Digital signage and social media bring audience participation to USC graduation

Collegiate graduation ceremonies can be tedious experiences at the best of times — especially for the people who aren't graduating but are just there to see friends or family graduate.

So how can the experience be transformed from tedious to engaging, or even interactive?

The University of Southern California recently tried out a combination of digital signage and social media to increase audience engagement at graduation.

The University's Sol Price School of Public Policy used Enplug's digital signage and social media integration solution during its graduation ceremony to get attendees sharing on social media, and to also show images and video with a graduation theme.

The school showed posts from Instagram and Twitter that used the hashtag #USCPrice, allowing families and the students to share their memories with the school on social media. It also allowed families and friends to congratulate the new graduates live during the lead up to the ceremony.

According to Enplug, the solution also worked as a promotional tool for the school, with graphics showing images such class rings, cheerful students, quotes from past graduates and calls to action to share on social media.

For the project, Enplug's software powered two large 18-by-24-foot rear-projection screens with double stacked Christie HD 14KM Projectors.

"We needed a powerful but cost-effective way of showcasing social media on large projection screens during our commencement ceremony," said Jonathan Schwartz, digital video manager for the Sol Price School of Public Policy. "The simple user interface and streaming media device combined with the ability to capture posts from all major social media platforms while still having the ability to moderate them, made Enplug the obvious choice for us. The social media video wall was a huge success as graduates and their friend and families posted during the ceremony and saw that result instantaneously, thereby significantly increasing the school's reach and interaction with its audience both during and after the ceremony."