2013-10-29



This weekend is the first ever YouTube Music Awards, with awards in 6 categories all based on YouTube data such as most views, likes, shares, comments and subscriptions the awards ceremony will fuse the top professionals with the internet’s biggest sensations.  While the awards themselves are being given out at an event on Manhattan’s Pier 36 Orlando isn’t out in the cold.  The Google Student Ambassadors of UCF are collaborating on a viewing party (Google+ | facebook) with the UCF Campus Activities Board.

YouTube Music Awards Official  Orlando Viewing Party (Google+ | facebook) will take place Sunday Nov 3 5p-7:30p at the UCF Student Union Pegasus Ballroom (Building 52, Pegasus Circle University of Central Florida Orlando, FL 32816).  In addition to live-streaming the event, the event will feature a red carpet entrance, a green screen photobooth, and YouTube swag to give out including a brand-new 32GB Nexus 7 (worth $269).

The YouTube Music Award are just the latest in a long list of cool Google related stuff that UCF’s two Google Student Ambassadors have been bringing to Central Florida lately.

We recently spoke with Clayton Pritchard, one of UCF’s Google Student Ambassadors, about the exciting program and about this weekend’s YouTube Music Awards viewing party.  Pritchard is also Co-Founder and Marketing Director of Google Plus Daily, a Goolge+ news website, and Digital Marketing Account Manager at eComIQ, an Orlando based digital marketing agency. He is an active member in and has proven himself expert on the Orlando, and the national, tech community.  Recently Pritchard has been active coordinating and speaking at Google I/O Extended Orlando this past May, speaking at FLBlogCon 2013 in September, and speaking twice at UCF’s new Blackstone LaunchPad.

CFLT5- Can you explain to us what the Google Student Ambassadors program is?

CP- Google Student Ambassadors (GSA) are the liaisons between Google and their university campus. Our goal is to inform our campus of Google’s products and initiatives. Sometimes this can be through traditional presentations, but many times this is through fun events such as the YouTube Music Awards viewing party we’re planning for November 3rd. The GSA position extends the length of the school year, but there are some Ambassadors that have re-applied and been in their role for as long as 3 years.

CFLT5- What other Florida schools is the program found in?

CP- There are Google Student Ambassadors at 6 Florida universities including UCF, University of Florida, University of Miami, Miami Dade College, Florida International University, and Florida Institute of Technology

CFLT5- How did you personally become a Google Student Ambassador?

CP- I was invited to apply to be an Ambassador after taking part in Google AdCamp the summer of 2012. Google AdCamp is a selective 4-day program at Google’s New York City office taught by Google sales leaders, providing an in-depth introduction to the company’s advertising sales operations & client products (including AdWords, YouTube, and Mobile).

CFLT5-When did it come to UCF?

CP- I know it’s been here for at least the last 2 years before this year. The program itself was started in 2007.

CFLT5- What are some of the activities the Google Student Ambassadors at UCF have been involved with?

CP- We’ve tabled at few Late Knights events at UCF including one where we celebrated Google’s 15th birthday with cupcakes from Sweet! [Central Florida Top 5’s very own] Jen Vargas attended that event where she was nice enough to give demos of Google Glass.

We’ve also met with small groups to talk to students and faculty/staff about how they can best use Google’s products to achieve some goals they have. For example, I recently held a Q&A session at UCF’s new Blackstone Launchpad on Google’s tools for startups, and I presented to a few of social media workers across UCF about Google+, Hangouts on Air, and Helpouts.

CFLT5- Tell us some about the upcoming YouTube Music Awards. What will happen at the viewing party? Where can it be seen if you miss the viewing party?

CP- The YouTube Music Awards viewing party will be a collaborative event with UCF’s Campus Activities Board. At the viewing party, we will be live streaming the YouTube Music Awards because we all know watching an awards show is better when you’re watching it and commenting on it with others! We will also be playing a few games and giving out prizes including a brand-new Nexus 7 tablet. The Music Awards will be live streaming from youtube.com/musicawards.

CFLT5- What’s next for the Google Student Ambassadors at UCF?

CP- Right now we are focusing our attention on the upcoming YouTube Music Awards viewing party which will be our biggest event so far this year and the biggest Google event on campus since the Google I/O Extended event I coordinated this past May before becoming a Google Student Ambassador in August.

CFLT5- There has been a rumor for some time of Google looking at opening an office in the future Creative Village.  What have you heard about this?

CP- I don’t know anything about this. This is the first I’m hearing of it.

CFLT5- Florida Polytechnic University is opening their amazing new campus soon, just the latest in Central Florida’s ever growing digital media industry.  Where do you see the future of the digital media locally?

CP- I definitely see the Central Florida area continuing to grow its involvement in the tech industry with Orlando being a hub for simulation and the development of the new Medical City. Digital media will definitely be a big part of that due to the UCF Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, FullSail University, and the new Florida Polytechnic University campus in Lakeland.

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