Faculty: Promoting Imagine Cup to your students
We get a lot of requests from faculty to promote the Imagine Cup to their students. To that end, we've pulled together several resources that will make it easier to promote to your students.
URL to promote to students to register
https://www.microsoft.co.uk/uk/academia/imaginecup/2008/quiz/default.mspx (and www.imaginecup.co.uk)
The Competitors Guide
A glossy guide that helps students get started with the Imagine Cup focusing on some of the more popular invitationals. It includes an introduction to all the invitationals, guides to Algorithm, Game Development, Embedded and Project Hoshimi and a few tips on why you should register.
Web site, Blog Banners and Email templates
We've got a bunch of JPEGs if you want to stick it on a department web site, faculty or personal blog. Some simple examples of emails are also included that can be sent out to students (written from student's and lecturer's perspectives).
Top 5 things to tell your students about the Imagine Cup
1. There are 9 great competitions for all interests and skill levels. We are providing life changing prizes for UK competitors of ALL 9 competitions. Examples include: 2 week work experience trip to Microsoft in Seattle, Hi-Def video camera, 2 week placement at Microsoft Game Studio in the UK, Developer spec PC (quad core, big screen, the lot), Xbox 360 Elite packs, and many more
2. Really easy and fun to register this year with prizes up for grabs. An Xbox 360 Elite each month to those who register. There is a university leaderboard for those students who take the quiz so good for university competitiveness
3. Software Design has been split up into 3 sections – The Idea; Innovation Accelerator and the Code Submission. This means that between now and Christmas there is plenty of opportunity to focus on the idea (“the idea is king”) and fit around your academic schedules.
4. The Innovation Accelerator is a unique opportunity to learn entrepreneurship skills and higher level technology skills which many students don’t learn while at university. It will be a 2-3 day event in Reading with leading partners and MS staff helping students take their great idea and turn it into a technological and business reality. Think ‘Dragons Den’ meets ‘The Restaurant’ meets Silicon Valley!
5. Imagine Cup culminates in a grand celebration day in London in June for the top competitors in all 9 competitions to meet and hear from leading industry speakers and employers to talk jobs. There will be a prize giving ceremony and maybe even a party at a club in London.
Unannounced Prizes for all 9 competitions
As you can see below we have a bunch of great prizes which are both very desirable to students and will help kick start their future career by building relationships with industry and get an insight into the leading edge of software development:
| SDC | 2 week work placement in Seattle with Popfly team Prizes of Xbox 360 Elites, MP3 players for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams |
| Embedded | 2 week work placement with specialist Microsoft embedded partner |
| XNA | 2 week work placement with UK Microsoft Game Studio Xbox 360 Elite pack |
| Hoshimi | 2 week placement at UK MGS Xbox 360 Elite pack |
| Algorithm | Developer PC (top spec, e.g. Quad core, 24” LCD monitors) |
| IT Challenge | Windows Home Server |
| Photography | Digital SLR camera, lens, bag and tripod |
| Short Film | HD video camera, accessories and tripod |
| Interface Design | 1 Student: 2 week work placement with major UK creative agency Designer PC (top spec, e.g. Quad core, 24” LCD monitors) |