Passion City VR — bringing virtual reality to 100 middle and high school students for the first time, creating an evening of wonder, curiosity, and genuine technological inspiration.
Passion City is a nonprofit in Atlanta doing meaningful work with young people — and in Fall 2017, they wanted their youth gathering to be something students had never experienced before. Not just a great event. A genuinely new world.
They called Elevate.
Our team specializes in both events and innovation — and this was the perfect intersection of both. We partnered with Passion City to design a custom VR experience for 100 middle and high school students, many of whom were interacting with virtual reality technology for the very first time. The VR menu was crafted specifically for this audience — chosen to maximize engagement, spark conversation, and leave students curious about what technology might make possible in their lifetimes.
Two VR stations ran throughout the evening, each fully equipped with headsets, earphones, remotes, safety mats, and TV screens so every person in the room — whether in the headset or watching from the crowd — was part of the experience. Approximately 45 students moved through VR each hour. Nobody was left just waiting in line.
VR is a powerful tool. But a room full of teenagers and a couple of headsets doesn’t automatically become a meaningful experience — that takes intentional design.
Introduce a new technology to a young, energetic audience in a way that felt purposeful and connected to the event’s theme — not just a novelty act, but a genuine moment of inspiration that sparked bigger conversations about creativity, innovation, and the future.
We consulted closely with the Passion City team to understand their goals and audience before designing a VR menu built specifically for these students. On the night, our VR leads guided every student through the experience personally — answering questions, managing the flow, and making sure the crowd watching was just as engaged as the person in the headset.
Five people running a custom VR experience for 100 students across a full evening.
When a teenager takes off a VR headset for the first time, something happens in the room. The people who watched start asking questions. The person who just experienced it can’t stop talking. And suddenly a youth gathering becomes a conversation about creativity, innovation, and what the future might actually look like.
That’s what happened at Passion City. Both the client and the students left the evening genuinely energized — not just by the technology, but by what it opened up. For Elevate, introducing young people to something new and watching it spark curiosity is exactly the kind of impact we’re in this for.
"The VR experience that Elevate provided really took our event to another level. The actual product is stunning but their team also enhanced the entire experience. We had some unique asks that were specific to our event and they were accommodating to our needs with a smile on their face. It was refreshing!"
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