SVG College Summit Draws Packed House to Atlanta for Two Days of Education, Networking, and Awards By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor Friday, June 2, 2023 - 2:57 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The SVG College Summit brought more than 450 college sports broadcasters, athletic-video producers, technologists, and students representing a wide variety of universities, collegiate conferences, and technology vendors this week at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta. Each year, the SVG College Summit serves as the annual meeting of the minds for college-video-production pros from across the country and this year continued that tradition with two days of informative panels and presentations, production training and career development workshops, technology exhibits and demonstrations, and plenty of networking opportunities for attendees.
This year's SVG College Summit Chairman Eric Frey, Virginia Tech, Assistant AD, ACC Network Operations, kicked things off by moderating a State of the Industry panel in which athletic department video production leaders from Auburn University, the Big East Conference, The Citadel, and University of West Georgia reflected on the year that was and offered a peek at what they are working on in the year to come.
Next up was a keynote conversation with veteran live sports director Mark Grant, who reached the pinnacle of his accomplished career this year when he worked at the front bench of the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four and the National Championship Game for CBS Sports. In doing so, he also became the first person-of-color to direct a major American sports television championship on television. Grant joined the SVG College Summit to reflect on his career and offer his advice for directing live sporting events today.
The 15th-annual SVG College Sports Media Awards closed out Day 1, celebrating the very best in college sports video content from the past year and hosted by Fox Sports' John Fanta and the American Athletic Conference's Morgan Uber.
The two-day event also featured case studies from Clear-Com (featuring Harvard University's Imry Halevi), LiveU (featuring The Sun Belt Conference), Riedel (featuring speakers from the University of Georgia and MV SportsCom), and TAG Video Systems (featuring Texas A&M University Athletics' Zack Bacon).
Day 2 of the Summit kicked off with a panel on The New Control Room? Production Facilities in the Age of Remote Production and the Cloud. Centralized control rooms, trailers, and even flypacks are the established norm across collegiate athletic departments. As the greater broadcast industry evolves to utilize more remote (or REMI) production and cloud- based workflows, in what ways does that make us rethink the facilities that we call home? From switchers to comms to replay, graphics, audio, and everything in between, live production leaders from Monmouth University, University of Notre Dame, University of Texas, Diversified, and Riedel Communications shared their takes on new flexibilities available in live production.
Next up was a looking at how drones are efficiently bringing aerial coverage to live games. Across all levels of sports broadcasting, live drones are delivering truly unique visuals and providing eye-catching images to integrate into live game coverage. What technologies are needed to make the shot and, most importantly, what steps do you need to take to ensure you use drones safely - and legally? Leaders from CNN, Georgia Southern University, and Harvard University took the stage.
Top brass from Princeton University, Texas A&M University, Temple University, Canon, and CTI then hopped on stage for When Linear Comes Calling: Producing Games for Your Broadcast Partner. In a testament to how far this industry has come, live production teams on campus are being entrusted more frequently by their linear broadcast partners to produce live games for their air. How do you prepare differently - if at
all - for a linear game? What technologies and services have come up clutch for you? And what other key issues should you consider when this exciting opportunity arises - whether it's scheduled or sudden?
The SVG College Pioneer Award celebrates those who have innovated in the fields of video production and technology at the university level and have advanced the industry at large. This year, Shot Kleen, Former University of Nebraska-Lincoln HuskerVision Leader, was selected by a panel of past honorees, current and former SVG College Summit chairmen, SVG staff, and senior members of the SVG College Advisory Committee.
The mainstage program concluded with What's New in Game Pres: The Latest in Stadium and Arena Videoboards focused on the increasing number of screens are popping up on more venues across campus. Game pres pros from featuring speakers from Carolina Panthers/Tepper Sports & Entertainment, University of Georgia, University of Houston, and Ross Video shared how they keep the in-venue experience a top priority.
This year's SVG College Summit concluded with a pair of breakout tracks focused on large athletic departments and mid-size athletic departments.
More demands from our linear partners. Bigger videoboards and larger crowds at our venues. Higher expectations. Our departments may be well- oiled content machines but what pain points are holding us back and what opportunities are primed for us to take advantage of? Professionals from Power 5 conference schools, including the University of Baylor University, North Carolina, and University of South Carolina came together and share their best practices, compare notes, and share general advice.
In the second breakout rooms, professionals from mid-major and small conference schools including Charleston Southern University, Ouachita Baptist University, the Patriot League, University o
