Title – Crowdcast
Creator – Brandon Poli
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Abstract: In my 4 years of undergraduate study at the University of Maine, I’ve had the privilege to begin a career of amateur sports broadcasting at WMEB 91.9FM, UMaine’s student radio station. I was able to gain experience through attending live sporting events and broadcasting them over the radio. None of this would’ve been possible without the opportunity WMEB gave me.
However, with the growing culture of e-sports, video games played to a professional and competitive level, that made me realize there does not yet exist this same type of opportunity for amateur broadcasters to get started like I did. That’s where CrowdCast comes in. CrowdCast is an online community for those who want to get started in e-sports broadcasting, or “shoutcasting” by providing them a space to post content and get feedback, as well as some “raw material” to broadcast over. They will learn and grow through their experiences providing content for the subreddit while also getting tips and tricks from those who have more experience in broadcasting (like myself).
This capstone project is currently live at reddit.com/r/Crowd_Cast and my capstone blog can be found at policapstone.wordpress.com.
Press copy:
For nearly the past century, people have made a career commenting on and announcing sporting events on television and on the radio. Their voices and names become synonymous with various memorable plays; they become a part of the sport itself. Growing up, several kids may aspire to get into broadcast journalism because of these names and voices. Brandon Poli is one of them. At the University of Maine Brandon truly began pursuing his broadcast journalism dream at WMEB 91.9 FM, the campus radio station. But as times have changed, so has the face of broadcasting. While still broadcasting sports, Brandon has opened up to a new niche market: e-sports.
In the past decade, video games have become more than just a hobby to some players; it’s become a career. Some commentate on their gameplay for thousands to watch on youtube, others join a competitive team and compete against other teams for cash prizes. But in the past 3-4 years fortune is not all that comes with winning; with the growing culture of e-sports, which are video games that are played competitively and professionally around the world, professional players like Dyrus, Voyboy, and HotshotGG are now becoming more known among internet culture, as are the names of those who broadcast the game, like Phreak, Riv, Quickshot, and Jatt.
Brandon’s capstone idea was to create a community where amateur e-sports broadcasters could get together and share their own work, much like he did at WMEB, and give themselves the opportunity to learn and grow by doing instead of watching.
Capstone Question: What is the term for when video games that are played competitively and professionally around the world?
URL: reddit.com/r/Crowd_Cast
policapstone@wordpress.com
Email: bpoli19@yahoo.com