ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia’s New Media Institute will host “Go Mobile or Go Home” on Saturday, April 26, beginning at 10 a.m. at the NMI office in downtown Athens and moving to the North Campus quadrangle later in the morning.
The daylong event is designed to explore mobile media’s many facets through hands-on sessions, panel discussions and networking opportunities.
“Technology is not holding mobile media back. Creativity and imagination are the stumbling blocks,” said Scott Shamp, director of the New Media Institute. “Using off-the-shelf technology, we are developing real prototypes that real people can react to and evaluate.”
The day will feature a tour of downtown Athens’ wireless Internet bubble, a workshop for designing media content and panel discussions on the state of hotspots, mobile media content and what’s next in wireless innovation. The day will conclude as NMI students show off this semester’s mobile media projects.
“Nobody knows what wireless communication is good for because they haven’t had an opportunity to experiment with it,” Shamp said. “‘Go Mobile or Go Home’ is an opportunity for the community to do just that.”
An interdisciplinary unit of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the New Media Institute is dedicated to the exploration of the creative, commercial and critical dimensions of innovative digital media technology. In Fall 2002, the institute collaborated closely with the Athens-Clarke County Government to implement the Wireless Athens Georgia Zone (WAGz), which allows for wireless Internet access in downtown Athens.
The NMI’s New Media Interdisciplinary Certificate Program allows UGA students studying in any field to develop technology expertise. The NMI is located on the fifth floor of downtown Athens’ Bank of America Building and houses an extensive collection of advanced networking, audio/video and computer technologies.
For more information on “Go Mobile or Go Home,” visit www.nmi.uga.edu/gomobile/index.asp or e-mail nmi@uga.edu.
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