Showing off the city wins video challenge
Michelle Vergel de Dios thinks it’s ‘‘awesome’’ her video showing off Auckland won her $3000.
The 23-year-old Totaravale resident got more than 12,000 YouTube hits for her short What is a City?
Auckland Council’s Youth Advisory Panel commissioned the Youth Video Challenge to encourage youth to engage with development of the city’s Long Term Plan. In 60 seconds, contestants had to answer the question: ‘‘What should Auckland spend money on to become the world’s most liveable city?’’
De Dios, a multi- media pro- duction assistant at the University of Auckland, had to scramble to enter.
‘‘I just went ahead and did it, I only found out about the contest a week before, It was a pretty tight deadline, I shot it over a day and worked all night on it,’’ she says.
‘‘I really love living here in Auckland and showing how awesome it is.’’
Council’s Youth Advisory Panel shortlisted de Dios’ entry along with several others.
To find the winner, contestants were left to duke it out for the most hits on council’s YouTube channel.
Youth panel councillor Linda Cooper says the videos were ‘‘innovative and wonderfully perceptive into what matters most in the minds of young Aucklanders’’.
Mobilising family and friends to drum-up buzz around her entry was crucial to victory, de Dios believes.
‘‘I’m really grateful for everyone’s help and support, it had to be a ‘most viewed’ thing for the day.’’