Umeå University to broadcast '48 hour student experience' live on the web
NEWS
Umeå University has invited two “VIP” future students to experience the university and city during the weekend of 27-29 May. The students will be beginning their studies in the autumn and everything will be streamed live online for all to see.
The unique live online broadcast is a way to target new groups of young people. "The hope is that by implementing social media and new technologies, we can reach new audiences of young people who otherwise might not find us or believe that university education is not for them,” says John Molander, Project Manager for Marketing at the Information Office of Umeå University. “Everyone can now see what we have to offer with their own eyes," he continues.
The two winning VIP guest students - Zhyar from Västerås and Linn from Luleå, gathered votes on Facebook - wrote why they were best suited to show Umeå to the youth of Sweden. This upcoming weekend, they will be visiting the student city of Umeå and will meet: students, the university management, local celebrities, university personnel, as well as having the opportunity to enjoy the featured entertainment in Umeå. The programme leaders and guides are two current students, Emma Olsson who studying to be a priest in the theology programme and Viktor Åsberg in the music teacher programme.
The programme for the two VIP guest students is extensive, and there is a tremendous amount of entertainment available this weekend as the traditional “Brännboll” Cup Championship, the largest tournament of its kind in the world, is taking place. The prospective students (beginning studies in autumn 2011) will have the chance to experience the broad range of activities and education at the university, including rafting down the Umeå River along with several creative Umeå residents and chefs from the Umeå School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts, and much more. Everything will be broadcast live on the web.
“We are convinced that our current students can best describe to prospective students what it’s like to be a student at Umeå University,” says John Molander. “A live broadcast is perfect in this context, as we dare to show the unedited reality. Everything can and will happen, when you are broadcasting live for 48 hours.”
