In 2003, Visa USA launched a national contest called "Ideas Happen." The annual program rewards 12 eager individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 with $25,000
in seed money to help turn their winning ideas into a reality. With over 6 billion media impressions, millions of visitors to the www.ideashappen.com site
(hosted by MSN), and over 18,000 applicants, Visa's initiative has energized young people across the USA.
In the first year of the campaign, Y&S worked with Visa to create a special workshop for the "Ideas Happen" winners called "Visa's Young & Successful Weekend Workshop". To further enhance the campaign outreach in its second year, Y&S worked with Visa to formulate, produce and market a series of live events around the country called "Ideas Happen Live," co-sponsored by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and First National Bank of Omaha. With the primary goal of creating buzz for the "Ideas Happen" program, Y&S executed three targeted, high-energy, grassroots events in Washington DC; San Diego, California; and Lincoln, Nebraska.
The events were designed to issue a powerful call to action to young people to bring their ideas to life. First, they were given the opportunity to come out and pitch their greatest ideas live in front of a panel of judges. The next day, everyone was invited back to hear 10 semi-finalists pitch their ideas again-this time in front of an audience of their peers, in an effort to win $2,500. With the positive stir these events created in their host cities, both Visa and the sponsoring banks called "Ideas Happen Live" a huge success.
