DE ANZA ADVERTISING STUDENTS THROW
"ROCK THE RIDE TO VEGAS" EVENT FOR TWINS4TOYS

Cupertino, California – May 18, 2002 -- De Anza College students, staff and faculty along with local residents are invited to participate in "ROCK THE RIDE TO VEGAS" on Tuesday, June 4, 2002 from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm at the main quad area of De Anza College in Cupertino. "Rock the Ride to Vegas" will be a fun, grand, Vegas-style interactive event benefiting Twins4Toys, a local grass roots Jose based charity that provides San Jose area families with toys, clothing and school supplies.
The event is free and will feature great music, free food, contests, great prizes, shiny new vehicles, and FUN! Participants will earn raffle tickets and prizes by playing games. Watch Las Vegas come to Cupertino as you wander around the strip and try your luck. Participants can also earn raffle tickets by making donations to Twins4Toys thereby increasing their chances to win a great prize. Some lucky person will win a trip to Vegas! Highlighting the event will be a display of new Chevrolet cars and trucks provided by near-by neighbor, Anderson Chevrolet of Cupertino. The students hope to raise over $3,000.00 for Twins4Toys in addition to securing new toys or school supplies. Anderson Chevrolet of Cupertino is supporting this event by matching the first $500.00 collected by the De Anza advertising students.

Twins4Toys was founded in 1998 by Javier and Carlos Acosta, the first twin cops working for the San Jose Police Department. The brothers recalled their own childhood and the toys they received from police and fireman and decided to found an organization that would do the same for today’s children as well as provide them with positive role models. In addition, their efforts would strengthen the San Jose Police Department’s ties with the community. Twins4Toys has made an impact and many local family shelters praise their work.

This "Rock the Ride to Vegas" event is the culmination of a semester-long effort by 40 De Anza College Business students participating in the General Motors Marketing Internship (GMMI)—a unique industry-education partnership that gives students hands-on learning experience. Over the course of the spring term, these hard-working students formed their own company, InSite Advertising Agency, and have gained invaluable experience by researching, planning and executing their campaign. The event’s goal is to help Twins4Toys while promoting InSite’s client, Anderson Chevrolet of Cupertino.

Mark Lindeman, General Manager of Anderson Chevrolet in Cupertino agrees. "These students have worked very hard and have learned a lot while planning this promotion. We’re glad to have given these students an opportunity to put their knowledge to work while benefiting a great cause."

Executing the event is not the end of the road for these De Anza students. Following the event, they begin researching and analyzing the effectiveness of their campaign. After which, the students will formally present their results to representatives from Chevrolet, General Motors and Anderson Chevrolet of Cupertino. The presentation is a unique opportunity for students to build confidence and develop public speaking and presentation skills.

In addition, InSite Advertising (the student agency at De Anza College) will be eligible to compete for a General Motors Marketing Internship Scholastic Achievement Award, a national $3,000 award to be given to the top 4-year university and top 2-year community college participating in the program.

To date, GMMI has participated on over 350 campuses nationwide. EdVenture Partners in Berkeley, California manage the programs, in conjunction with General Motors and its divisions. De Anza College has been participating in the GMMI program since its inception in the early 1990’s.

Support these students and Twins4Toys by coming to the "Rock the Ride to Vegas" extravaganza held at De Anza’s main quad area on Tuesday June 4, 2002, between 10am and 3:00pm. The InSite Advertising Agency students eagerly await your help in making this a great success! Visit InSite's website for additional information: http://cruzin.to/insite