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IU's Virtual Visit CD-ROM wins New Media magazine's Invision Award
Nov. 15, 1999
EDITORS: Reporters may obtain a copy of Indiana University Virtual Visit by contacting Nancy Clensy in the Office of Communications and Marketing at 812-855-3911 or nclensy@indiana.edu
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Virtual Visit, IU's new CD-ROM, has received a bronze medal in the 1999 Invision Awards, one of the most esteemed awards in computing.
The Invision Awards, sponsored by New Media magazine, are one of the most anticipated and prestigious awards for digital content creators. Indiana University Virtual Visit, developed by IU in partnership with Bloomington-based October Interactive, received the bronze medal for best brand marketing.
The announcement was made Thursday (Nov. 11) during the 1999 New Media Insight Conference in San Francisco, Calif. Other finalists in the brand marketing category included TV Guide, the Boston Globe, Buick and BF Goodrich. Judges reviewed 1,200 entries from 17 countries. IU's CD-ROM also was a finalist in two other award categories, best interface design and best higher education application.
The CD-ROM was developed by October Interactive in partnership with the IU Office of Communications and Marketing and IU Radio and Television Services. This fall, IU is sending out 50,000 of the CD-ROMs as a recruiting and marketing tool. Every guidance counselor in Indiana will receive a copy, and hundreds more have been requested by guidance counselors around the country. More than 13,000 high school juniors already have requested a copy. It also is being used to help alumni see how the university is changing.
"As a national leader in the use of emerging technologies for effective communications, the IU team could not be more pleased with this recognition from other innovators," said Christopher Simpson, IU vice president for public affairs and government relations. "One look at other award winners strongly indicates that we are heading in the right direction as we seek the most effective ways of communicating with our most important constituents."
Don Hossler, IU vice chancellor for enrollment services, added, "College admissions and recruitment practices are being transformed by electronic media and communication tools. This CD-ROM surpasses our hopes and expectations. It will soon replace many of our printed recruitment materials.
"Most importantly, however, because of the amount of information and the extent to which individual students can customize their electronic tour of IU, it will be an invaluable tool for prospective students to have an in-depth exploration of IU as they move through their college selection process," he said.
Features of Indiana University Virtual Visit include nearly 200 video clips of IU students, faculty and graduates talking about courses, majors, careers, campus diversity, sports and culture. Users also can take advantage of 166 panoramic photos -- with full 360-degree viewing ability -- to look at living centers, classrooms, labs, sports areas and other campus settings, as well as the city of Bloomington. It also features music performed by Bloomington artists, interactive games, and an online link to IU's admissions application form. It is Macintosh/Windows-compatible.
A preview of Indiana University Virtual Visit is available on October Interactive's Web site at http://www.octobernet.com/projects/iuvv/iuvv.htm
IU's CD-ROM is just an example of how the university is using every emerging technology to tell its story to as many people as possible. It has used extensive research to redesign and reorganize its Web environment and is pioneering use of an electronic newspaper, IU News, to offer news information each week by e-mail. For more information on IU News, go to http://www.indiana.edu/resources/iu_news.html
IU is a technological innovator and leader. The university hosts the network operations center for Abilene, an Internet2 backbone network for research and education launched earlier this year. The National Science Foundation has awarded IU a $10 million grant to develop the international high performance research and education network connection, TransPAC, between the United States and the Asia Pacific Rim.
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)