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In the summer of
2006, the dream was no more than a pile of rolled-up architectural
renderings. But it was a
massive undertaking, the rebuilding of
Kent
State
University
’s Franklin Hall, home to the
School
of
Journalism
and Mass Communication.
While the project had many practical drivers, the overall goal
was to converge media, provide collaborative and interactive learning
experiences, and to support the school’s position of leadership for
the future.
Yes, there was a lot riding on
this.
Industrial Video
was approached to design, engineer and install a digital broadcast
studio that would give students the skills and experience they need to
be prepared for real studios in the working world.
Led by systems consultant Mitch
Dunasky, the Industrial Video team spent months planning and
specifying the installation. A
Grass Valley Kayak 2.5 switcher was selected as the brains of the
control room system, orchestrating the seamless operation of
switchboards, monitors, audio and video feeds, servers and routers.
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The
first quarter of 2007 was spent readying the space and overseeing the
buildout of the studio. Mitch
became a regular member of the hard-hatted site crew, and checked in at
the site on a daily basis. The
empty spaces needed to be outfitted according to extremely tight specs
in order for the installation to go smoothly, and this involved a series
of onsite adjustments until everything was set.
Then one day in March, the
warehouse at Industrial Video’s headquarters in
Strongsville
took on a different look.
It was packed to the gills with boxes, crates, pallets and
equipment. Once the
inventory and staging process was complete, the caravan of delivery
trucks set out for Franklin Hall.
The
installation began in March 2007 and the final sign-off and training was
completed in December 2007. “It
was a like running a marathon, it was demanding and required endurance
along the way, but the finish line is exhilarating.
The payoff is well worth it” said Jeff Fruit, director
of the
School
of
Journalism
and Mass Communications.
“On the day we did our first
comprehensive test I could hardly believe we were seeing the system come
to life for the first time,” said Mitch.
“Plus, due to all the careful planning at each stage of the
project, and thanks to a top-notch team, Industrial Video had very
little troubleshooting once the system was up and running.”
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