Animation14

Awards Day 2014

The Animation14 Awards Festival and Inspirational Computer Science Day will be held at The University of Manchester’s Martin Harris Centre on Friday 11 July 2014. The Animation Festival is open, free of charge, to all schools, subject to space. The Animation13 Festival was a huge success. Over 50 winners received prizes for their winning films, which you can see in the 2013 Winners Gallery.

After the morning’s Awards Ceremony, in the afternoon we have an inspirational interactive keynote talk by Sean Bechhofer, and two big rooms full of fascinating hands-on activities – Download the list of activities!

This event is open only to schools which have pre-registered, and have received a confirming email from us. Non-registered schools cannot be admitted on the day. If you’re unsure whether your school is registered, please email us to ask us.

The day runs from 09:00 to 16:00. In the morning, all winning animations will be shown on the big screen, and winners will receive their prizes. In the afternoon, there’ll be a keynote presentation by Sean Bechhofer — “Music and Computer Science”, and other inspirational talks and interactive hands-on Computer Science activities.

Venue – the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama

Here are full details of how to get to the Martin Harris Centre by car, train and bus, including coach drop-off and car parking arrangements. If you are coming by mini-bus or coach, please note that while larger vehicles can have access to drop off the school parties, there is no parking available on the University site, but there are roads nearby to the campus. If you have queries about parking/access, please email us by 5pm Friday 13 June so we can make arrangements in good time for the event. Please note that as well as hosting the Animation14 Awards Day, the University is also open as usual, and is likely to be busy.

Arrival

Please arrive and register at the main entrance of the Martin Harris Centre, between 09:00 and 09:30.

Here’s a map showing the location of the Martin Harris Centre.

The programme of events begins at 09:50, but we’ll be showing classic computer graphics animations from 09:00 to 09:50, so you won’t be bored if you arrive early! Please note: to avoid disruption to the show, we reserve the right to refuse entry to late-comers until the 11:15 morning break.

Schedule for the day

09:00-09:30 Arrival and welcome
09:50-11:15 Prize-giving ceremony part 1
11:15-11:30 Morning break
11:30-12:30 Prize-giving ceremony part 2
12:30-13:15 Lunch break (and VIP Winners’ Lunch)
13:15-16:00 Afternoon parallel session activities:
- A. Keynote talk: “Music and Computer Science”, by Sean Bechhofer
- B. Hands-on Activities Room, featuring the NAO robots, EON Virtual Reality Raspberry Pi, Augmented Reality, the Magic of Computer Science, 3D computer graphics, visualising music with the Kinect…
- C. Jon Howard’s (BBC) “Game Programming” workshops. If you have pre-registered for this workshop, we will inform you on arrival which session your group will attend.

Refreshments and Lunch arrangements

We’ll provide complimentary refreshments for all attendees in the 15-minute break in the morning schedule.

Students who have won prizes will attend a VIP Winners’ Lunch buffet, as our guests, to be held in the Students Union (5 minutes walk from the Martin Harris centre). One teacher per Individual Winner or Group Winner may also attend the Winners’ Lunch.

For all non-winning students in school parties, we regret that we can’t provide lunch. We therefore suggest that all schools bring a packed lunch for each student in their party. Rooms will be provided in which to eat packed lunches, and schools can eat outside if the weather is fine. Our marshalls will guide winners and non-winners to their respective lunch venues.

Dress code

We would prefer that schools attend in school uniform, but this is at your discretion.

Special needs

If any in your party have any special needs (for example: diet, allergy or physical access) please email to tell us, before 5pm Friday 14 June.

Risk Assessment documents

The following Risk Assessment documents are available:

Martin Harris Centre Concert Hall
Martin Harris Centre Room G16
Martin Harris Centre John Thaw Theatre

Photography/videoing of schoolchildren

The day will be professionally photographed and videoed. If you have any objection to this, please email to tell us.

Accommodation

Some nearby hotels:

See many more nearby hotels at booking.com. The University may have rooms available in its halls. For details please contact the Accommodation Office directly.
There are several hostels in Manchester City Centre, which is a short bus ride/walk from the University. For example: