W&M University Relations launches YouTube channel
The Office of University Relations has created a YouTube channel to share its news videos that feature William & Mary people and events with the world.
The channel, http://www.youtube.com/WMNewsfeed, currently has more than 30 videos on it and four separate playlists for videos of faculty, students, staff and special events. They include interviews with William & Mary students, faculty and staff and footage of campus celebrations, such as last month's Charter Day featuring keynote speaker U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Virginia), the annual Yule Log ceremony and a clip of the traditional freshmen walk through the Wren Building following Opening Convocation. From video features of William & Mary professors Scott Nelson, Clyde Haulman and David Holmes to a Winter Break service trip to Petersburg where W&M students joined Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in a Habitat for Humanity project, the videos are posted on both YouTube and the College's Web site to supplement regular news coverage by University Relations.
The top video feature at the moment is on retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering, who came to the College following the presidential election to discuss foreign policy challenges for the next administration. The visit was part of the fifth-annual global forum sponsored by W&M's Reves Center for International Studies. All videos link back to the original news story featured on the College's News & Events Web page.
The channel also links to several other William & Mary YouTube channels in the "subscriptions" section of its page. These other channels include those operated by the Special Collections Research Center, the Office of Undergraduate Admission and the Mason School of Business.
According to its Web site, YouTube is "the world's most popular online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos." Registration for the site is free.
The WMNewsfeed YouTube channel is part of an ongoing effort to explore new communication options for members of the William & Mary community. Last month, University Relations launched its Twitter site and now has more than 340 followers on http://twitter.com/WMNews. University Relations continues to update its Twitter page with news scoops and even used the popular social networking site to first announce that this year's Commencement speaker was Tom Brokaw.
As the College continues to add multimedia products to supplement its news features, University Relations will continue to update and add content to the YouTube site.
