ACE After Hours + Student Showcase News Share this: Written By: Martina Belecan Delicious food. Amazing drinks. Some serious mingling. And interesting campaign ideas by talented students. I call that a success. As a first time attendee to an ACE event, I did not know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. I personally walked away meeting some cool people, likeminded students like myself and getting some ideas and advice on my career goals from pros in the industry. The Event The event was held at The Needle Vinyl Tavern; a very funky place. If you go to their bathrooms, you will see vinyl records on the floor. I thought that was so cool! I was debating with my friend if they were real or not. Anyway, moving on… The venue itself was small and intimate. Most people stuck with their own groups but if you are brave enough to venture off and meet new people, you would not be disappointed. It is highly recommended. Nobody bites I was told. Student Campaign The concept for the campaign was Human Trafficking. The goal is to raise awareness of the serious issue of human trafficking in Alberta by targeting 20 – 35 year olds who are active on social media. The students were paired with a mentor in the industry and ACT Alberta (Action Coalition on Human Trafficking Alberta) to come up with a winning strategy. The Winners Casey Brettelle (Left) & Lillia Wan And the GOLD goes to…Casey Brettelle and Lillia Wan. After speaking with them for a while, I asked them what they will take away from this experience. For them it was an “opportunity to learn more about the subject. Things like this happen everyday but a lot of people don’t realize it”. Hence their title “Hidden in Plain Sight”. Casey also remarked that their mentor Shane Hanford taught them the “notion of working through the process”. With the deadlines being short, they had the urge to rush through but Shane made them understand that they should focus, work through every section step by step and make sure every part is justified and fully supported. Seems like it was good advice. Lindsay Burchill, the runner up, relates to this. She spent hours going through magazines, vector images and research to come up with a powerful and impactful campaign. In the end, the knowledge she gained and her end result was worth it. In addition to the above campaigns, we saw the works of Meagan Bell and Amanda Ozga, Kim Clarke and Amanda Zirk, Samantha Scharf and Gil Craig, Danielle S. Fuechmann and Jim Zitlaw, Shayna Shead and Alisha Thomas, Ashley Truong and Anna Schroeder and Rimsha Nadeem and Brooke Langmaid. Congratulations to all!