In October, bloggers, podcasters, journalists and marketers from across the country congregated at the annual Blogworld and New Media Expo in Las Vegas to discuss the latest advances in web technology and communications.
Hundreds of presenters covered topics including using Facebook and Twitter as business marketing tools, volunteer journalism, how to create and manage an online community and how to make money blogging in a niche market.
Of the thousands of attendees and hundreds of businesses and sponsors, UVU’s Digital Media department was the only college represented at the conference. “Representing the school and the Digital Media department was amazing,” said Jared Hack, one of the DGM students managing UVU’s Blogworld booth.
The Digital Media team consisting of Hack, Richard Lee, Parker Donat and their professor, Mike Wisland, quickly established themselves as the audio experts of the conference. A steady stream of industry leaders and professionals approached UVU’s booth for advice on the basics of producing quality audio for podcasts and internet video. They even helped hundreds of business professionals record their own podcasts live, at the event while collecting a stack of business cards along the way.
“A couple people had posted the podcast within a week of the conference,” said Hack.
Donat, a senior in the Communications department and a junior in the Digital Media department, helped usher conference attendees to the UVU booth. He was impressed by the extensive knowledge of his classmates, and the reactions they were getting from people who participated in the free podcasts.
“They know their stuff. They’re advanced students that can teach something that needs to be known.”
