New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Organization committed to celebrating innovative and impassioned film receives award at Film Festival's opening night in Reston, VA
Canvas announced that the Washington West Film Festival (WWFF), a nonprofit committed to celebrating innovative and impassioned film that creates lasting connections between artists and audiences, is the 2014 Canvas 'Ante Up' Nonprofit of the Year Award Recipient. The award was presented to WWFF at the opening night of its fourth annual Film Festival, held October 22-26, 2014 just outside of Washington, DC in Reston, VA.
Launched in 2012, the Canvas Ante Up program encourages employees to identify a nonprofit initiative or need that they are passionate about, and then to support that initiative by providing the nonprofit with free Canvas services as well as the employee's time to help train the organization on how best to implement Canvas and benefit from mobile technology. Last year's winner, Sabi Sand Wildtuin, the oldest private reserve in South Africa, was honored for its efforts to combat animal poaching. Even today, Sabi Sand is lauded for its efforts and use of Canvas' mobile technology to protect animals on the reserve from dangerous poachers.
"The WWFF motto that 'story can change the world' embodies the aspirations and focus Canvas looks for in selecting the Ante Up award winner," said
James Quigley, Canvas CEO and co-founder. "In the first three years of Ante Up, I've been amazed at the dedication of our employees who devote their time and resources to impacting society in a positive way, as well as to watch Canvas' mobile technology play a role in nonprofit missions as diverse as combatting animal poaching in Africa, getting baby equipment to families in need in Australia, and promoting the advancement of independent films here in the U.S."
Every year, the Washington West Film Festival screens and often premiers some of the finest independent films from around the world. At the recently concluded Film Festival, Canvas mobile apps were created that enabled volunteers to use mobile tablets to check in VIP guests and keep track of attendance. Photos of the VIPs were taken and each VIP guest received an email immediately after with the photo and a WWFF-branded thank you email. Additionally, Canvas mobile apps enabled judges - who were geographically dispersed across the U.S. - to use their mobile devices to easily score and rate each of the 300 film entries being considered for awards on a variety of criteria (storytelling, production value, acting, theme, etc.), and have those ratings available in real-time.
"Canvas in so many ways is the model of the future, particularly as a partner to a nonprofit like ours," said Washington West President Brad Russell. "In addition to building a world-class film festival in the DC region, we are passionate about creating an ethos and community of partner-supporters who don't just offer an in-kind service or write a check, but who embody doing good and changing the world. Being named Canvas' Ante Up award winner is a tremendous honor, as it means our passion is being recognized and that the vision of our film festival is truly resonating."
Canvas and Washington West Film Festival have been working together for over a year, and this relationship was strengthened when Festival organizers became members of the Refraction Reston co-working space earlier this year. Refraction Reston, which was launched by Canvas, is a vibrant co-working space that seeks to create 'experiments in collaboration' between entrepreneurs and visionaries from Northern Virginia's technology, non-profit and creative communities.
Canvas is a cloud-based software service that empowers users to collect information using mobile devices, share that information, and integrate with existing backend business systems. Thousands of organizations - ranging from global corporations to small nonprofits - leverage Canvas to replace inefficient paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps that work on nearly every smartphone and tablet on the market.
About Canvas
Canvas is an easy, fast and economical way for businesses to find, customize and create mobile forms to replace paper forms. Canvas is a cloud-based software service that enables users to collect information using mobile devices, share that information and integrate with existing backend systems. Canvas also offers the first mobile business application store of its kind, allowing businesses from diverse industries to find mobile forms specific to their needs. To learn more, visit https://www.GoCanvas.com.
