School of Communications hosts three-day BEA workshop

During the 2018 BEA Studio Showcase and Training Workshop held on campus June 12-14, media educators explored current technologies and workflows for teaching television studio production. 

With its state-of-the-art facilities as a fitting backdrop, the School of Communications hosted the 2018 BEA Studio Showcase and Training Workshop, a three-day event to familiarize media educators on current technologies and workflows for teaching studio production. 

Associate Professor Vic Costello (second from right) leads a tour group through the Jane and Brian Williams Studio during the first day of the BEA Studio Showcase and Training Workshop.
The educational showcase, held June 12-14, was presented by the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) and featured hands-on training from the Ross Video Solutions for Education Team. Participants divided into groups to receive training on the Ross Carbonite Black Production Switcher, Ross Xpression Motion Graphics and the Ross Inception newsroom computer system for scripted studio productions and related social media/digital content management.

A photo gallery of the workshop is available on the school’s Flickr account.

Ross trainer Kyle Lang (far right) led training sessions on the Ross Carbonite switcher and control room workflows.  
​In total, 13 media educators attended the workshop, hailing from Elon University, Appalachian State University, Georgia College and State University, Miami (Ohio) University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Université du Québec à Montréal, University of Georgia, and Western Carolina University.

Workshop participants gather for a group photograph in the Jane and Brian Williams Studio in Elon’s School of Communications. 
​Associate Professor Vic Costello, who serves as BEA’s secretary-treasurer, spearheaded the association’s efforts to bring the educational workshop to Elon’s campus.

“We have been blessed with an incredible broadcast television studio and newsroom facility and have been looking for opportunities to share it with others since its completion in 2016,” Costello said. “When Ross Video offered to sponsor this event and provide the training, we knew this would be a great opportunity for participants to learn about current production workflows that are transforming our industry while hearing our story of how we use this high-impact engaged-learning space to train and inspire Elon students pursuing careers in journalism and cinema and television arts.”

Heather Birks, BEA’s executive director, was on board to support this event from the beginning because, “it fits perfectly into our global mission of ‘driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals,’” she said. “Ross Video goes above and beyond in their continued investment in education – and the incredible facility at Elon University was a perfect place to showcase it.”