Bladen Community College Virtual Graduation
Virtual Event Production
Though many graduates were forced to miss their usual graduation festivities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bladen Community College focused on a celebration for their graduates through a virtual graduation experience like no other. With a tight deadline and uncertainty with the pandemic, we knew this would be a special project with its own unique opportunities.
The Challenge
With the uncertainty of COVID-19 looming in March and April of 2020, Bladen Community College was forced to decide between pushing back their graduation celebration to the spring of 2021 or attempting a virtual celebration in less than 2 months. They asked us to provide the best possible virtual experience while engaging the local community to send off their 2020 graduates strong.
“Thank you again for helping us pull off our first-ever virtual graduation! Our graduates seemed to really enjoy the ceremony. I noticed some graduates take a photo of their slide from the TV and post to their story or Facebook. Always a pleasure working with Springer Studios!”
- Barry Priest, Vice President for Student Services
The Approach
“Class of 2020” Sticker: Bladen Community College wanted to include something extra in graduate “swag” boxes that included a book by the keynote speaker and their diplomas/degrees.
Virtual Graduation Digital Program: In place of a physical graduation program, we designed a virtual program that honored graduates, scholarship recipients, and information about the community college.
Virtual Graduation Event: Rather than delay graduation until the following year for their graduates, Bladen wanted every student to walk the virtual stage and celebrate. We pre-filmed with faculty and staff weeks before the “live” event to be held in June while following recommended safety guidelines. While there, we also captured “well-wishes” from faculty and staff that the college would use to promote the event in the days prior. We developed custom animations for each student, highlighting an image, quote, honors, and their degree/diploma.
The Results
“Class of 2020” Sticker: We custom designed a bumper sticker available for graduates to celebrate the occasion and facilitated its delivery, so they arrived in time to be handed out prior to the virtual event.
Virtual Graduation Digital Program: Specifically designed for digital distribution, the program was available on their website leading up to the event and was available for download so families could enjoy them as COVID-safe keepsakes.
Virtual Graduation Event: When the time came, our team managed the event live, engaging with chat and providing technical support so that the Bladen staff could enjoy the event with their graduates. With over 3.1k views since (as of fall 2020), the virtual graduation was a smashing success for the class of 2020.
“Very well done and received!!! A pleasure to work you on this project and looking forward to working with you in the future.”