Three, two, one – let’s go!

Following the space theme, this year’s celebration featured neon lights, DJ sets, as well as nuggets, shawarma, and pizza in the form of space food. The inspiration behind the theme is in the birthday itself: 123 is like a reverse countdown to a rocket launch – that’s why during the week-long celebrations spanning two ITMO campuses, the staff and students could feel like the crew of a big spaceship. 

Among the celebratory activities were a transformative business game and an environment- and future-oriented quiz organized by the ITMO.GREEN and Intelligentsia student clubs. A special workshop on fluid art allowed all those interested to explore a new painting technique, while ITMO’s GEEKMO club hosted a massive board game session featuring Codenames and other game night hits.

Friday was all about ITMO Family Day Mini, a festival for every family member of ITMO staff – even pets had a special event program organized just for them on the Kronversky Pr. campus. 

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All paws on deck

A big hit, the dog-oriented part of the ITMO Family Day Mini featured a mini dog park in the university courtyard with a bunch of challenging paths to take for every furry friend present. All the while, their owners could consult a dog trainer, learning more about their pets. 

“I really enjoyed the chance to talk to dog experts and ask some of my burning questions,” shared Maria Dedovets, a lead manager at the Student Services Office. “I live outside the city, where people tend to use fireworks rather often, scaring Willie, my dog. I wanted to ask if there was a way to help him with this problem.”

Indoors, in one of the rooms, dog-owners could feed their pets and win some useful items, like glowing collars, in fun animal-themed quizzes. Another option was to help ITMO’s Paws of Help volunteer student club collect dog feed for shelters.

“Last year, I didn’t bring my older dog, a French bulldog, to ITMO Family Day Mini, and I really regretted it. This year, I fully engaged with the celebration, but with my smaller dog, a Pomeranian puppy called Lilu. We won a quiz and learned about the Paws of Help student club – now I want to do something for them,” said Maria Fedotova, the head of the International Faculty Support Office. “When I told my friends that ITMO was hosting a festival where you could bring your pet to work, they didn’t believe it at first. I think it’s a great format that really brings the ITMO.Family together.”

A festival for all generations

Another part of ITMO.Family celebrated the festival with their kids – coloring gingerbread cookies, making glowing birthday cards, painting galaxies, and making slimes sing with a single touch. Moreover, the university offered family passes to its Museum of Optics and welcomed everyone curious in cyberbattles to KronBars Arena.

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“My daughters Masha, 11, and Valeria, 5, and I are visiting our second ITMO Family Day Mini – and it’s so much fun,” shared Natalia Nechayeva, a records manager at the Center for Student Science, Conferences, and Exhibitions. “We always attend the university’s family events – for instance, the New Year’s celebration for children, but this festival is something entirely new and exciting. Masha really loved decorating cookies and playing VR games, and Valeria loved the ball pit. However, the top activities for them both were making glowing cards and playing with all the cute dogs. And I really appreciated the music filling the hall, I think it kept up the spirits of everyone involved. I am grateful to ITMO for this cool tradition and for the chance to see the youngest members of ITMO.Family within the university’s walls.”

ITMO Family Day Mini brings together many generations: for instance, Natalia Alibekova came to the festival with her grandniece Anya. 

“Anya visited last year’s festival and really liked it. This year, she invited her younger sister. We did it all: took pictures with a robot and made it move, painted cookies, and watched a soap bubble show. Now we are on our way to make a glowing birthday card,” said Natalia. 

123 stories about the future

Offline activities were not everything the university had to give: as an online present to ITMO.Family, the organizers made a collage of pictures of 123 students and members of staff.

“We truly believe that people are at the heart of ITMO. Every scientific breakthrough is made by a student, a researcher, or a graduate. That’s why we decided to celebrate this date with a special photoshoot, asking each of our participants about the invention that will be developed at ITMO by 2030 – we ended up with 123 unique answers,” shared Maria Burlankova, a lead manager at the Creative and Corporate Projects Planning Center.

You can find the collage here (page in Russian).