LancerAds are now streaming live on campus after a several week delay. LancerAds are Longwood's branch of Orca TV, a televised program designed for student-created content (e.g., simple advertisements or interactive videos), local business advertisements and emergency alerts. Students can access LancerAds in their place of residence on channels 21 and 22 and on 18 television screens throughout campus.
LancerAds have been in the works for over a year. Longwood University Police Department (LUPD) Chief of Police Bob Beach said LUPD has been interested in bringing Orca TV channels to Longwood since the beginning due to the "obvious public safety capabilities." He said LUPD thought the program's ability to share emergency alerts quickly could contribute significantly to safety on campus.
Beach said LancerAds are valuable because, in addition to acting as a supplement to the emergency alert system on campus, they can also serve as an alternative to fliers and other promotions of student activities that may normally go unnoticed.
The process of bringing LancerAds to campus was extensive. Beach said, "We had to get a deeper understanding of what the overall effect would be." After about a year of discussion, LUPD believed LancerAds were a practical investment. The idea was then brought to President Patrick Finnegan and other administrators for approval.
Beach said once LancerAds were approved overall, logistics still needed to be worked out. A monitoring system for student-submitted content was created, and administrators decided they would take program's finances from excess student fees. These details helped put LancerAds in motion.
In November 2011, Orca TV CEO Rajiv Shenoy visited the Student Government Association (SGA) to announce that Orca TV would be coming to Longwood. He explained LancerAds would be free to all students and could be used as a way to promote activities, organizations and events. At the time, LancerAds were set to go live in January 2012.
According to Beach, LancerAds' initial post-winter break start date proved to be difficult. "Some details needed to be worked out," he said. He explained the original deadline could not be met because staff members were off work during winter break and unavailable to work on the system.
On Jan. 31, Shenoy attended the SGA meeting to let students know LancerAds would be live on campus in a matter of weeks. He encouraged the students to utilize the program, not only for SGA matters, but for other student organizations as well.
Shenoy said he hoped LancerAds would be used frequently by students since various formalities had to be fixed for the program to go live. He said, "I think that, just like at any school, there's some obstacles, but we came over them pretty well; it's just a matter of getting it online and getting students to start using it."
Shenoy said he was "hoping for more ideas and positive ways [Longwood] can improve [Orca TV]." He said he hopes Longwood follows the footsteps of many universities and uses the program to air live student events (e.g., student government elections and sports games) to "capture the Longwood culture within these screens."
Shenoy added, "I think [Longwood] is a very cool school and has a very tight-knit community. I'm excited to be a part of it, and hopefully we can add something to the culture here."
Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Tim Pierson also advised students to promote their activities and clubs through LancerAds. "So many [campus] organizations are doing great things," he said at the Jan. 31 SGA meeting. He added that new organizations could use LancerAds as a way to gain exposure.
Beach agreed there is potential for LancerAds on campus. He said students work hard to make creative fliers that often go unnoticed. He said LancerAds can give students the "ability to get a message across in a dramatic way." He added," It's the genius of the students here that will drive it."
Assistant Director for Student Activities Billy Boulden, who moderates how the system is being used, said, "I think it's going to help us do a much better job at promoting activities and events around campus for everybody."
Boulden added that in addition to the 18 televisions currently spread among four academic buildings (Chichester, Grainger, Ruffner and Hiner Halls), the university will soon install screens in Curry and Frazer Residential Halls, Lankford Student Union, Lancer Café, Janet D. Greenwood Library, Dorrill Dining Hall and Java City. Boulden said these places are important due to heavy student traffic but assured LancerAds will expand to more locations on campus in the future.
Several student organizations have already used LancerAds, including Lancer Productions, the Longwood Show and Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. Students can learn more about LancerAds and how to utilize them at http://longwood.orcatv.net.
LancerAds will be shown throughout campus on LCD screens like this television in Hiner Hall.
