24-Hour Multimedia Project Captures University Life

With tweets, videos and stories, the University of Wisconsin-Madison community showcased its spirit during a 24-hour multimedia project this month.

Led by the university's communications office, the effort included students, faculty, staff and alumni around the world. On Twitter, participants tweeted photos or descriptions of their day using the #uwrightnow hashtag.

Others created YouTube videos and emailed them to a university account. They also wrote short stories or sent photos and audio files to a university email about something they had done or were doing on campus.

The communications team posted some of the more creative submissions on a page designed for the campaign. Participants literally tweeted from midnight to midnight on April 18 from around the world — including the South Pole, where university researchers are working on a project; from Malaysia, where an alumnus is a U.S. diplomat; and Venezuela, where students are studying abroad.

Here's a sample of the submissions:

This video comes from a musician playing his last time with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Jazz Orchestra.

Other students talked about late-night studying, classes and meetings, including this student.

Had a great meeting with my adviser on the Terrace this afternoon. Where else would you chat about theory & early modern drama? #UWRightNow

— Jessie (@jesstype) April 19, 2012

One man sent this story and an audio file to the university:

"While not typical, on some days I get to bring people back from the dead. Or, at least their voices. I lead oral history activities for UW-Madison, and a typical day involves at least one request for more information about interviews in our collection. Recently, I received this request:

"'I am writing to inquire about my grandmother’s Oral History interview. I recently inherited the transcription of the interview from my Grandfather.  I would very much like to hear the original interview, as I never met my Grandmother.  I do not live in Madison, so if there is a digital copy of the interview through which I could access the cassettes I would be so grateful.'

"After sending this patron (via MyWebSpace) the recordings, within an hour she responded:

"'Thank you so much for getting back to me regarding my Grandmother’s recorded interview.  The files downloaded very easily.  It means so much to me to be able to hear her voice for the first time; it’s truly a unique and rare gift you and The Oral History Program have given me.'

"I rarely have a bad day at work, but a request like this make my good day even better."

Has your university done something similar? Let us know in the comments!