The Arts & Technology Program (ATEC) at the University of Texas in Dallas (UTD) will pilot launch ATEC Crowdfunding Month, a new undertaking to bring awareness to on-campus crowdfunding campaigns being run by and/or assisted by its faculty and students. The campaigns planned for this year’s ATEC Crowdfunding Month are on Kickstarter and Indiegogo
With the support of UTD-ATEC faculty, the program is directed by ATEC Associate Director Roger Malina and assisted by David Marlett, a PhD student and Research Fellow in the ArtSciLab of ATEC. Marlett is also the Executive Director of the National Crowdfunding Association.
“There are many terrific crowdfunding programs popping up at universities across the globe,” said Marlett. “That goes for UTD as well, which is looking to launch an on-campus crowdfunding platform in 2015. One thing that makes ATEC Crowdfunding Month unique is that it is platform agnostic, in that the campaigns can be on whatever platform the student or faculty member wishes.”
This year’s ATEC Crowdfunding Month, according to Marlett, is one of the first such programs at an American university: one where a set month is declared to promote the campaigns running on that campus at that time.
“This makes it easier for the university as a whole to support and promote the student and faculty campaigns, and helps coordinate some of the otherwise duplicative efforts among the campaigns themselves,” added Marlett.
Dr. Roger Malina, Arts and Technology Distinguished Chair, and Associate Director of ATEC, runs the ATEC-ArtSciLab in which the idea for a ATEC Crowdfunding Month was born.
“We are enthused to get this going and see how it will work”, said Malina. “Besides being beneficial for the projects themselves, it gives us a great opportunity to help our students learn crowdfunding and crowdsourcing methodologies. That experience could be invaluable in their future endeavors.”
This year’s four projects are:
● CREATIVE DISTURBANCE — ATEC students and faculty seek $20,000 for an international network and podcast platform supporting collaboration among the arts, sciences and new technologies communities.
● INNERSPACE — ATEC students seek $25,000 to complete their highly stylized and original independent video game.
● 3D360 FOR BLUE HIGHWAY — An ATEC student seeks $12,000 for 360 degree / 3D camera equipment to film shorts from a feature length film for the Oculus Rift.
● UP IN THE AIR, DOWN ON THE GROUND – An ATEC student seeks $6,000 for a short, light-hearted animated film.