Concurrent Sessions

SKYPAPALOOZA!- How the WV Animation Festival used Skype video to connect remote viewers to the real-time webcast.

Tue 2:10 – 2:55PM — Governors Ballroom 6
James Haizlett, West Liberty University
Lucas Smithbauer, West Liberty University

For the past nine years the West Virginia Flash Animation Festival has hosted a juried animation event that rewards the best student work from a six state region. This year students from 28 different institutions participated in the event, competing for $2,000 in cash prizes. Because of travel constraints, many winners from places such as Penn State, The University of Maryland and Virginia Tech could not attend the event. In order to involve these students the West Liberty University Media Arts Center set up a live cable broadcast with a simultaneous webcast of the event. This allowed remote students to watch the festival in real time on their computer screens. Skype connections were also established with remote participants who were able to instantly react to the news of their winning entries via projected video to the studio audience. We were able to watch the remote participants celebrate their winnings, discuss their work, and in some cases dance around their dorm rooms at the news of their awards. We will view some highlights from the event and also go behind the video screen, to show you how to set up a similar media extravaganza of your own.

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