SVG College Summit: 400 Attendees Reunite in Atlanta for First In-Person Summit Since 2019

Event included loaded agenda, tech-filled exhibit hall, and the chance to reconnect with video colleagues from across the country

For the first time in more than three years, the SVG College Summit was back in-person as 400 attendees came together at the Omni Atlanta Hotel on Monday and Tuesday.

The event was headlined by discussions on key topics such as live game production tools, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), IP-based workflows, direct-to-consumer content strategies, and more; an exhibit hall of 40 key technology vendors; and the return of the live SVG College Sports Media Awards ceremony.

The 2022 SVG College Summit drew 400 attendees to the Omni Atlanta Hotel on June 13 and 14.

The 2022 SVG College Summit opened with welcoming remarks from the event’s title sponsor, Ross Video, and their VP, Sports & Live Events – Global Kevin Cottam as well as by the chairman of this year’s Summit: Ken Cleary, Associate Athletic Director – Go Heels Productions at the University of North Carolina. That led directly into the show-opening session addressing the critical topic of NIL and how it is – and will – impact the work of athletic department video content teams. Tackling that topic were Nick Marquez, Sports Creator & Emerging Athlete Strategic Partner Manager for the social media giant Meta, Jim Nachtman, Assistant AD, Media and Video Production at Penn State University, Danielle Tate, Senior Partnerships Manager for the athlete content platform, INFLCR, and Kurt Svoboda, Associate Athletic Director for External Communications & Public Relations at the University of Michigan.

A loaded Day 2 began with a comprehensive State of the Industry panel breaking down key issues from technology to staffing and scheduling. The panel, which was moderated by Cleary, featured Bennie Ashford, Senior Associate Athletic Director/Broadcast Operations & Live Events at Mississippi State University, Leah Gill, Assistant Athletics Director – Digital Media at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Imry Halevi, Associate Director of Athletics – Content & Strategic Communications at Harvard University, and Jared Schatz, SVP, Vertical Markets & Solutions for Ross Video.

Attendees got the chance to take a deeper look into best practices in long-term media management and preservation with an example from the University of Georgia presented by Hossein ZiaShakeri, SVP of Business Development & Strategic Alliances for the leading storage vendor Spectra Logic.

The chairman of the 2022 SVG College Summit, Ken Cleary of the University of North Carolina, opened the show with welcoming remarks.

Next up, a selection of big college athletics brands have launched their own subscription-based content services over the past couple of years. A panel shared their experiences and chewed on questions aimed at answering if this is the right move for schools in the audience. The talk spotlighted: Alessandra Dickos, Digital Platform Manager for Fighting Irish Media at the University of Notre Dame, Tyson Hutchins, Assistant AD, Creative Solutions at Clemson University, and Bo Mattingly, President of Sport & Story. Then, a collection of experts in live game production shared what tools of the trade are taking their shows to the next level. That talk, moderated by Cody Chrusciel, Assistant Athletics Director, Multimedia & Broadcasting at Princeton University, included Valerie Gerfin, Associate Director of Live Productions at the University of South Carolina, Lucas Haskins, Coordinating Producer of Elon Sports Vision for Elon University, Kevin Hession, Director of Video Productions/Broadcast Engineer at Temple University, and Mike Kelley, President, Americas for Grabyo.

The afternoon took a deeper look at the technological infrastructures supporting the spike in live production in college athletic departments across the country. A session on how IP, Cloud, and REMI productions are changing the game delivered insights from Nicholas Case, Assistant Athletic Director of Broadcast Services at Charleston Southern University, Adam Coppinger, VP, Remote Productions for Tupelo Honey, Corey Speights, Associate Director, Live Event Production at the University of West Georgia, and James Stellpflug, SVP, Customer Success – The Americas for EVS. Additionally, attendees were treated to a presentation on the value of technology partnerships from Chris Burgos, Product and Sales Specialist at NewTek.

The event concluded with two intimate and candid workshop tracks designed to address the most pressing concerns of event attendees. Those workshops were broken up by size of the athletic department. The conversation for large athletic departments was led by Andy Blanton, Assistant Athletic Director – Video & Broadcasting at Georgia Tech, Justin Brant, Associate Athletics Director for Crimson Tide Productions at the University of Alabama, Eric Frey, Assistant Athletics Director, ACC Network Operations for Virginia Tech, and Parker Leppien, Senior Producer, Live Operations for Auburn University. Meanwhile, the mid-size/small department workshop was led by Steven Calista, Assistant Athletics Director of Video Production at University of California San Diego, Mark Fragale, Executive Producer of RIT SportsZone at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rebekah Schoenecker, Manager of Multimedia & Production at Brown University, Alex Souza, Assistant Athletic Director for Digital Initiatives at Coastal Carolina University, and Dennis Trapani, Associate Athletics Director, Creative Services at the University of Wyoming.

All general sessions from the 2022 SVG College Summit will be made available to watch on demand in the coming weeks.