Comfy convo

Convocation watched from comfort of couch

By Adam Zakreski

Last month, family and friends joined their loved ones as they celebrated the conclusion of their university careers by walking across the stage to pick up their degrees. But this time, some watched on from the comfort of their own homes.

With the help of UCIT’s Communications Media group, convocation was streamed in real time over the internet and around the world.

“We’ve been beta streaming our convocations live since May of this year,” says Greg Phillips, media serving project manager with Com/Media. “We had as many as 68 concurrent viewers for the afternoon convocation, one from as far away as Montreal.”

Chalking up the test as a success, Phillips says the project will continue with the streaming of the upcoming spring convocations in 2008, with the potential to expand to other cornerstone university events.

“The results have been encouraging and they prove it is possible to offer a more permanent service on campus,” he says.

If you missed the November convocation, a DVD copy is available for order online from the campus bookstore at www.calgarybookstore.ca listed under gifts.