University of Tennessee's Winning Entry
Here are some numbers to crunch:
3...the days spent in Atlanta during the CSI National Convention. 1500...the
number of paint cans we had to play with. About 1000....the number of exhibits
in one convention hall. 0...the amount all this cost to the students who
attended this year's event.
This kind of deal seems much like something seen only on Jeopardy: An all
expense paid trip to Atlanta for 4 days, eating at several different
restaurants, attending numerous parties and other get-togethers, and staying in
the prestigious Marriott Marquis, a 47 story hotel located in the heart of
downtown. It may seem like a winning ticket on a game show, but to the students
that attended this year's CSI National Convention, it was as real as it gets.
The CSI Convention, which takes place over 3 days, centers around the product
show. This show, located this year in the Georgia World Congress Center, can
only be rewarded the label huge. As a first time attendee and student, I was
blown away at the size and scope of such an event. From paint manufacturers, to
door companies, to architectural magazine companies, the vastness and
diverseness of the show was breathtaking. In the 2 days that we were given to
tour this sea of information, I only made it through half...and I was walking
fast. As one tours this convention, with you is a card with a bar code on it.
This card stores your address information so that when scanned by a particular
exhibitor, information about their product is automatically sent to your house.
Talk about an opportunity to freak out the mailman... This product show, the
heart of the convention, is truly incredible, and not only does it give one the
chance to accrue all sorts of various junk, but actually educates in the
process...what a deal!
As a student attending this convention, I will admit that I was apprehensive at
first about going. I reasoned that I knew nothing about these products, or about
writing specifications, and thus I wouldn't have a clue what was going on.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. One relieving factor was that
CSI had planned several student-oriented activities, of these, one being the
CanFormation event. In this event, teams from around the nation, 11 in all, were
each given a stack of paint cans and a theme: Housing for the New Millenium.
With only these two resources and a 10'x10' booth, our student teams were to
construct an illustration of this theme...a dream for those Lego-gifted folks.
This competition, which spanned over 5 and a half hours proved to be a lot of
fun and gave all of us students a chance to learn about other schools around the
nation. The winners were selected by a method of voting. As attendees to the
convention passed by the booths, they swiped the aforementioned cards to vote
for the booth they saw as the best. Not surprisingly, The University of
Tennessee won this year!
University of Tennessee's Winning Entry
Amid all the fun and amazement that we all experienced, this convention was also
a great opportunity for education. Each day, several educational sessions were
held on a variety of different topics. For instance, this year there were
sessions on landscape design, auditorium sound, lighting design, goal setting,
and how to have productive meetings. This sampling, however, is only a handful
of the different events that could be attended this year. There was no excuse to
not leave educated. As a student, the last thing I wanted to do was attend
something educational. I mean, I am on my summer break from school, and they
want me to learn? Although I approached it with that attitude, when it came time
to go to the sessions, I looked forward to it, and thoroughly enjoyed them. If
only REAL school was like that...
All in all, this year's convention was an incredible experience. From thousands
of exhibitors, to heaps of information in the education sessions, to loads of
fun at the parties thrown by various companies, this convention appeared as
something only reserved for those in the Fortune 500 club. However, as a student
participating in the CanFormation competition, it was all free, and what a deal.
Now that this year's convention is over, there is only one number left to
crunch: 355. This is the number of days until next year's CSI convention in
Dallas, Texas, and you can bet I'll be there.