Community Day Brings Fun, Education and Animatronics to Local Twin Cities Youth

Last week, Microsoft hosted its first “Community Day” at the Microsoft Technology Center in Edina, offering local youth from the Girl Scouts of Minneapolis, Lutheran Social Services, Eagle Point Elementary and the Holy Family Catholic Church the chance to tour the state of the art MTC and interact with (move up details of what we’re seeing in the photos to define the experiences).

With workshops and demos showcasing the magic of technology, including the latest tablets, ultrabooks, gaming and smartphone devices, Community Day was a very fun and educational experience for all in attendance. The demos included Kinect for Windows, a peek into the World Wide Telescope, the interactive touch-enabled Pixel Sense, Xbox, and much more.

The MTC also had its mascot, Bing the dog, onsite to interact with the children using Kinect. While Bing looks kind of intimidating, he is one of the world’s most advanced animatronics and responds to voice recognition. He also loves to play, making him a big hit with anyone who gets to meet him!

Through events such as Community Day, Microsoft continues to empower young people to imagine and realize their true potential in areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  And Community Day is an extension of Microsoft’s recently launched YouthSpark program, which aims to create opportunities for 300 million youth (75 million in U.S. and Canada) around the world during the next three years through partnerships with governments, nonprofit organizations and businesses,  including the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities, in addition to City Year, NFTE, Year Up and Junior Achievement. Learn about the entire YouthSpark initiative and how you can get involved here.