SMC, Sharjah varsities team up to unlock creativity in students

Sharjah / Emirates Business

In an effort to enhance media content in the UAE, Sharjah Media Corporation (SMC) conducted a number of introductory meetings with universities in Sharjah to introduce students to its recently launched Abdee’ Award.
The initiative saw a delegation from SMC meet representatives from Sharjah universities to shed more light on the Abdee’ Award, a scheme that aims to motivate students to unlock their potential for creativity in motion visual arts and strengthen visual reporting production methods artistically and technically.
Led by HE Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, Director of SMC’s Sharjah Radio and Television, the delegation included Najm Al Deen Hashem, President of the Abdee’ Award; Fatima Bin Sandal, Director of Marketing and Government Communication and a number of section heads, with the team visiting the University of Sharjah and Al Qasimia
University.
During its visit to the University of Sharjah, the SMC delegation met Dr Humaid Majoul Al Nuaimi, Director of the university; Dr Essam Al Nimr, Vice Dean of the College of Mass Communications; Dr Hussein El Mahdi, Dean of Academic Support Services and Khalid Al Raboy, Director of Public Relations and Acting Director of the university’s Media Centre.
For the second component of its visit, the SMC delegation met with Dr. Rashad Salem, Director of Al Qasimia University; Ahlam Bin Jarsh, Assistant Director of Public Affairs and Abdul Mohsen Saeed Hazain, Assistant to the Dean of Student Affairs.
During the meetings, the SMC representatives discussed ways to enhance visual media content and develop students’ abilities to make the most of social media platforms. The delegation gave a presentation on the Abdee’ Award for the best visual report to unlock the creative talents of students and encourage them to contribute to developing local and Arab media content.
Najm Al Deen Hashem, President of the Abdee’ Award, said; “Sharjah Media Corporation strives to enhance the skills and abilities of the younger generation at a variety of levels. SMC’s original content is manifested in its leading initiatives, launched under the title ‘Abdee’,’ meaning ‘be creative’ in its endeavour to engage talented students in media work and to help them leverage modern technologies and multimedia, as well as encourage them to be SMC’s partners in boosting visual content locally and in the Arab world.”
The SMC delegation introduced the universities’ representatives to the Abdee’ Award, outlining its goals and the terms and conditions of participation. They highlighted its core objective, which is to enhance the spirit of competition, encourage creative talents, develop visual reporting, develop the connection between students and their surrounding environment and enhance methods of visual reporting production, both technically and artistically.
The Abdee’ Award criteria include that the entrant must be a student at one of Sharjah’s universities or educational institutions, the report should not exceed more than three minutes and should be Full-HD and 24 Bit-Rate for sound. Students entering the award are not permitted to participate in more than one report.
Other conditions are that the visual reports should not have been submitted for other previous award schemes and that entrants should write the names of all participants preparing the report; including writers, photographers and producers. All team members involved in compiling the report are required to be full-time students and should not cooperate with outside art production companies or third party experts in its preparation.
The Abdee’ Award categories and cash prizes include Best Idea, Best Performance, Best Introduction, Best Photography and Best Direction, with the winners in each of these five categories receiving a prize of AED 10,000. The winner of the first place in the Most Integrated Artwork Award will be given a cash prize of AED 50,000, with the first runner up awarded AED 30,000 and the third-place winner AED 20,000.