Students trust passion, preparation for a strong Homecoming Parade livestream

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Malinda Garcia, Michael Hahn and Christina Rutherford have known each other for about five weeks since meeting as members of an advanced multicamera production course at Penn State, and this week they’re the student leaders for an hours-long livestream production of the Penn State Homecoming Parade.

Parade coverage will be available at homecoming.psu.edu beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 25.

A live event — especially one outdoors with a potentially variable lineup of participants —provides many challenges but the students from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications said they are confident about the effort because they share a passion.

They’re no longer unfamiliar with each other. They’re unfailingly confident about what they can do together.

“I’m really excited about how much we don’t know and how much we’ll find out the day of the event. That’s how live events work,” said Garcia, a senior telecommunications and media industries major from Philadelphia. She’s the producer for the livestream. “There are a lot of things out of our control, but what we can control is how we communicate and work with each other.”

The students have realistic expectations, too.

“You just have to assume something is going to go wrong,” said Rutherford, a junior telecommunications and media industries major from Austin, Texas, who serves as technical director for the livestream. “That way you’ve already thought about all the possibilities of what could happen and how to address them.”

It takes nearly a dozen students, abundant preparation and a lot of technical support to bring the livestream to life. The students’ shared experience and passion provide a bit of confidence for the livestream leaders.

“We want to catch as much of the energy and what’s happening for people who are watching from home,” said Hahn, a junior telecommunications and media industries major from Fredonia, New York. “You have to build storylines as you go with something like this, and that means we have to be working together. I think we’ll be good. Everyone knows their role and responsibilities.”

As director of the livestream, Hahn will make the final call on what shots get included in the livestream — and he’ll do so while in regular communication with Garcia, who started her career at Penn State Berks, and Rutherford, who decided on communications after exploring a couple other academic options.

At this point, they’re a cohesive and communicative team — and they’re embracing the challenge of an earlier-than-usual Homecoming week. Homecoming has been scheduled in September only twice in the past decade.

Still, the schedule for the week is consistent no matter the time of year, and the students’ approach seems set as well.

“Everything is fixed to happen at the last minute, that’s the schedule,” Garcia said. “Getting everything done may not be easy but we’re going to get it all done.”

The livestream coverage will originate from early in the parade route — along Bigler Road near the Bank of America Career Services Building.