Athens, Ga. – With the motto that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, the University of Georgia New Media Institute will offer “Technology for the Turnaround” on Saturday, April 25, at the Miller Learning Center.
“We’ve all heard the news about layoffs, closures and bankruptcies,” said Scott Shamp, director of the New Media Institute and professor of telecommunications in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “But the good news about the bad news is that change brings opportunity.”
“Technology for the Turnaround” will offer strategies for how to thrive after the downturn and provide the tech-knowledge to get ahead in the new media world that is just around the corner.
The day will start with a noon networking lunch on the Grady College lawn. Join Grady alumni, students and faculty, as well as industry professionals, for a casual lunch that will cost $10 per person.
At 1 p.m., free seminars will kick off at the Miller Learning Center. Registration and RSVP’s are necessary for both the luncheon and free afternoon sessions. See http://tinyurl.com/tech4turn to register.
For the first seminar, Jennifer Dorian, senior vice president of network strategy and brand development at Turner Entertainment Networks, will be the featured speaker addressing “Innovation for the Turnaround,” and showing how to leverage the innovation resources you already have.
At 1:30 p.m., experts from a range of companies will offer “Quick Fire Trend Discussions” focused around six classes of technology: social media, gaming, mobile, music, advertising, and video. Representatives from Porter Novelli, JWT, Turner, Verizon, AT&T, Moxie, NuRun, UPS and Delta will participate.
Students will take center stage at 3:15 p.m. for the Student Show-Off session. UGA students from various departments will demonstrate the technology projects they have been working on this year. “There’s no better way to see the future,” said Shamp.
Some student projects include taking a picture of a bar code with a smart phone to get backstage information during a Georgia Aquarium tour; video explorations of how digital media is changing the way we live; helping to fight AIDS with a cell phone; a peek inside a game development project to see how games get built; and accessing a mobile site to hear inside information about the local scene from local experts.
The day will conclude with a 5:15 p.m. networking reception at in the Dean’s Garden at Grady College where participants can connect with new friends and reconnect with old ones to share what was learned.
“Plan now to join us for a fun day of discussion, debate and demonstrations,” said Shamp. For additional information on “Technology for the Turnaround,” contact The New Media Institute at www.mynmi.net or 706/542-2857.
The New Media Institute is an interdisciplinary teaching and research unit of the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The NMI is dedicated to innovating with communication technologies.
Established in 1915, the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers seven undergraduate majors including advertising, broadcast news, magazines, newspapers, public relations, publication management and telecommunication arts. The college offers two graduate degrees, and is home to WNEG-TV, the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism and the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, see www.grady.uga.edu.
