Tri-Valley Youth Exposition Coming Saturday to Emerald Glen Park After Three Years of Planning

DUBLIN, CA–In this era of instant gratification, sometimes the best things are worth waiting for. Case in point: Dublin High School senior Nikolai Peram had a vision three years ago that would showcase the talents of young people in the local region. But what would this event look like and what would be the purpose of it all? Like many great ambitions, it would take time to formulate the vision. Nikolai and his colleagues eventually formed an idea that would highlight two areas – a hackathon and the arts. While these topics are very diverse and seem to be at polar opposition, it does make a lot of sense. The 2018 Tri-Valley Youth Expo will be held on Saturday, May 19th.

Broken into parts, this event will occur at two locations. The Hackathon will take place in the Dublin High School gym between 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM. Participants will work in groups of up to four to create projects relating to the environment, social impact or art. A panel will judge the work and award up to three teams that will receive various awards. The hackathon is free of cost and lunch and dinner will be provided. To round out the event, guest speakers will be on hand to assist the participants and attendees.

The arts element will occur at Emerald Glen Park from 3:00 – 8:00 PM. This afternoon will feature a battle of the bands and an art and dance showcase. Performers of music will include those that feature various styles including Six-Thirty, Grandma’s Cat, Novicain Road, No Room No Sweetner, Charge! and The Chefs. The arts display will also feature living sculptures and visual art.

This undertaking could not have been organized alone. The Dublin High School students responsible for making this happen include Manas Teneja, Angela Chu, Anish Kachinthaya, Rishi Pappu, Latisha Sumardy, Mounica Padakandla, Kevin Jiang and Chris Horton (Diablo Valley College). To understand the journey, we sat down with organizer Nikolai Peram to share his thoughts.

OneDublin.org: What inspired you and your colleagues to take on the challenge of planning such a diverse event?

Nikolai Peram: “Around three years ago, Mayor David Haubert and a few of my colleagues sat down to decide what would be needed to make Dublin a better place. We noticed that a lot of talent wasn’t getting the audience it deserved. We created the Youth Expo to bridge the gap between youth talent and the community as a whole.”

OneDublin.org: How do you see that it would be logical for a Youth Expo to combine technology and the arts?

Peram: “With Silicon Valley playing such an integral part of the Bay Area, and by extension the Tri-Valley, we decided that we should bring together technology and the arts to fully showcase the aspirations of the youth in our area. There are hundreds of young coders within the Tri-Valley who want to create the next world changing startup. Through the hackathon component, we’re hoping we can provide the opportunity to do just that.”

OneDublin.org: Please describe the cooperation that you received both from the City of Dublin and local businesses.

Peram: “I’m not going to lie here, we did get off to a bit of a rocky start, but overall I was taken aback by the support in recent months from our various corporate sponsors. They have aided us in innumerable ways in terms of helping us make the youth expo a success. Whether it would be from giving volunteers, or exhibits, to making sure we had the necessary equipment to make the youth expo happen, their support has been amazing.”

OneDublin.org: For those that choose to participate in either segment, what type of experience should they expect?

Peram: “To those going to arts component of the youth expo, which would include the Battle of the Bands, Arts Showcase, and Dance Showcase, they could expect a day of great music, food, and art. They can expect great music to be blaring in the amphitheater, along with an exciting display of art as well. To those going to the hackathon, they could expect an intense session of coding under pressure, with help from mentors and engineers to keep them going.”

So, a vision that was dreamed up three years ago will see the light of day this Saturday. We would encourage our readers to support a student-led experience that will touch the mind and stimulate the senses. OneDublin.org would like to thank Nikolai Peram and his colleagues for sharing their 100-mile journey. Website link: http://trivalleyyouthexpo.com/