Students from the College of Communications will provide start-to-finish coverage of Penn State's annual Homecoming parade for the seventh consecutive year with a webcast that will be available for free all over the world.
The webcast will begin at approximately 6 p.m. and last until about 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14. Coverage of the parade may be found at http://psucommedia.com/ and http://homecoming.psu.edu online.
Students from two separate classes will handle the production. Students in COMM 383A Webcast Production, taught by Maria Cabrera-Baukus, will present the parade itself while students in COMM 466 Public Affairs Reporting, taught by Marea Mannion, will produce supporting features that focus on different aspects of Homecoming and what goes into organizing the event. Mannion’s students will also host the live webcast.
"One of my main goals in class is to provide students with real-world experience, and we have been able to do that with the Homecoming parade for the past several years," said Cabrera-Baukus, a senior lecturer in the Department of Telecommunications. "It's an exciting opportunity for the students and they get to work the event on a couple of different levels. Some produce magazine-show aspects and others handle the live production. Students get a real taste of what a live production entails."
Numerous communications students will gain practical, hands-on experience while producing and hosting the webcast. Three senior journalism majors -- Jim Mowery of Centre Hall, Pa.; Phil Rosentraub of State College, Pa.; and Gabrielle Ziegler of Dix Hill, N.Y. -- will serve as hosts of the live coverage of the nation's largest Homecoming parade. The webcast will originate from a location along Shortlidge Road between the HUB-Robeson Center parking deck and White Building.
Other faculty and staff from the College of Communications involved in the parade webcast include: Matt Jackson, an associate professor and head of the Department of Telecommunications, and Chris Maurer, Karen Mozley-Bryan and Mike Zelazny, who will provide technical support.
"The Homecoming parade webcast and our coverage of the Penn State Dance Marathon are two annual highlights for the Department of Telecommunications," Jackson said. "We're excited to be doing the parade again. Students get to apply the skills they have learned in their courses and produce a live event that will be viewed by Penn State alumni and friends all over the world. It’s a great opportunity for the students to hone their skills and, more importantly, an opportunity to give something back to the community."
Along with the College of Communications and the Department of Telecommunications, the webcast involves collaboration and coordination between several other Penn Sate units, including WPSU-TV, the Office of Physical Plant and Information Technology Services.