UF students win national competition with sustainable fashion ideas

UF students won a national competition with the idea of ​​hosting a sustainable fashion exhibition in the heart of New York that incorporates a virtual format to suit the comfort level of all participants.

Caroline Murray is the only one working virtually with three other UF students proposing a hybrid sustainable fashion exhibition. The team, called the Domino Effect, placed first on May 5 in the North American Professional Convention Management Association student competition becoming the first Gators to ever win the competition.

“We wanted to do something we had in common so we had an interest in learning about it but also a trendy topic,” said the 20-year-old UF advertising junior.

The Domino Effect proposes an open market where sustainable fashion vendors can set up booths to sell their clothes.

The idea focuses on recycling and recycling clothing to enable consumers to find the clothing they want in a sustainable manner, says Molly Heyner, a 20-year-old member of the tourism, hospitality and event management team and junior. The market will take place at Domino Park in New York City and will also have virtual options.

The team idea is one of 20 other submissions from across the country. After advancing to the top five, students recorded their proposal presentations to be heard to the jury at the PCMA education conference.

I was so surprised that everyone had a video of this incredibly immersive movie trailer, and our video was running through a PowerPoint presentation, Sarah Lentz, a 20-year-old marketing junior, said. I was like, there’s no way we’re getting this.

This year’s theme is Recovery, Discovery, which PCMA describes as how the events industry can move forward post-pandemic, said Annemarie Sisson, lecturer in the department of tourism, hospitality and event management at UF.

PCMA is an international association for event professionals that started hosting student competitions in 2019. During the competition events, student teams from institutions across the country give presentations on ideas that fit the theme of their respective year.

In the past, participation in PCMA student competitions was an extracurricular work, but this year, Sisson is introducing competition into an advanced event management class, which takes place at UF’s School of Health and Human Performance.

Face-to-face students are required to work on the submissions with teams, and online students are given the opportunity to join. While his teammates work together in class, Murray says he will participate in creating the exhibition via Zoom.

Joining Sophia Alday, Heyner and Lentz, all in the Sissons class in Spring, Murray says the opportunity is likely to have useful real-life applications. Since he was a completely online student, he wanted to get more out of the class.