Did you know that we support the academic community through a Conference Pass Giveaway program? We do! Winners of this essay competition can attend a major industry conference without worrying about registration costs or hotel fees. Students get the chance to interact with experts in their field, and we help them to reach their professional goals with Vectorworks software.

We recently took two winners to the Broadway Lighting Master Classes (BLMC) in New York City and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Convention in Chicago. Read on to learn about their incredible experiences.

BLMC Winner Kevin Vasquez

Kevin Vasquez is a theatre major at California State University, Northridge, who became passionate about lighting design while in high school. Today, he considers lighting an art and form of expression. “To be able to evoke peoples’ emotions with lighting is the best part of this art,” Vasquez said.

After his lighting professor told him about our contest, Vasquez submitted an entry with hopes of gaining a deeper understanding of his industry. “One can only read so much about lighting before it becomes repetitive, and BLMC is a great source of networking and making new friends who share the same love for theatrical lighting,” he said.

Vasquez was excited to meet so many professionals who taught him about technical skills, as well as the mentality that great lighting designers need in the workplace. He is applying his newly gained knowledge to a musical he is lighting with Vectorworks Spotlight on his campus. Attending the event also gave him the confidence to begin improving his Vectorworks skills in lighting plot design and rendering. “Ultimately, I would like to light a Broadway musical and become a speaker at the BLMC one day,” Vasquez said. “I want to be a source of inspiration just as the people at the BLMC were for me.”

AIA Convention Winner Michelle Lee

Michelle Lee is an architecture major from Norwich University, who jumped at the chance to travel to Chicago and see its famous architecture for herself. “Learning from professionals in a city with prominent architecture helped foster my understanding of both modern and traditional concepts of design,” Lee said. While visiting the Windy City, she learned from “incredible people who have made their mark in the architecture industry” and who inspired her to continue working toward her goal of becoming an expert in green design. She also said that the speakers at AIA taught her to not shy away from an idea for a design just because it has been done before because every architect can offer a unique approach to a project. “I want to thank all the great people I met from the Vectorworks community who made my experience at the conference the best it could be,” Lee said.

She currently uses Vectorworks Architect software and is proud of a recent design she created with the program for a multipurpose center in Reykjavik, Iceland. She said the program allowed her to break from traditional design and truly experience different parts of her building as she was making it.

After all that Vasquez and Lee learned at these events, we can’t wait to see what these growing designers will create next using Vectorworks software!

Follow us @Vectorworks on Twitter and like our Vectorworks Facebook page to stay up-to-date on our next Conference Pass Giveaway. Also, check our Academic Community webpage to learn more about our educational initiatives.