Center for International Disaster Information

PSAid is a Public Service Announcement (PSA) contest the CIDI has hosted since 2005 that is aimed at U.S. college and university students. In the past, PSAid had three categories - print, radio, and video. The goal of each was to illustrate the importance of supporting international disaster relief through monetary donations to trusted relief agencies, emphasizing the superiority of monetary donations to material donations, including canned food, bottled water and used clothing.

The PSAid contest lets students learn about the importance of thinking critically before engaging in aid efforts and to share what they learned with the public through creative use of media. In return, CIDI has distributed winning entries to television and radio outlets throughout the US, spreading the Cash is Best message in new, meaningful ways while bolstering the students’ experience and resumes.

With a bright new logo and Smart Compassion™ as a tagline, CIDI is expanding the PSAid contest by increasing creative opportunities in three separate contests.

PSAid

The traditional PSAid contest will continue this year, with a few changes. Video and print categories will remain, but there will be no audio category until further notice. Submissions will be accepted through April 30, 2012, and winners will be announced on or around May 15, 2012. This contest is limited to US college and university students, as their creative energy and the loyalty of their professors in making this contest a part of their curriculum has enabled the national recognition of student PSAs. We regret that we can no longer offer cash prizes, but the contest remains a valuable way for students’ work to be nationally recognized. Official rules and guidelines may be found on the official PSAid site: www.psaid.org

YouTube and Facebook

To expand outreach and encourage creative material from people of all ages, ethnicities and walks of life, we are creating a YouTube contest in an effort to advance and develop the concept of Smart Compassion™. Facebook has a mechanism for uploading pictures and videos, and CIDI’s Facebook page can accept entries as well.

Do check back for updates on the specifics of these contests. In the meantime, feel free to visit our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/CIDISmartCompassion) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/CenterForInternationalDisasterInformation).

Twitter

Monthly and seasonally, we are hosting questions and contests via Twitter to interact with our beloved followers. Contests range from giving examples of good intentions gone wrong to a haiku contest and fun competitions in-between. Impromptu and prize-free, this is a fun way to engage on important lessons through funny, embarrassing, meaningful and evocative tweets. Follow us on Twitter to take part in the next contest: twitter.com/#!/CIDIoutreach

If you have creative talent and a heart of gold, welcome to your new playground!