Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) announced today that it has selected Landmark College as Community Partner of the Year and Sovernet as Sponsor of the Year as part of its annual Producer Awards ceremony. Landmark College, in Putney, Vt., is a global leader in integrated teaching methods for students with learning disabilities (such as dyslexia), ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sovernet Communications, headquartered in Bellows Falls, Vt., is a BCTV under-writer that provides BCTV broadband Internet service over its extensive Vermont fiber optic network. Both of the awards were announced at BCTV’s annual meeting on October 1.
“Landmark College has earned our Community Partner award for developing a curriculum for its broadcast journalism class that features hands-on experience at BCTV,” said Cor Trowbridge, Executive Director of Brattleboro Community Television, where students learn both on-camera and technical skills as part of the class. “BCTV and Landmark College also partner annually in turning Landmark’s inspiring, on-campus lecture series into quality programming for BCTV viewers throughout our broadcast service area.”
“Up until this year, BCTV was not able to stream our lectures live, due to inadequate Internet bandwidth speeds,“ said Todd Pykosz, Senior Network and System Administrator, Landmark College. “This all changed after we both independently connected to Sovernet’s state-of-the-art fiber network earlier this year.”
On September 4th, the two organizations put these new connections to the test by live-streaming Dr. Temple Grandin’s lecture “Different Kinds of Minds.” Dr. Grandin, the noted professor and best-selling author, is a cultural icon for neurodiversity, best known for her work in animal science and autism advocacy.
Given the great importance of Dr. Grandin’s work to Landmark’s community of students who learn differently, the majority of tickets to the lecture were set aside for Landmark students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets for the public were reserved in just two days. Due to the high level of public interest in the lecture, the college worked with BCTV to offer live streaming of the event on YouTube.
“After the great success of the Dr. Grandin live broadcast event, which allowed more than 400 additional people to participate in real time, we decided to give our Sponsor of the Year Award to Sovernet,” Trowbridge said. “It’s an indication of how important bandwidth is in the media world,” she added. “BCTV also relies on Sovernet’s dedicated symmetrical bandwidth for internal purposes, such as uploading to our video library and moving large files around. We used to have to upload our videos in the middle of the night, when other uses drop off.”
“This method of webcasting enables BCTV to go live from anywhere with adequate upload speeds,” Trowbridge noted. “It’s a better way to get live local programming on our channels than the outdated method we currently use. Sovernet’s service gives us the flexibility to utilize this method at anchor institutions throughout our eight-town service area.”
“Helping partners like Brattleboro Community Television and Landmark College leverage broadband to more effectively serve their viewers and students is precisely why Sovernet built this network,” said Gregg Noble, Business Development Manager at Sovernet Communications. Noble has led the company’s effort to connect Vermont’s community anchor institutions to the recently completed state-of-the-art fiber-optic network.
About Brattleboro Community Television
Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) provides public access television services and municipal meeting coverage for the towns of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Jamaica, Newfane, Putney, Townshend and Vernon in addition to community driven programming on Comcast Cable and Southern Vermont Cable Channels 8 and 10. For more information, please visithttp://brattleborotv.org/
About Landmark College
Landmark College was the first institution of higher learning to pioneer college-level studies for students with dyslexia. Today, Landmark College is a global leader in integrated teaching methods for students with learning disabilities (including dyslexia), ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The College offers two- and four-year degree options, a graduate-level certificate in universal design with technology integration, and summer programs for students who learn differently. Students, faculty, and professionals from around the world are drawn to Landmark College in Putney, Vermont for its innovative educational model, designed through research and practice to help all students become confident, empowered, and independently successful learners. For more information, please visithttp://www.landmark.edu/
About Sovernet Communications:
Founded in 1995, Sovernet is a leading regional provider of high capacity network transport, broadband internet and voice services throughout a 4500 fiber mile footprint in northern New England and New York. Sovernet and its Albany, NY based subsidiary, ION, provide services up to 100 Gbps to enterprise, carrier and government customers throughout the New York and Northern New England region. The company is headquartered in Bellows Falls, Vermont with facilities in New York, Vermont and southwest New Hampshire. For more information please visitwww.sovernet.comandwww.i-o-n.com/