UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- With more than a month until the debut of a re-branded and revamped webcast of the Penn State Dance Marathon, students in charge of the broadcast have already completed hundreds of hours of work in preparation for what they envision as a more interactive experience for viewers around the world.
The THON webcast conducted by students in the College of Communications typically draws thousands of viewers from all over the world as Penn State alumni and friends near and far use the Internet to connect and be a part of the effort to raise money to battle pediatric cancer.
The main goal for the change this year is to better connect viewers to events that take place Feb. 20 to 22 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
“We want the viewers at home who are watching to feel the emotion, the connection and the power of THON,” said Dan Balton, one of three executive producers for the webcast coordinated by the Telecommunications Club. “We want them to feel they are in the BJC experiencing everything on the floor.”
Balton, Mairelena Balouris and Erica Kasan worked closely with THON directors and have been planning for the webcast since last August. The webcast, re-branded as 46 LIVE, has added what the students hope will be an important social media presence (@FortySixLIVE), and the producers envision a full-scale television production during THON weekend.
The webcast team has already produced content for the webcast. That includes interviews with dancers, directors and even webcast hosts. The interviews are designed to give the participants a voice and a platform for them to express their perspectives about what THON means to them and what makes THON special.
“Basically, a lot of work goes into THON and these videos will introduce the work that these people do to make it happen,” said Balton.
“We want to innovate, inspire and engage and I think all of our changes will help us do that. We are also mindful of THON’s goal, which is to raise awareness for children battling pediatric cancer and I think the webcast can really spread that awareness,” said Balouris, who has been involved in THON since her freshman year.
The hard-working team has already finished interviewing every THON director. Up next are the dancers. About 700 dancers are expected to take part in THON, but Balton and the webcast team will not profile all of them.
“We have to be realistic. There is no way we can interview all 700 dancers,” said Balton. “We are trying to catch these people to talk before THON because once it starts they’re not going to be available on camera."
The interviews will be aired throughout the webcast. Last year, more than 300,000 people watched THON through the webcast.
Incorporating the pre-produced content into the webcast remains a challenge for the team. “We don’t want these pre-produced videos to take away the importance of THON. The videos are made to enhance THON,” said Balton.
As part of its social media presence, the 46 LIVE team will introduce hashtags for viewers to tweet about during the 46-hour dance marathon.
In addition, viewers at home will be able to send videos of support, which will be inserted into the webcast. Although some technological hurdles exist with that first-time-ever endeavor, Balton said the webcast team is excited about making it happen.
Since work on the webcast began last fall, more than 300 man hours have been put into 46 LIVE. “It’s exciting to be able to produce something industry standard and the support we’ve been receiving has been outstanding” said Balton, who operated a camera for the THON webcast last year.
“The College of Communications has been instrumental in helping us get this off the ground. Dean Marie Hardin has been so encouraging and supportive, and so have many other members of the college. Without any of them this wouldn’t be possible,” said Balouris. “The THON executive committee has also been very supportive and receptive to all of our new ideas. It has been great working with all of the involved parties.”
The THON webcast will be available at thon.org.