SAN ANTONIO, Texas—The World Literacy Foundation’s recent virtual global literacy awards were produced using NewTek’s TriCaster 2 Elite and Talkshow VS4000 as well as the NDI IP media protocol.
The World Literacy Awards honor those who proactively foster literacy skills among the 773 million people worldwide, as estimated by UNESCO, who cannot read and write.
The awards presentation was done virtually online as many locations around the world continue to struggle with the pandemic. To accommodate participants from around the world in different time zones, the foundation relied on Vizrt, which has owned NewTek since April 2019.
“When we first partnered with World Literacy Foundation in 2020, just before the effects of the global pandemic set in, we saw a philosophical alignment where the Vizrt Group could harness its technology and expertise in order to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds access stories and learning resources,” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, founder and chief innovation officer at the Vizrt Group.
“The fact that we have spent the past 18 months working on ways to keep content in production during the challenges of the pandemic meant we were able to offer an innovative solution for the WLF Awards, a key awareness raising event for the organization. We felt honored to be in the position where we could assist in making that happen,” he said.
For production of the awards, the TriCaster 2 Elite and Talkshow VS4000 were connected via NDI on the home network of Liam Hayter, senior solutions architect at NewTek. From his home, Hayter brought six Skype TX channels in for the host and guest presenter judges.
Through TriCaster 2 Elite’s Live Call Connect feature, Hayter brought 50 nominees for the awards into the production as “virtual awards attendees.” Producers based in Luxembourg controlling Zoom could then spotlight the winners as they were brought on air.
“This kept the awards experience intact by offering the exciting element of surprise that is so often lacking with online ceremonies,” said Hayter. Being a single operator, Hayter leveraged TriCaster automation using its Macro engine and LivePanel custom web GUI to run graphics, switching and M/E layouts for rehearsals and the live show in a simple, repeatable manner, he said.
“It was a very exciting setup and a really thrilling outcome for all involved,” said Hayter.
The WLF Awards were live streamed to YouTube through the TriCaster’s onboard streaming encoders.
“We were able to provide a professional and engaging broadcast to our global audience thanks to the Vizrt Group team, and we feel the charitable partnership has been made even stronger in the process,” said Caroline Burkie, COO at The World Literacy Foundation.
The awards event is available online. More information about the World Literacy Foundation is available on the organization’s website. More information about NewTek is on its website.
