For Immediate Release	Contact: Nat Schwartz
October 31, 2002

Web Animation Shows the Importance of the Youth Vote
As the Nation Asks if the Youth Vote will Effect the Election,
a National Multimedia Company Explains the Importance.

http://www.youthvote.org/about/animation.htm

Washington, DC- Election 2002 is less than a week away and the youth vote may be the deciding factor in many close races. Few realize the power of this voting block. Potential youth voters are 43 million strong and comprise almost a quarter of the voting population. ThinkSpeed, Inc., a digital media company that specializes in the creation of visually compelling communication tools, has joined forces with the Youth Vote Coalition and created a streaming 3D animation emphasizing the importance of the youth vote.

“Creating compelling visualizations to engage people in issues of social and political importance is a critical part of ThinkSpeed's mission. ThinkSpeed hopes that this project will help candidates understand that direct-contact outreach programs encourage America's youth to vote, and that such programs should be part of any political candidate's winning strategy. We have enjoyed working with Youth Vote to communicate this crucial message about today’s campaign philosophy,” said Wendy Stuart, Founding Partner and Managing Director of ThinkSpeed, Inc.

The Youth Vote Coalition is a national nonpartisan coalition of diverse organizations established to increase political and civic participation among young people; build inclusive, accountable, and responsive government; and increase public awareness about the value of participation in democracy through the electoral process. In twelve cities, the Youth Vote coalition is going door-to-door to ask young people to vote this November and have set their sights on mobilizing more than one million youth voters.

By employing a unique blend of 3D animation and digital video, ThinkSpeed offers creative and technical solutions to illustrate complex information. Such multimedia presentations are used for educational instruction, scientific visualizations, corporate communication, marketing communications, architectural visualizations, televisions, television commercials and on-air graphics.

“We are very excited about the launch of this web animation. It is crucial for the health of our Democracy that young people start voting and that candidates make an effort to encourage the youth vote. Not only does the animation serve as a tool to educate the importance of the youth vote it is also fun to watch,” said Carolyn Darrow, Coalition and Research Director for the Youth Vote Coalition.

Throughout the years, political campaigns have gone from candidates knocking on doors to mass mailings and automated phone calls. Youth Vote has returned to the roots of politics and this week is making personal phone calls and knocking on the doors of tens of thousands of young voters. Yet they are ready to break political ground by bringing to life the next trend in voter education and mobilization –an Internet accessible streaming digital animation.

“As everyone boasts about ‘technology being the wave of the future’, campaigns, corporations and non-profits alike are still grappling with the issue of how to best utilize technology. We believe ThinkSpeed’s work answers that question,” said Veronica De La Garza, Youth Vote Coalition Communications Director.

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About ThinkSpeed, Inc.:
ThinkSpeed is an animation and multimedia production company, with a mission to create intelligent visual communication solutions that convey your message with elegance and precision. ThinkSpeed helps to visualize commercial architectural projects such as retail centers, high-rise offices, resorts and institutional projects, and residential projects such as master planned communities, apartments, time-shares and individual homes. ThinkSpeed offers complete end-to-end production services, which deliver the marketing and sales media you need, ready for distribution to your sales force.