GameIChangersOne-year ad-hoc education and research program

Admission Campaign Report (August-October 2011)

Table of contents:

1. Introduction

2. Program announcement3. Information distribution4. Application process

5. Interviews6. Final selection process

7. Feedback meeting8. Admission statistics

9. Authors10. Attachments

© 2011 Game|Changers. Admission Campaign Report. Use ofmaterials provided is allowed only with permission received inadvance. All rights on images and texts are reserved toGame|Changers ad-hoc education and research program.

GameIChangers

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

2

Introduction

The admission campaign to the GameChangers program 2011/2012 (further – the

Program) took place from August till October 2011. However, pre-admission activities

were initiated in June, 2011. The admission campaign has been conducted in several

steps:

1. Program announcement in the Internet (August-September, 2011).

2. Information distribution through partner, academia and community networks

(August-September, 2011).

3. On-line application process and further application assessment (September 6-

17, 2011).

4. Interviews and additional test tasks (September 17-28, 2011).

5. Final selection (September 28-29, 2011).

6. Feedback meeting (October 5, 2011).

Program announcement

In order to reach more potential students, the Program has been widely announced in

the Internet via:

· Program’s official web page (www.gamechangers.ru);

· Vkontakte page (vkontakte.ru/gamechangers);

· Facebook page (facebook.com/GameChangersRussia);

· Twitter account (@GameChangersRu);

· Media sources and Information Partners (DP.ru, Habrahabr, UNOVA, Startuppoint

and etc);

· Universities web-pages (IFMO, GSOM, SPbSTU and etc.);

· Communities and incubators web-sites (e.g. Project “HomeWork”, “Ingria” and etc.).

Detailed list of sources can be found in the Attachment 1. The total number of

publications is 36. Several examples of the announcements can be seen at the

Picture 1. Other screenshots can be downloaded here (ZIP, 4213K).

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

3

Picture 1. Several examples of announcements screenshots (FRUCT, StartUpPoint, ITMO, SPbSTU)

Information distribution

Informational send-outs have been distributed through Institutions and Academic and

Corporate Partners. The total amount of mailing lists was 15 (Attachment 2).

Furthermore, the Google group for publishing information on the Program’s open events

has been created (picture 2). It can be reached at https://groups.google.com/group/it-

industry-gr.

In addition, the Program’s poster (picture 3) has been produced and distributed in main

Universities and partner organizations, 31 in total.

The full size poster is available here (PDF, 84 K).

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

4

Picture 2. Google group screenshot Picture 3. Program poster

Application process

Program application period lasted for two weeks. Applicants had to fill in an online

registration form with open questions related to the IT industry and their general

achievements and expectations. The form included the following fields:

· Name, contact details, social network profile;

· Short bio and achievements;

· Your expectations of the course;

· What IT trends do you see?

· What areas/industries do you consider the most promising for IT introduction?

· Name a success story in IT you like and/or IT person (scientist, engineer,

business guy) you admire;

· Which of your knowledge, skills and abilities can be useful to make the course

better?

· Link to your term work, project, report or publication that highlights your

experience in writing/analysis/design/etc. (optional);

· Recommend a person who can be a promising candidate or an expert (optional).

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

5

The Program received 112 unique applications. They have been evaluated

independently by Program’s curators and representatives from the Advisory Board. The

most questionable entries have been discussed in a team.

Candidates have been accessed according to several criteria:

· General and social intelligence;

· Pro-activity and vision;

· Current background and further potential.

Admission team included:

· Sergey Dmitriev, Program Director;

· Vladimir Aluferov, R&D Director;

· Nikolay Vyahhi, Bioinformatics Track Curator;

· Ekaterina Chaykina, Admission Coordinator;

· Alexey Knorre, Junior Curator;

· Veronika Vetrova, HR Director at Openway Group;

· Alexandra Shishova, Higher School of Economics;

· Anna Gunina, European University at St. Petersburg;

· Dmitry Orlov, Program Alumni representative (2010/2011).

Interviews and additional test tasks

51 face-to-face interviews have been conducted with authors of the most interesting

applications. Interview process took 7 days. Every interview lasted for one and a half

hour and consisted of three stages:

· Test (30 min., 5 open questions in English);

· Conversation with another candidate (30 min., no language requirements);

· Interview with the Program’s committee (30 min., in a form of an open

conversation in both English and Russian).

Furthermore, a number of additional home tasks were given in order to access

potential and abilities of several candidates. They were developed according to

Program’s focus and candidate’s background, expertise and interests. Subsequently,

these tasks were evaluated by Program’s curators and representatives of partner

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

6

organizations. In addition, examples of coursework, presentations, CVs and other

results of student’s activity were taken into account. Pictures 4 and 5 illustrate the

interview process. More pictures are available in the Program’s photo album.

Pictures 4 and 5. Interviews at EMC and “Openway” offices

Final selection

The goal of the selection process was to identify the most valuable students with high

potential. The candidate’s image constituted from his or her general understanding of

the IT industry and its trends, ability to acquire information and learn, level of English,

entrepreneurial and/or analytical mindset, and motivation for the course and for the IT

industry in general. In addition, the Program aimed at composing an interdisciplinary

and diverse group.

Firstly, the short list was created that consisted of 32 applicants (attachment 3).

Eventually, admission team has selected the core group of intended 20 students. They

were notified on 29th of September. The first group meeting took place on 5th ofOctober at the Jet Brains Company. The final list of students enrolled to the Program

2011/2012 is available in the Attachment 4.

Feedback meeting

On Sunday, 2nd of October the feedback meeting (“FeedBack Party”) was organized

for applicants who had not been accepted to the Program. During the 3 hour meeting,

candidates received detailed comments on their applications and interviews as well as

suggestions and advice for their future endeavors. They had also an opportunity to

provide a valuable feedback to the Program team on the application process.

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

7

Pictures 6 and 7. Curators and students at the “Feedback party”

Admission statistics

Total number of received applications is 118 – 112 unique and 6 duplicates. 63% of

candidates were male, and 37% - female.

Figure 1. Gender distribution (percentage)

98 candidates (88%) have provided information about their education. The main “flow

generators” were: National Research University ITMO, Department of Mathematics and

Mechanics and Graduate School of Management within St. Petersburg State University,

St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University

"LETI", The Bonch-Bruevich Saint-Petersburg State University of Telecommunications.

Many other Universities were presented, but they demonstrated fairly low activity (only 1

or 2 applications from each of them).

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

8

Figure 2. Distribution between Higher Education Institutions (persons)

Figure 3 demonstrates that Gmail holds the position of the most popular mail service

with 65 persons (58%). The next closest – mail.ru – has 22%.

Figure 3. Distribution of applicant’s mail services (persons)

52 out of 112 candidates have indicated Vkontakte as a social networking tool (figure 4).

Figure 4. Distribution of applicants’ social network profiles (persons)

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

9

Most of candidates have programming, project management and economics among

their background (80%). The rest of them have different interests – it can be seen in the

Figure 5.

Figure 5. Distribution of applicants’ background (persons)

Figure 6 illustrates applicants’ expectations of the course. As it can be concluded, the

majority of candidates seek professional and personal growth.

Figure 6. Applicants’ expectations of the course (persons)

AuthorsReport prepared by Ekaterina Chaykina, Admission Coordinator, chaykina@gamechangers.ru.

Admission statistics prepared by Aleksey Knorre, Junior Curator, a.v.knorre@gmail.com.

Editor: Sergey Dmitriev, Program Director, sergey.dmitriev@gamechangers.ru.

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

10

AttachmentsAttachment 1. List of the sources (Media, communities and Universities)

MEDIA# date media contacted by contact status links1 1,9 VK, FB, Twitter Dmitriev Sergey Dmitriev published http://vk.com/wall22220_14332 3,9 Startuppoint Knorre UGC published http://startuppoint.ru/blog/public/35936.html3 4,9 HabraHabr Dmitriev UGC published http://habrahabr.ru/blogs/study/127679/4 5,9 CS Club Dmitriev Alexander Kulikov published http://compsciclub.ru/node/14835 5,9 UNOVA Dmitriev Evgeny Savin published http://www.unova.ru/article/88126 5,9 InnovativeRussia itself - published http://www.innovaterussia.ru/news/97737 6,9 Ingria Dmitriev Denis Gavrilov published -8 6,9 YourStart itself - published http://your-start.com/archives/22829 7,9 DP.ru Dmitriev Irina Kruzhilina published paper only

10 7,9 HSE{Inc} Dmitriev Natalia Fedotova published http://hse-inc.ru/article/2011/09/07/_1746.htm11 9,9 FRUCT Dmitriev Sergey Balandin published http://fruct.org/node/23657212 13,1 Leprosorium.ru Aluferov Vladimir Aluferov published http://spb.leprosorium.ru/comments/112859513 14,1 Project 'HomeWork' Dmitriev Sergey Dmitriev published http://vk.com/wall-27626609_27014 15,7 iUni Dmitriev Kristina Fedorchenko published http://iuni.ru/articles/article/?articleId=78215 15,9 T&P Chaykina Polina Ostasheva published http://theoryandpractice.ru/courses/5251-gamechangers16 16,9 QD Dmitriev Anna Lekanova published Web

COMMUNITIES AND UNIVERSITIES

# date organisation contacted by contact status links1 - HSE SPb site Dmitriev Tatiana Sueva done -2 6,9 GSOM IT dept Dmitriev Tatiana Gavrilova done -3 6,9 AIESEC Engec Dmitriev Victoria Orlova done -4 6,9 GSOM Career Center Dmitriev Karina Khabacheva done http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/career/bisgames/5 7,9 PM-PU Chaykina Ivan Ugarov done http://pm-pu.proforg.ru/6 8,9 MathMech SE VK Dmitriev Sergey Serebryakov done http://vkontakte.ru/topic-18990351_251002687 8,9 SUT Moyka Dmitriev Maxim Arzumanyan announced http://www.fem-sut.spb.ru/news/367-j-gamechangers8 8,9 EMC EAA Dmitriev Gennady Smorodin announced Web9 8,9 PGUPS Dmitriev Victor Dashonok done -

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

11

# date organisation contacted by contact status links10 8,9 MathMech SE dept Dmitriev Terekhov done -11 8,9 MathMech Dmitriev Seledgi done -12 8,9 IFMO KT career site Dmitry Zubok done -13 8,9 IFMO en news site Chaykina published Web14 8,9 IFMO ru news site Chaykina published http://www.ifmo.ru/news/2074/2011_09_08.htm

15 8,9 NW State ServiceAcademy Dmitriev Irina Selezneva done -

16 9,9 AIESEC Finec Dmitriev Tatiana Novikova done -17 10,9 Polytech PhysMech Dmitriev Igor Shturts announced -18 10,9 Polytech FTK Dmitriev Andrey Baranov announced -19 10,9 Polytech FUIT Dmitriev Alexander Schukin published http://igui.avalon.ru/fuit/kit/Annoncements/20 10,9 Herzen Dmitriev Anastasya Semenova announced -

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

12

Attachment 2. Mailing lists

# date organisation contacted by contact status comments

1 -Polytech PhysMechAppMath Dmitriev Igor Shturz done mailing list

2 - Econom faculty Dmitriev Smorodin, Lyozina done EAA mailing list3 - NevaCamp Dmitriev Vlasov done mailing list4 - QD Dmitriev Sergey Dmitriev done mailing list5 3,9 IT Industry mailing list Dmitriev Sergey Dmitriev done Link6 6,9 BEST Asonov Igor Asonov done bestspb_informal@googlegroups.com7 6,9 AIESEC Engec Dmitriev Victoria Orlova done external and internal mailing lists8 6,9 AIESEC Finec Dmitriev Tatiana Novikova done external and internal mailing lists9 6,9 European University Chernysh Anna Chernysh done mailing list (1-3 year students)

10 6,9 GSOM Career Center Dmitriev Karina Khabacheva done bachelors (3,4 year), masters (1,2 year) mailing list11 6,9 BEST (SPbSTU) Dmitriev Radmila Andreeva done mailing list12 7,9 CFE Chaykina Igor Egorov done mailing list13 7,9 RAEE Chaykina Anastasia Vishnyakova done mailing list14 8,9 CS Center Dmitriev Eveniya Smolnikova done mailing list (external)15 14,9 Start in Garage Dmitriev Anastasia Lee done mailing list

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

13

Attachment 3. Shortlisted candidates

# Candidates(under consideration)

Education(short comments) Curator Potential Track

1 Olga Yanuk SPbSU, MathMech S ecosystem2 Ksenia Artemenko Economics ? S ecosystem3 Aleksandr Kim IFMO MTE S entrepreneureal ?4 Alexandra Vachnadze GSOM K bioinformatics ?5 Igor Sumbaev GSOM (bachelor) S entrepreneureal ? / commerce6 Olga Barshay GSOM S -7 Ivan But GSOM (bachelor) ? entrepreneureal8 Valerya Sizikova Polytech -> SUT S entrepreneureal9 Viktoriya Puzach SPbSU, applied IT and IR ? ecosystem ?

10 Sergey Karashevich SPbSU, MathMech, Astronomy V corporate ?11 Maria Karpova IFMO, BusiInTech - corporate ?12 Yulia Kholodnova Polytech -> graduate S ecosystem13 Anton Ivanov SPbSU, MathMech S -14 Miron Kostenko ITMO, GSOM - -15 Oksana Buyak Polytech V? -16 Zhenya Turova Arch and Civil Engineering SV creative industries ?17 Vladimir Smirnov SPbAU, IFMO SV corporate ?18 Sedrak Kalashyan MathMech -19 Yulia Detkova Polytech -> SPbSU inf BA VS corporate ?20 Gabriel Chukwu Okoli LETI V? -21 Manayev Dmitry MathMech (SE) S? -22 Dmitry Konchalenkov Polytech FTK SV -23 Maxim Korpoussov HSE, VTB - -

24 Anatoly Weinstein GSOM - -25 Maksim Shvecov МФТИ, MathMech SV -26 Ann Potanina Math, GSOM - -27 Tereshchenko Dmitriy herzen journal - -28 Aleksey Minabutdinov EU SPb V? -29 Makarov V. Dmitry IFMO (DataArt) S banks30 Anastasiya Semenyuk PGUPS V, W banks (Yota)31 Mikhail Vink LETI - -32 Sofia Kamyshan GASU - -

Game|Changers Admission Campaign Report

14

Attachment 4. Final group, GameChangers 2011/2012 students

# Name University, faculty Status

1. Ksenia Artemenko Financial Management, ARDLIFE graduated

2. Olga Barshay Graduate School of Management, SPSU master student

3. Ivan But Graduate School of Management, SPSU 4th year student

4. Oksana Buyak IT and Management, SPSTU master student

5. Yulia Detkova Economics Faculty, SPSU master student

6. Sofia Kamyshan Civil Engineering, SPSUACE 3rd year student

7. Sergey Karashevich Mathematics and Mechanics Faculty, SPSU Ph.D.

8. Yulia Kholodnova Economics and Management, SPSTU Ph.D.

9.Alexandr Kim Mathematics and Mechanics, SPbSU;

Technological Entrepreneurship, University ITMO

graduated

master student

10. Dmitry Konchalenkov Technical Cybernetics Faculty, SPSTU 4th year student

11. Miron Kostenko Graduate School of Management, SPSU master student

12. Dmitry V. Makarov IT and Programming, University ITMO master student

13. Viktoriya Puzach International Relations Faculty, SPSU 3rd year student

14. Anastasiya Semenyuk Integrated Information Security, PGUPS 3rd year student

15. Maksim Shvecov Mathematics and Mechanics Faculty, SPSU 2nd year student

16.Valerya Sizikova Business Informatics, State University of

Telecommunications

1st year student

17. Evgeniya Turova Architectural Faculty, SPSUACE graduated

18.Alexandra Vachnadze St. Petersburg Conservatory;

Graduate School of Management, SPSU

graduated

master student

19. Mikhail Vink State Electrotechnical University LETI 5th year student

20. Olga Yanuk Mathematics and Mechanics Faculty, SPSU 3rd year student