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Celebrating Miami Of OH grads with a virtual commencement
TL;DR
A Virtual Graduation
Miami University partnered with Subvrsive to host a virtual commencement to honor each graduating student and showcase the Miami experience. We designed a virtual graduation ceremony that allowed students to enjoy an immersive commencement within a virtual replica of the Miami University campus, while friends and family tuned in via a live video stream.
Idea
Caps, Gowns, and Avatars
Graduating is a huge deal. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools decided to send students home and finish out the semester safely online. For graduating seniors, that meant no graduation ceremony, no cap, and no gown. Miami University set out to change that.
Wanting to give their students a meaningful way to celebrate their academic achievements with family and friends until the in-person ceremony could be rescheduled, the team at Miami University reached out to Subvrsive.
Results
4,356 degrees awarded
100,000 live stream views
8,000 Snapchat pics
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Work
The Virtual Ceremony
Ask any student and they’ll tell you: one of the best parts about graduation day is the chance to share it with friends. Knowing this, we built interaction right into the student experience for Miami University’s virtual commencement.
All Miami grads were invited to participate in a VR ceremony. The web-based experience allowed students to choose a custom-designed Miami-themed avatar decked out in school colors and the iconic Miami “M” and join a CG space that resembled Miami’s actual campus. Once inside, students could move about freely, interact with one another through voice or chat, and view all of the commencement content on virtual screens within the environment.
Work
The Live Stream
Family, friends, and faculty could all join the fun by tuning in live to any scheduled ceremony on YouTube or Facebook.
Each ceremony featured a 30-minute pre-show reel that showcased Miami life, speeches from Miami University staff, and a closing segment featuring congratulatory messages alongside a presentation of personalized digital graduation caps, designed and submitted ahead of time by graduating students.
The seven ceremonies received a combined total of over 100,000 views on YouTube and Facebook.
"I am so thankful we can celebrate together, if not in person right now, in a one-of-a-kind way that reflects how our students, alumni and our entire Miami community come together to innovate, lead, push beyond boundaries and thrive."
- Gregory Crawford, President, Miami University
Work
The Microsite
In addition to the live events, we created a few fun extras to help bring the virtual graduation experience to another level.
Family and friends were all invited to submit congratulatory messages and photos to a custom microsite to celebrate the grads. By the end of graduation weekend, over 6,000 messages were submitted and displayed on the site alongside a curated feed of social posts containing the #MiamiOHGrad hashtag.
Work
Grad Pics Galore
We also designed a custom MiamiOHGrad Snapchat filter to allow users to take festive photos in a red graduation cap in front of several iconic campus locations. The filter was used over 8,000 times.
All in all, the commencement celebrations for Miami University’s Class of 2020 were unlike any other.
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Opportunity
Bringing Events to Life Digitally
Just as schools and universities were forced to think outside of the box to create virtual experiences amid COVID-19, many businesses and brands are in the same position. The good news is, from simple live streams and pre-programmed events, to complete VR events like the Miami graduation, there are countless ways to bring in-person events to life in the digital realm.
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