Watch that magic happen | Auckland News | Local News in Auckland

Get them together to let the creative sparks fly ... bright students, community groups and industry mentors get stuck into the 'Challenge', writes Sean Gillespie.

What do you get when you combine eager business students, not-for-profit organisations and creative agency professionals? A lot of happy people and some smart, fresh strategies.

Volunteer group YMedia recognises this and has devised a way to bring the three groups together.

The social enterprise is into its third year of running the eight-week YMedia Challenge  in which small groups of  soon-to-be graduates work on projects for community groups with mentoring by industry professionals.

Kelsey O'Brien, a creative industries student at Auckland University of Technology, is in a group of four who are  helping the social-profit group YWCA design its prestigious 125th birthday bash.

"There're a lot of advantages in working with a real client," says O'Brien, "because a lot of the things we do at university are only hypothetical situations."

Now in her final year of a communications degree, the Ellerslie student says the experience will help her find a job in a highly competitive industry.

The August 11 dinner they're working on will have more than 300 guests -  described by organisers as a who's who of successful  women - and high-profile speakers,  including former  Prime Minister, Helen Clark.

O'Brien's group, with guidance from two mentors from ad agency Colenso BBDO, are  developing ways to tell patrons  about the dinner via social media sites, blogs and an online viral campaign.

YWCA chief executive Hilary Sumpter says it's good for her organisation to find new ways to connect with young women.

"It's really good for us to be able to engage with new media in an in-depth way from students coming out of AUT who are up to the minute with what's happening," she says.

Tilda Bostwick, marketing and fundraising manager of the women's association, also appreciates pairing with students.

"The challenge is so good for everybody because we get help we wouldn't otherwise have, or couldn't afford to have, and they get to do an actual case with client feedback."

The Challenge, which started on June 14, continues until August 9 and has 20 teams competing from AUT, Massey University, Media Design School and the University of Auckland.  Some of the not-for-profit organisations - or social profit groups - involved are Youthtown, Artstation and LifeWise.

Gen Y(es)

YMedia was "born" in March 2007 over coffee in a Ponsonby cafe to caring 23-year-olds Pamela Minett and Adele Barlow. The savvy duo came up with the idea when discussing how community groups could benefit from better use of web-based tools and how hard it is for new graduates to find jobs.

They devised the YMedia Challenge  for  students in digital media, design, marketing and communications to do short-term internships with community organisations. It provides these organisations with new media strategies and soon-to-graduate students with much-needed work experience. The concept was originally funded by Warehouse founder Steven Tindall's Tindall Foundation.