Socio Camp: Back with Season 8
Socio Camp is an idea generating competition where youths from all over the country come together and construct innovative ideas to eradicate social problems. It is founded and organised annually by North South University Social Services Club. The club introduced this competition with the hope of bringing a radical change in the society by raising awareness about the recurring social problems that the masses face daily. The concept of this highly effective, national inter-university competition stemmed from a simple thought of not being the one to complain and move on, but, to actually brainstorm and get something done. The competition hosts universities from all over the country and results in new paradigms being explored to solve the real-world problems.
Like most successful ventures, Socio Camp has also had its humble beginning. It embarked on the journey back in 2010 with the participation of just a handful of teams. Originally known as 'Youth Awareness Campaign Competition (YACC)', it only had teams participating from North South University itself in its first season. However, with the coming of 2011, the competition became officially known as Socio Camp, with a variable numeral after "Camp" denoting its sequential order in the upcoming years. The year 2011 is also when Socio Camp went and became an inter-university competition by allowing the participation of teams from other universities in Dhaka. With each year, Socio Camp has only gotten bigger and more influential. Teams from all regions of Bangladesh could participate from 2012. As expected, with the increase in the number of teams and the overall magnanimity of the competition, the prize money was also on the rise with each succession. It started from being BDT 50,000 to a hefty BDT 120,000 in its latest installment. Shakib-Al Hasan and many other powerful social figures have been involved in the promotional campaigns of Socio Camp, as well as being mentors and judges of the competition. This idea generating competition's standard rose to the next level when over 473 teams participated from all over the country last year, proving that Socio Camp is only getting bigger and better every year.
The format of the competition is straight forward with 3 rounds in total. The 1st and 2nd rounds are comprised of workshops, followed by a Grand Finale. The registration process is almost effortless for the participants, with booths being set up at different university premises. Also, the scope of registering online is kept available.
This year, North South University Social Services Club is organising Kurkure presents 'Socio Camp 8' powered by NRB Bazaar. The Daily Star is the Media Partner and Star Youth is the Youth Engagement Partner of Socio Camp 8, which is to be held from October 22 to November 17, 2017. The registration process is scheduled to begin from October 22, 2017.