It’s back to school time and our 2019 Skyhound Scholarship has been awarded for the 2019-2020 school year.
Congratulations to Sydney Shingle of Lindenhurst, IL who won our first scholarship after submitting her application and 1000-word essay on the importance and benefits of including professional videos on websites.
Sydney is a 19-year old student who is attending Columbia College in Chicago, IL as a junior studying Filmmaking and Video Production.
An excerpt from Sydney’s Essay below indicates her understanding of the importance of including video on a website.
Video in The Modern Media Environment
In the current age of the internet, technological capabilities as significant as the inclusion of video are vital to attracting and engaging viewers in the exponentially fast progression of online activity. With the accelerating rise in popularity of video use across platforms, it is clear to see that this trend is not likely to slow down. There are countless advantages of incorporating this medium into any user’s online activity, and businesses and companies would especially benefit from taking advantage of this technology. Whether to advertise its products and services on a website, to inform the customer about a company’s background and goals, or to present consumers with helpful ideas, using video media on any website will undoubtedly boost the overall image of the company as well as pique interest in any type of consumer.
While having a well constructed website could do wonders for any company, including a variety of media such as video on the site could dramatically add to polished construction. Embedding this different type of medium shows the user that the business is able to diversify the way it presents information and that it cares about how the customer interacts with its website — this displays thoughtfulness and professionalism in favor of the company, and would contribute to a well-polished appearance on any website. This also shows the customer that the business cares about the user interface by making the information as comprehensive as possible. This professionalism and careful thought are often noticed by customers, as the use of video displays that the company is up-to-date on modern media trends and that it seeks to maximize the user’s experience.
In addition to displaying the company’s capabilities and professionalism, the use of video in a website allows information to be relayed in a way unlike any other form of medium. Rather than having a customer or user scroll through paragraphs of plain text, integrating other media such as video significantly piques their interest and allows a more enjoyable experience overall. Video is such a unique medium because when compared to photographs, illustrations, and text, it is by far the most immersive experience. Reading written text can feel distant to the user. However by using video, the company can most directly communicate with the viewer through a unique combination of both visual and auditory information….
With the high cost of education today, we’re hoping the $500 scholarship can help Sydney pay for a few books and late night pizza cravings.
Skyhound received nearly 100 entries for the 2019-2020 school year. We wish the best to Sydney in her pursuit of her degree in Filmmaking and Video production.
Scholarship information for the 2020-2021 year will be posted as soon as it’s available. Details on the 2019 scholarship can be found here.