Smith's Christmas Vespers 2011.
For the first time ever, Smith was able to broadcast this year’s annual Christmas Vespers concert online using live video.
Analytics show that Smithies from around the world signed on to watch the December 4 Vespers online. People accessed the video from five different continents and countries including Argentina, China, France, Germany, Nigeria, South Korea, Sudan, the United Kingdom, and others. Many Smithies watched the video at viewing parties with friends and fellow alumnae.
Christmas Vespers tells the story of Advent through hymns, prayers, and readings. Those who missed the live streaming of Vespers can still watch a replay of the live event.
Wow! It is so fantastic that we are reaching this level of rapid communication and accessible media for the masses. I recall back in the ’90s when the internet was widely heralded as this global community which transcended borders, and of course that old adage, the “information superhighway”. Now nearly twenty years later we are really living up to those promises. Of course progress is often a struggle, and with things like IP based geo-locational filtering threatening the border free global community that the internet has become, it is things like this which confirm how far we have come! I love seeing Smith embrace this kind of technology and hope to see many more live webcasts transcending boundaries in the future!