Category / Blogging

by drey3113

The Next Generation of Sports Media Consumption

Imagine the world of virtual reality colliding with the world of sports. Real-time VR streaming fused with sportscasting to create a new world in sports media. The possibilities are endless. This is what Patrick Kulp at Adweek discovered after researching Fox’s collaboration with AT&T.

Fox decided to take a break from covering the current presidency to invest in its sports media stock. Their sports department teamed up with AT&T, Intel and Ericsson to bring the viewers of the U.S. Tennis Open Championship a more efficient and in-depth experience. By using 5G wireless services the possibilities for streaming and quality production skyrocketed while cutting costs at the same time. This raised questions on what else 5G could do for media production and consumption. The Sacramento Kings took this as an opportunity to collaborate with Verizon to create the first 360 virtual reality stream of a basketball game. While this may not help the team play any better it certainly provides fans with a new immersive experience. “Immersive media experiences are going to be one of the things that are unique on 5G,” said Jaunt CEO Mitzi Reaugh.” This step forward in sports media technology opens up many doors in the consumption of sports media allowing fans from all parts of the country to be able to experience their favorite team as if they were there. It is quite interesting where the current state of 5G is. There aren’t many 5G devices on the market, and most if not all providers are jumping at the opportunity to install 5G capabilities into a variety of venues. The future of sports media is now.

With native advertising and ad technology evolving with the times it seems like 5G is the next step for advertising as a whole. Advertising must always adapt to its ever-changing markets which is how native advertising has started to come to the forefront of most companies’ creative groups. Being able to utilize this new form of production and streaming may become an integral part in both sports media and advertising. While virtual reality might not be everyone’s cup of tea due to the issue of potential motion sickness and the technology being brand new, 5G in itself is the perfect stepping stone to bring advertising into a new world of audiences. Generation Z is one of the most tech savvy generations due to being born in an era of iPads and smartphones being commonplace in most households. To reach and relate to this new generation, sports media is making a conscious effort to evolve with the times and provide new and exciting ways to experience sports. Will this pay off as far as the numbers go? Only time will tell but it surely is a good sign to see the industry not shy away from new technology. There is a lot to learn about the usage of 5G though as it is a relatively new method of wireless connection and wireless services have had a history of problems as far as connection stability and reliability. 5G may surpass these obstacles though and can give fans what they want. Better sports coverage and better advertising.

For more information, take a look at Kulp’s  article Next-Gen Sports Viewing in Adweek New York volume 60 issue 4.

by tayquintin

Photo Courtesy of World Vision Non-Profit Organization

Feel Good, Do Good.

An abundance of individuals struggle to find their calling each day, but the question that needs to be explored is are humans truly interested in helping other humans?

For most people, yes.

Donating time to bettering our world and helping others who are struggling is a rewarding experience that helps people identify their true calling in life. We should celebrate those that commit their time to serving others who truly need it.

What are the benefits?

One of the most worthwhile results of serving others is the outcome in the end. Natural disasters hit countries every day, diseases take over entire populations and third world countries struggle to keep citizens alive due to lack of healthcare. Although the negative components of disasters in countries are extremely prominent, looking past the negative aspects allows humans to realize they can serve a purpose and help others. Additionally, non-profits are a great way to get involved in local communities near or far.

“Today, nearly 15,000 children under age 5 will die of mostly preventable causes, such as diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia.” -World Vision

How can one give to non-profit organizations?

Whether people donate large or small amounts, even a dollar has an immense impact on struggling communities. In some countries the economy is incredibly low to the point where children do not have access to education or educational tools they need to grow as individuals. With this being said, the countries that struggle largely are the countries that have undergone terrible natural disasters and influx of diseases that they can not overcome. These are the communities that need help the most. Whether it is donations or volunteering citizens have the option to dive in and help others. The beautiful aspect of non-profit organizations is the versatility in what they do. Health, education, clean water, and disaster are relief among some of the great strides non-profits make for struggling communities.

Get Involved

The biggest takeaway is finding a true interest in serving others. Think more about the people struggling the next time you buy something you do not truly need. Explore the options of your local community non-profits and what they offer that would allow you to feel good, and do good. If you are looking to help communities far away that undergo extreme struggles due to disasters evaluate how involved you want to become, and how much service you want to offer to others. Adventure is out there, and helping others will always be an option to make you not only feel better about yourself but feel better about helping others.

For more information on how to get involved in non-profit organizations for struggling countries visit: https://www.worldvision.org/our-work/health

by Kea

Upcoming Works

For the next few days, there will be several posts from students (and me), and we will be posting our trade-press release/journal observations on this blog. This assignment is designed to get students in the habit of reading trade magazines from their respective fields, and it helps students practice the strange and mysterious arts of the press release and the blog post.

Here is essentially what you can expect: students will observe/analyze an article about a marketing strategy or ad campaign and write a press release or blog post about it. There will be an emphasis on brevity, especially if it is a press release. It’s about conveying information effectively. The journal/blog post can be a bit longer. I encourage students to choose one or the other: the press release will give students much-needed practice on this valuable skill, but the blog post can help them exercise their writing muscles a bit.

This is, at heart, a rhetorics class, so we are most interested in understanding the different approaches to writing and how these approaches help us learn the most effective way to inform readers on a given product, service, or subject. The rhetorical conventions and strategies necessary for a press release are very different than what is needed for a blog post.

Oh, but what if the press release is the blog post?

Or, what if you are writing specific blog posts for specific reasons?

Each writing is accompanied by its own set of strategies. It will be fun to see what the students come up with.

Until next time,

-KRW