Siemens, a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare as well as providing infrastructure solutions, primarily for cities and metropolitan areas, announced the winners of the ‘Changing Your City for the Better,’ video contest hosted through Zooppa, the leading source of user-generated advertising.
The Zooppa community of filmmakers was asked to create a video, between two and five minutes long, exploring how improvements in one of the following areas can change any city around the world for the better.
With an overarching theme of ‘sustainable cities,’ contest participants could choose to focus on:
- Energy supply, including power generation, power transmission and distribution, smart grids and electro mobility
- Urban infrastructures and mobility
- Efficient, intelligent buildings
The contest received 118 documentary-style videos from 26 countries and six continents. The first place video—created by Los Angeles filmmaker Jennifer Chiu—documents the transportation challenges that Los Angeles faces in the 21st century and garnered $15,000 in prize money. Siemens plans to incorporate the selected short films into various corporate channels such as its flagship magazine /answers.
“The response to Changing Your City for the Better was phenomenal,” says Wil Merritt, CEO, Zooppa. “The inspiring videos submitted underscore the enthusiasm around building a better world and serve as a testament to the sustainable future that Siemens is working towards. We’re thrilled that Zooppa videomakers were given the opportunity to contribute to their effort.”
“After launching our new storytelling format ‘/answers’ on Siemens.com together with renowned documentary filmmakers and journalists in late February,” says Tobias Dennehy, Editor in Chief Corporate Communications at Siemens. «crowdsourcing content for this magazine was the natural next step for us. And the response to the video contest with Zooppa was overwhelming and indeed positively surprising—both in terms of quantity and quality. We have received an unfiltered community perspective on how cities can be changed for the better and become more livable places—and have some great material to use in our communication efforts around the issue of sustainable urban development.”
The creators of the following 14 videos will share the remaining $25,000 in prizes:
2. Riding Portland’s Max—Portland, Oregon, USA
3. La ciclofficina – Community bicycle shop—Rome, Italy
4. San Diego Urban Timber—San Diego, California, USA
5. HABANA OUTPOST—Brooklyn, New York, USA
6. Abuja:: My City—Abuja, Nigeria
7. Sustainability in Boston — From My View—Boston, Massachusetts, USA
8. The Dear Green Place—Brooklyn, New York, USA
9. Imagine a City—Oslo, Norway
10. ‘Casa Jaya’ (Jaya’s House)—São Paolo, Brazil
11. Utilizing Solar Energy for Madison WI—Madison, Wisconsin, USA
12. Cycle Portlandia—Portland, Oregon, USA
13. Let’s Make Change—Moorestown, New Jersey, USA
14. Elias the Bike Messenger—Düsseldorf, Germany
15. The Thunder from Down under—Auckland, New Zealand