Walking down Liberty Avenue, people quickly find the small pop-up ice cream shop, Dream Cream. A few weeks ago, on April 1, Dream Cream was giving away free ice cream if customers made a video letting the world know their dream and daring friends to do the same.
Last week, Campus Activities Board (CAB) along with The Office of Student Conduct, HerCampus, PAAR and Title IX hosted a concert where they invited Dream Cream to help “Break the Silence Against Sexual Violence.”
This week, CAB is hosting Spring Fling where Dream Cream is making another appearance.
Dream Cream is a pop-up shop that is trying to start a global conversation about dreaming. Its new campaign, which began on April Fool’s Day, is called #dare2dream. Founder and “Chief Cone” Thomas Jamison is hoping to get one billion people to share their dreams to the world. The time frame will last as long as it needs to – until that one billionth customer or social media enthusiast uploads his or her video.
Similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, this campaign involves recording yourself stating your name and your dream, challenging two or more of your friends to share their dream and/or donate money, and then uploading the video to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #dare2dream. Dream Cream hopes to pick one follower every week that used the hashtag and share the created video to make a follower’s dream come true.
“We’re trying to create a global conversation about what is important to you. The point is for people to reach out and take risks. We want you to follow your heart and follow your dreams,” Jamison said Monday afternoon in his ice cream shop.
Although their Kickstarter is closed now, they are working to get it up again and onto their website to accept donations online. These funds will help to not only raise funds for the Dreamer Foundation, which helps dreamers achieve their wish, but it will also be used in conjunction with renovations that are needed throughout the shop. Jamison also wants the money to go into his new idea, the Dreamer Academy.
The Dreamer Academy is an organization that would partner with surrounding campuses for students to get real world experience through a new club or an internship. Dream Cream is no stranger to Point Park’s campus and Jamison even admitted that a few Point Park students have been Dreamers at his shop in the past. This academy would act as a sort of academic fraternity, so students would be able to gain business, entrepreneurial and social media experience.
Reginald Cox, also known as Reggie, the dream engineer, commented on the campaign and cause in the shop on Monday afternoon.
“They are things that are very important for adults. Adults are difficult. Ten-year-olds will easily talk about their dreams. Adults are more afraid to share their own dream,” Cox said. “It’s crucial for us to share our dreams.”
Jamison hopes that he’ll be able to come to campus as a guest lecturer or a speaker to talk to the students about his ideas. He wants to be involved in helping the clubs.
If internships and entrepreneurial experience don’t interest you, Jamison doesn’t mind.
“Just being an ambassador and patron helps,” said Jamison. “If you have a cause or dream, apply to be a dreamer. If you just want to be a follower and share posts… that helps. It all helps.”
