McMurry University recently held the Inaugural Johnson School of Business Video Competition, where participants were tasked with positioning McMurry University as a school of choice for high school students. Their project requirements included a 30-second video, a social media strategy, and a unique slogan for the school to use for advertising. The students researched McMurry and were invited to visit the campus to learn more about the University, including academic programs that are offered and an idea of life on campus. Wylie, along with two other local schools, won grants to help further their digital audio and video design classes. Mark Allen and Brycen Potts were in charge of representing the Wylie Audio and Video (AV) class in this competition.

“We were asked to help them advertise to teens of our age who are searching for colleges,” said Allen. “We helped them find information such as the best times to advertise, how much exposure is beneficial to get the students’ attention, and how to use social media to their advantage.”

While researching, these two found many facts that were appealing about the college, including how it was- in Allen’s eyes- portrayed as “one big family.”

“The ratio of faculty to students was interesting to me, 16 to 1, and I can see how that can be a benefit of a small school, because you get one-on-one attention,” said Potts.

The duo’s video won them two thousand dollars, and when asked what the AV team was going to do with the grant, Potts explained that they are looking at purchasing a microphone “that will allow us to record sound at the football and soccer games because the sound in that area has become an apparent problem this year.”

While the AV class’ responsibilities might not be widely known, they work hard to ensure that every piece of technology at sporting events and in the performing arts center all operate smoothly together. Both Allen and Potts explained that they enjoy participating in this class and filming the many school events because it gives them an insider look at audio and video for bigger productions-such as the ones on television.

The class videos events to share not only with the Wylie community, but to other local areas as well. After they film and edit all of their recordings, they send some off to Abilene Public Access Channel.  “There,” said Allen, “they are premiered for others to watch and even purchase. This is especially helpful to athletes who want to review their game performance.”

Potts further explained that rather than monetary payment from the channel, “…we can request technology that we are looking to get, and they often send us those pieces of equipment in exchange for the film and rights.”

Congratulations to the Wylie Audio and Video Productions team for all of their hard work that has paid off in the form of this grant, and thank you for all that you do for our community!