Unstoppable webisodes win Telly awards

USF’s Unstoppable campaign, a fundraising effort launched by the University in October 2009, has brought in more than money for its affiliates.

The University’s Media Innovation Team (MIT), a group of experts in areas like instructional and Web design, interactive media, video production and application development, worked alongside students and alumni to produce a series of webisodes to promote the campaign, winning three Telly Awards for the department.

More than 13,000 entries were submitted to this year’s Telly awards – an international award that “honors the very best local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions and work created for the Web,” according to its website.

William Patterson, director of MIT, said the group has previously won six Tellys and other media awards, including a Webby, Interactive Media Awards, Intercom Awards and a Davey Award.

“The MIT has been entering international competitions for the past three years in order to build USF’s reputation for leading edge design,” he said. “It’s important to objectify the design edge by seeing what the international design community thinks of our work.”

Their work, webisodes that “tell the dynamic story of USF” and promote growth of the University, came from the minds of Jay Wilson, executive producer and director of Foundation Communications, and his team, which includes MIT members and USF alumnus Patterson, art director and producer Christine Brown and “production gurus” Josh Bertrand and Daniel Baeder, Brown said.

“Ultimately, this is a highly collaborative process that involves many people from both the USF Foundation and the Media Innovation Team,” Brown said. “(The goal is) to showcase and highlight the amazing people and programs of USF … Our team works to realize (Wilson’s) vision for these webisodes.”

The webisodes, which can be viewed on the Unstoppable website, showcase USF’s Stampede of Service, a one-day event where students take part in community service activities,and the College of Engineering’s Center for Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotic Technologies, which develops rehabilitation systems to increase the employment of individuals with disabilities.

In addition to creating the webisodes, the MIT has also begun working with students from the College of Education and the online USF e-campus to improve the technology for online classes.

“This type of online content is vitally important for students, since it increases their access to learning,” Patterson said. “The MIT strives to grow with and into each emerging technology trend, and to harness its value for the benefit of USF’s teaching, learning and institutional goals.”

Even though the team has met success in their online ventures, Patterson said there is no end in sight for their work.

“We want to continue to work at the leading edge of design,” he said. “We enjoy experiences where we can ‘align through design’ in support of the institutional, instructional and entrepreneurial vision of USF.”