Back row: Rich Eggleton, Susan Kehoe, Richard Wood, and Steve Watson; front row: Kevin Slaughter, Heather Bailey, and Stacey Rathbun
Beam Me Up
New building channels energy into GMU-TV
The opening of Innovation Hall is exciting for many departments and academic programs, but its highest ratings are coming from GMU-TV. With their new home, GMU-TV staffers are living the high life—literally. Not only have they risen from the cramped basement of David King Hall to the fourth floor of Innovation Hall, they have twice the space of their old studio.
In David King Hall, where hallways were offices and the conference room was a make-up room, staff spent hours each day breaking down and erecting sets for the telecourse studio and its productions, changing lights, props, and other equipment as needed. The Innovation Hall space will save GMU-TV staff more than 40 hours per week of physical labor, allowing them to channel their energy into producing more award-winning television programs.
GMU-TV now has two spacious studios, two control rooms, a prop room, a make-up room, a conference room, edit bays, and offices. One studio will be used to produce the three major shows—the Law School's Capital Commentary, the sports talk show Mason Sidelines, and the research- and technology-based Tech Horizons. The other studio will be used solely for telecourses, enabling the station to triple the number of televised courses it produces. In addition, brand new editing equipment will help speed production along.
"We are so excited about our new space," says Susan Kehoe, D.A. Community College Education '00 and director of GMU-TV. "The savings in time alone is unbelievable."
GMU-TV's close-knit team includes five other Mason alumni—Heather Bailey, B.A. Communication '00, production assistant; Rich Eggleton, M.A. Telecommunications '01, senior producer/director; Stacey Rathbun, B.A. Integrative Studies '03, production assistant; Kevin Slaughter, M.A. Telecommunications '01, director of cablecast operations; and Richard Wood, B.A. Communication '95, senior producer/director. They will share the floor with staff from the Division of Instructional and Technology Support Services, including its Client Services' Information Technology Unit Support Center and Telecom Administration, its Classroom Technologies' Electronic Classrooms, and its Learning Support Services' Instructional Resource Center.
The rest of the university will also benefit from GMU-TV's move to Innovation Hall. With the advanced technology available in the building's lecture halls, GMU-TV can videotape directly from the classroom and send the information out immediately, providing a live feed if needed. Not only will GMU-TV be able to increase the number of telecourses it produces, it will also be able to record and broadcast more guest lectures.
The move comes after another successful GMU-TV broadcast year. The station won its first ever Telly Silver Award, the most prestigious given by the Telly Awards, a corporation that showcases and recognizes outstanding non-network and cable commercials, films, and video productions. The Silver Telly was awarded for camera operation in the Tech Horizons' show "Botball, ITS, and the Higher Ed Bond Initiative." The station is continuously recognized as a leader in educational and public interest programs, claiming 10 Telly Awards, 19 Communicator Awards, and 8 Videographer Awards to its credit.
For information on programming and broadcast schedules, visit www.gmutv.gmu.edu.