How could you save $20 a day for 10 days? That’s the question Credit Union of Ohio is posing to Ohio State students for its video scholarship contest.
The first-place winner, chosen by a panel of judges, will receive $5,000. The second-place winner, chosen through popular vote on Credit Union of Ohio’s Web site, will receive $2,500.
For this year’s contest, titled “2010 Days Video Competition,” students must submit a video 30 seconds to two-and-a-half minutes long, showing what changes they could make to their lifestyles in order to save $20 a day for 10 days. In past years, the scholarship was an essay contest, but last year it was changed to its current video format.
“Who wants to write an essay anymore?” said Kim Hudson, vice president of marketing at Credit Union of Ohio. “This generation of students, in particular, videotape everything, and then they post it everywhere, so why not put it in this format? This is what they’re comfortable with, and it’s all about them.”
The winning video will be chosen based on creativity, accuracy of information, reflection of theme, quality of content and overall execution. For the people’s choice award, starting June 1, videos will be posted on the scholarship page of Credit Union of Ohio’s Web site, where viewers will be able to vote for their favorite videos.
Jill Gerschutz, member development supervisor at Credit Union of Ohio, developed this year’s theme. She said the contest is meant to teach students how to save money easily.
Hudson added that if participants follow the theme correctly, they will get something out of the contest.
“Regardless of if they win first place or even the people’s choice award, they’ll have $200 in their savings in the end, so everyone’s going to get a little bit of money.”
If you’ve never made a video before, don’t let that stop you. Last year, only 20 videos were submitted, so chances of winning were pretty high. To give the contest more publicity this year, Credit Union of Ohio brought a film crew to its campus branch at 11th and Neil avenues. The crew asked OSU students about their spending habits and how they would save $20 a day for 10 days. In response to how he would save that much money, one student said he would “stay inside in an empty room.” Another said he would eat “a lot of Ramen [noodles].”
However, Hudson and Gerschutz don’t encourage students to starve themselves or sacrifice a social life in order to win. Both mentioned there are plenty of free things to do in Columbus, and Hudson suggested using a lot of coupons. They said they want students to continue living a full life while saving money at the same time.
All undergraduates currently enrolled or accepted into OSU are encouraged to apply. Undergraduates at other accredited four-year universities that are Credit Union of Ohio members are also eligible.
The contest is also open to group entries. Groups of up to five people are allowed to submit a video. However, if a group video wins, the money will be split equally among the members. Hudson said they let groups participate in the video contest because not everyone has the tools necessary to film and edit a video. Working in a group allows multiple people to contribute to the project and still get equal credit, she said.
Credit Union of Ohio began accepting submissions on March 29. Students have until May 28 to submit a video.
To learn more about the contest and submit a video, visit 2010days.cuofohio.org.
