New Media Studio Captures Leadership Award for Digital Storytelling Efforts
UMBC’s New Media Studio has won a Centers of Excellence Award from the New Media Consortium (NMC), the highest honor bestowed by the NMC. Given annually, the Studio received the award for “leadership in capturing and disseminating digital stories across the institution.” Studio Director Bill Shewbridge, Video Producer Paul Iwancio and Multimedia Designer Aaron Weidele accepted the award at NMC’s 2008 Summer Conference at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.
“We are very honored,” Shewbridge said. “We look at the NMC as our peers. We go there for inspiration and to forge collaborations.”
This year, UMBC joined the Rochester Institute of Technology as 2008 recipients. Modeled after the MacArthur “Genius Grants,” the Centers of Excellence Award involves an anonymous nomination process with no predefined categories of awards.
Although the award process is secretive, Shewbridge noted the Studio was specifically cited for its work with the Charlestown Digital Story Project workshop, an effort that paired UMBC students and staff with residents from the Charlestown Retirement Community. Funded by Retirement Living TV, the Charlestown Project won the Telly Award in 2007 and has produced more than 30 digital stories from personal photos, artifacts and memories. In fact, some stories may air on Retirement Living TV in the future.
“The process has become as rewarding as the outcome,” Shewbridge said. “It’s intergenerational, and real bonds are formed. It’s a personal experience being communicated.”
Some UMBC students who worked specifically with the Charlestown project went on to work at the Maryland Film Office, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and non-profit associations throughout the area, Shewbridge said.
In addition to its work with students, the Studio hopes to host more workshops for faculty and staff, similar to the “Train the Trainer” workshop in Summer 2008. This workshop was hosted in partnership with the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, California, and held just a few days before the Studio won the Centers of Excellence award.
The Studio will also host a booth at Homecoming 2008 for all attendees.
“We’re going to have a story booth where participants can make their own digital stories,” Shewbridge said.
To learn more about the video projects produced by the New Media Studio, go to www.umbc.edu/studio/.
(9/12/08)
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