entrants to create a strategy that will help young people discover surprising ways to incorporate cognitive computing technologies into their daily lives. This is IBM’s first Collegiate Effie challenge.

The Pace Brand Challenge is a national competition, open to students in the US.

Students must develop an integrated, multi-channel marketing campaign designed to encourage the target audience to try Pace and define the brand as the salsa of choice for Taco Night. This is Campbell Soup Company’s second consecutive year presenting a challenge. Last year, the company chose to highlight their V8+Energy brand.

Both challenges are open to students who are currently enrolled full/part-time, with at least junior standing, at an accredited educational institution, graduate students, and students enrolled in portfolio programs.

Qualifying entries will be judged by industry professionals across various disciplines, including creative, strategic planning, media strategy, branding, marketing, and social media. Selected finalists for each challenge will have the opportunity to present their work to senior members of the IBM and Pace brand teams.

The entry deadline for both challenges is April 4, 2017. For complete details on the Collegiate Effie competition, please visit www.effie.org/collegiate-effie.

About Effie Worldwide
Effie Worldwide is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to championing and improving the practice and practitioners of marketing effectiveness. Effie Worldwide, organizer of the Effie Awards, spotlights marketing ideas that work and encourages thoughtful dialogue around the drivers of marketing effectiveness, while serving as an educational resource for the industry. The Effie network works with some of the top research and media organizations worldwide to bring its audience relevant insights into effective marketing strategy. The Effie Awards are known by advertisers and agencies globally as the preeminent effectiveness award in the industry, and recognize any and all forms of marketing communication that contribute to a brand’s success. Since 1968, winning an Effie Award has become a global symbol of achievement. Today, Effie celebrates effectiveness worldwide with over 40 global, regional and national programs across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East/N orth Africa and North America. All Effie Awards finalists and winners are included in the annual Effie Effectiveness Index rankings. The Effie Index identifies and ranks the marketing communications industry’s most effective agencies, marketers, and brands by analyzing finalist and winner data from all Effie Awards competitions worldwide.

For more details, visit www.effie.org and follow the Effies on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Media Contact
Nisha Stephen
nisha@effie.org
646-254-6311

GoFundMe Releases New Tools and New Data to Help Students Pay for College

REDWOOD CITY, CA | February 15, 2017 — GoFundMe today released a new guidebook highlighting the growing trend of college students who are turning to GoFundMe to pay for tuition and other costs associated with college. In the last three years alone, over 130,000 GoFundMes have raised $60 million from over 850,000 donations for college tuition and related expenses.

The GoFundMe Guidebook includes three sections:

1. National Data:

New national data about the growing trend of students using social fundraising to pay for school.

2. Step-by-Step Instructions and Tips to Launch a Successful GoFundMe:

Step-by-step instructions and important tips for students about how to create a successful GoFundMe to raise money for college.

3. State-Specific Data:

State-specific data about the cost of college and information about students in your state who have turned to GoFundMe to help reduce their college costs.

To view the guidebook, click HERE.

GoFundMe today also released a new college fundraising hub, which will serve as a resource for students and their communities. We want to make it as easy as possible for GoFundMe donors to find students, as well as giving students and their families the tips and tools they need for a successful campaign. Students and donors can visit the college fundraising hub here: https://www.gofundme.com/college-tuition-fundraising

GoFundMe has made these new resources available to all students, parents, faculty and staff at college campuses across the country to show how easy it is to reduce a student’s bills. GoFundMe will continue to share tips and best practices directly with students to empower them to start campaigns.

About GoFundMe
Launched in 2010, GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform, with over $3 billion raised so far. With a community of more than 25 million donors, GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives.

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Media Contact
Bobby Whithorne
(949) 233-9977
bwhithorne@gofundme.com

Colleges All Over The U.S.A. and Canada are Using Oxygen Bars to Decrease Student Stress and Increase Health & Wellness Awareness.

Delray Beach, Florida – February 13th, 2017

Exam week is probably the most stressful time in a college students life. In many instances the student’s future is riding on how well they do. Universities and colleges are structuring stress free days and weekends to provide some stress relief during this difficult period. We have seen the deployment of everything from juice bars, chair massages, and petting zoos, but nothing seems to deliver the excitement, attention, and results that an oxygen bar rental does for these kind of student events.

Colleges and universities all across the U.S. and Canada are making the oxygen bar THE focal point of student stress-free days. Students line up for the relaxing and stress reducing effects offered by breathing oxygen with the added benefit of aromatherapy through the use of all-natural and organic essential oils. There are usually up to a dozen scents offered to the users to choose from. Lavender and vanilla add to the already calming effects of oxygen, while other scents such as eucalyptus and peppermint will energize the student looking to be “on top of their game” studying and focused.

Just a 10 minute session on an oxygen bar provides:
• Healthful revitalizing oxygen
• Stress relief
• Benefits of aromatherapy
• A social environment where students can interact with their peers
• A unique photo opportunity to be posted on the social network

Airheads Oxygen Bars is the largest oxygen bar manufacturer and rental company in the world. They have been providing oxygen bars to colleges, universities, and high schools since 1998. Other school related events where oxygen bars are being used are:
• Homecoming events
• Fraternity and sorority pledging parties and events
• Smoking cessation events
• Student orientation
• Concerts and campus special events

Airheads Oxygen Bars - The world’s largest oxygen bar manufacturer and rental company – “Breathing New Life Into Student Life Events!”
Contact: Martin Unger 1.888.622.7662 or via email at oxygenbars@airheads1.com

The deadline to apply for a study abroad grant from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is Wednesday, February 15. Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all discipline honor society, will award 50 $1,000 grants to students nationwide.

Awarded twice a year—50 in the spring and 25 in the fall—the grants are designed to support undergraduates, both members and nonmembers, as they seek expanded knowledge and experience in their academic fields. Interested students do not have to be a member of Phi Kappa Phi to apply, but must currently attend an institution with an active chapter.

“Throughout my entire life I have been fascinated with science and mathematics and have had a passion for education, teaching, and learning,” said John Heeg, a 2016 grant recipient from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. “In order to reach a greater number of students, I have a desire to become more proficient in the Spanish language and experience Spanish culture. The Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant will make this dream a reality.”

Phi Kappa Phi gives 75 study abroad grants annually to students on its chapter campuses. Since its inception in 2001, the program has awarded more than $775,000.

In addition to the study abroad program, the Society awards $1.4 million each biennium to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, funding for post-baccalaureate development, member and chapter awards, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives.

The application period for students to apply for a $1,000 study abroad grant is currently open until February 15. For full eligibility requirements and application instructions, visit www.phikappaphi.org/studyabroad.

About Phi Kappa Phi
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society’s mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.” For more information, visit www.phikappaphi.org.

Media Contact
Hannah Breaux
Communications Director
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
hbreaux@phikappaphi.org
225.923.7777

Since 2007, ESA Foundation has provided more than $800,000 in scholarships for next generation of gaming innovators

Washington, D.C. February 1, 2017 – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation scholarship program today announced it is accepting applications for its Computer and Video Game Scholarship Program for the 2017-18 academic school year.

ESA Foundation aims to enhance education and encourage diversity in the computer and video game industry. Each year, ESA Foundation awards up to 30 scholarships of $3,000 each to women and minority students pursuing video game-related degrees. Since the program’s inception, ESA Foundation has awarded more than 260 scholarships to students.

“My ESA Foundation scholarship is a pathway for me to make an impact on the gaming industry in ways that have yet to be discovered,” said past scholarship recipient Anna Nguyen.

Scholarships are offered for full-time undergraduate study at accredited four-year colleges and universities in the USA. Current high school seniors, college freshmen, sophomores and juniors are eligible to apply.

International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. (ISTS), an independent scholarship administration company, manages the online application. Eligible applicants are evaluated on academic performance, academic honors, career plans and goals, extracurricular activities and special circumstances such as military service. Finalists are selected by an independent jury of industry experts.

Learn more about ESA Foundation scholarship program at http://esafoundation.org/scholarship.asp. The deadline to apply is April 27, 2017.

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About ESA Foundation
Created by the American entertainment software industry, the ESA Foundation works to make a positive difference in the lives of America’s youth by providing scholarships to the next generation of industry innovators and supporting charitable organizations and schools that leverage entertainment software and technology. ESA Foundation is primarily supported by proceeds from its signature annual fundraiser, Nite to Unite and other charitable initiatives. For more information, please visit ESA Foundation’s website or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. (ISTS)
Founded in 1985, International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. provides comprehensive scholarship, grant, tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement program management. ISTS is a 100% women-owned company, focused on offering cutting-edge technology and sustainable solutions to corporations, foundations, associations, unions and other scholarship-granting organizations worldwide. For more information about ISTS, visit www.applyISTS.com.

Media Contact
Carissa Reeves
Marketing and Public Relations Manager, ISTS
creeves@applyISTS.com / 615.777.3735

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi—the nation’s oldest and most selective all discipline honor society—today announced the start of its annual book drive competition. Established by the Society’s Council of Students, the competition aims to encourage and promote literacy in the communities and campuses served by Phi Kappa Phi’s chapters.

Interested chapters can participate in the competition by hosting a drive to collect books or funds to be applied toward literacy materials. To be eligible, the drives must take place any time between February 1 and April 30, 2017.

“The book drive competition is a fitting extension of the Phi Kappa Phi mission,” said Society Executive Director Dr. Mary Todd. “The competition provides an opportunity for our chapters to engage in service to others while enabling access to resources and opportunities that promote lifelong learning.”

The Phi Kappa Phi chapters that collect the most books or monetary donations will receive a “Little Free Library” to be placed at a location of their choice. Winning chapters will also receive $150 to cover the cost of design materials to personalize the library.

The annual competition, now in its fourth year, has donated nearly 30,000 books to organizations both locally and abroad. Organizations that have received donated books as part of the competition include schools, libraries, hospitals, correctional centers, tutoring and mentoring programs, shelters and more.

To learn more about the competition or to locate your local chapter, visit www.phikappaphi.org/bookdrive.

About Phi Kappa Phi
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society’s mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.” For more information, visit www.phikappaphi.org.

Media Contact
Hannah Breaux
Communications Director
(225) 923-7777
hbreaux@phikappaphi.org