The Makers of MozFest — Claire Selby
The venue for MozFest is of crucial importance. Ravensbourne has hosted the festival for the past six years and Claire Selby is Head of Commercial Relationships there.
How did Ravensbourne become involved in MozFest?
In 2010, Mozilla shared with us a vision of what they were looking for in a venue for the festival, describing their partnership with Seneca College in Canada. It really felt like it would be possible to do more than a commercial event hire of the space, a chance to develop a much more meaningful relationship by involving staff, students and alumni and making it part of the curriculum for some of the courses.
MozFest has become a way to bring the learning experience to the students.
Describe how MozFest benefits Ravensbourne students
They can immerse themselves in this big extravaganza, building websites, making games, contributing to the science fair and even running their own sessions. There is a large student cohort that helps to make the festival work, and a number of student volunteers who help with hospitality, production, logistics and so on. Marc Walsh is a Ravensbourne alumni and was a festival volunteer, and he is now employed by Mozilla to work directly on the festival.
Mozilla also provides free tickets for a number of Ravensbourne students and staff, who are also encouraged to contribute to the festival programme. Access to potential employers is another benefit too, since so many organisations have a presence.
For our teachers and lecturers, it’s also a valuable experience. They get to meet peers from around the world, and share pedagogies. Many say they feel refreshed by the sessions at the festival and they find it exciting to see the students gaining new learning experiences.
All of the College’s programmes and courses here are flexible and if we are presented with opportunities, we will usually say yes if there is a benefit to the students. This might not happen at other institutions. MozFest is a great chance for students to meet and collaborate with the makers of the web!
Describe your MozFest experience!
It’s so hard to describe. There is a big operations element, so health and safety, first aid, catering and logistics all need to be considered — that’s a big responsibility to take on as a venue and certainly keeps me and the team on their toes.
You never REALLY know what it’s going to be like until everything is set up, that is the beauty of seeing the festival come to life. It would be rude not to take my event management hat off and just enjoy it — It’s half work, half play. There is always so much happening. From an event management perspective, you know you should take a break but you don’t want to miss anything!
What are your MozFest highlights?
There are so many! Last year one team built a cardboard library and the books were donated to us at the end. On the same floor a Banyan Tree was constructed which was stunning. The year before we had a Minecraft sculpture… it’s so brilliant to see the space being used like this.
Why should people come to MozFest?
It’s about seeing the internet come to life — the greatest ever web mash-up. Ravensbourne is a great space for that because it is so open. MozFest also has a great reputation and I know many people come based on word of mouth. It’s so difficult to describe, just come along!
Describe the festival in three words
Chaotic. Happy. Welcoming.
