The Concept Farm’s Fresh Ideas 365

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Posted by The Rooster

ALBANY — A grassroots movement is setting its sights on the nation’s largest voting faction — the 50 million citizens between the ages of 18 and 29.

“This is the single most important project that we have ever introduced,” said Concept Farm and Creative Director Ray Mendez. “My personal mission is to give a voice to those who will be responsible for this planet in the coming years.”

The Stop and Vote initiative was formed by 10 college-aged interns of The Concept Farm, a New York-based advertising agency, as a project to be used for the focus of their summer work. The concept was designed to overcome their peers’ biggest excuses for not voting, a news release from the agency said.

“After the idea was developed, the Farm employees reacted so strongly that we knew that we must do whatever it took to push this effort not only for this election, but as an ongoing project of the agency for many years to come,” said Mendez. “Countless hours of time, thousands of development dollars and immeasurable amounts of passion were sanctioned to create Stop and Vote, and we are very proud of the result.”

The project was launched Sept. 11 with a viral element where users are encouraged to “represent” by creating a customized voting message, regardless of how controversial, and sending it to peers. Participants can upload any images that strike a chord, add their own political message or the Stop and Vote graphic before sending it out.

Based on the press release issued by The Concept Farm, the Web site has had more than 1,500 visitors and 230 created viral messages so far.

The Web site also contains an information page that walks through the voter registration process and shows polling booth locations. It also contains a survey link to match potential voters with a specific candidate while exposing them to the candidates’ positions and policies, issue by issue. The voter registration page alone has had 380 hits.

“This project has not only helped register thousands of people to vote, but it’s created a voice where a large void has existed for far too long,” said Concept Farm intern and Stop and Vote co-creator Yasin Abbak. “We hoped that the provocative nature of this idea would catch fire and allow the ‘youth vote’ to express that which is REALLY on our minds, but the result has exceeded all expectations.”

The Web site also contains links to Facebook and YouTube. The Facebook group associated with the project, which Abbak administers, has more than 650 members as of Tuesday.

The 10 interns behind the Stop and Vote project attend schools such as Syracuse University, Binghamton University, The School of Visual Arts, Drew University, Hamilton University, Miami University in Ohio and the University of Tampa.

Abbak, who has been instrumental in the entire project, is a political science major at Drew. Mendez assigned the project to the interns and has worked closely with them throughout it’s production.

For more information, visit the site at www.stopandvote.org.

Posted by The Rooster