Guidelines for Submissions to the UTMB
Campus Monitors System
Overview
The UTMB Campus Monitors System is a communication tool available to
university staff to publicize or promote business-related activities,
opportunities or events. At the center of the system is a dynamic, looping
display available 24 hours per day, every day, on campus cable channel 54.
The display is driven by a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation maintained on a
server by UTMB Video Operations.
The broadcast is presented to viewers primarily through 20 televisions in
public waiting and congregation areas: outside elevators, in lobbies and in
the cafeteria, as examples.
The Campus Monitors System was is owned and administered
by the UTMB Public Affairs Office, in
collaboration with Information Services, Video Operations and Classroom &
Technical Services.
Audience
Faculty, staff, students, patients, campus visitors and the general public
all view the monitors that are part of this system. Communicators using this
resource should take this wide audience into consideration.
System Operations
The monitors broadcast is operated and maintained by UTMB Public
Affairs.
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Updates are made weekly.
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Messages can run up to a maximum of six
weeks.
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After six weeks, a message may be
re-submitted one additional time in its original form, for a total of 12
weeks for any single message. Exceptions to this 12-week limit will be
considered only on a case-by-case basis.
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Public Affairs has ultimate responsibility
for the resource and maintains the right to edit or modify messages for
clarity, visual style, or system efficiency.
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Regular messages will be suspended during a
crisis to permit use of the monitors system for emergency communication.
Regular messages may also be temporarily suspended for other special
communication applications.
Submission Deadline
The submission deadline is end of the day on Monday for a message to be
broadcast beginning Wednesday of that same week.
How to Send in a Submission
Submissions may take one of two forms:
1. Text sent via email to Public Affairs (as an Word attachment or
embedded in the message)
2. As a PowerPoint "slide" created to the guidelines outlined below
and sent to Public Affairs as an email attachment (this is the preferred
method):
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Slide sized for an "on-screen show," 10
inches by 7.5 inches
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Maximum file size of 100KB for a single slide
Suggested Practices
Public Affairs offers the following suggestions to help make messages as
effective as possible:
All communicators should:
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Keep it short, sweet and simple. Remember
that most viewers may get 10 seconds at best to scan a message. A few
lines, a handful of carefully chosen words are the best approach.
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Give viewers a place to go for more
information: include a name and phone number, email address or web site
address on every message.
Communicators creating their own slides should:
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Keep it big and clear. A message will likely
be read from 10 or 15 feet away.
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Keep text large and make sure there’s good
contrast between words and the background.
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Avoid unusual or dramatic fonts. They often
are difficult to read, and are subject to random substitution if they’re
not available to the server.
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Keep animation to a tasteful minimum; it can
often distract/detract from your key message.
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Don’t use sound. It’s turned off on the
public monitors for obvious reasons.
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Do use white space. Keep a generous border
of clear area around your text or images to keep content from getting
clipped by the edges of the TV monitors.
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Avoid extensive use of neon-like colors;
they can be a challenge to legibility.
Where to Send a Submission
Email your messages or slides to:
Need More Information or Have a Question?
Contact UTMB Public Affairs, via phone at campus ext. 22618 or by email at
public.affairs@utmb.edu. Or, come by the
Public Affairs office, Suite 3.102 in the Administration Building.
This policy is effective Sept. 1, 2000 and was reviewed May 28, 2008. Public Affairs reserves the
right to modify this policy by notifying users of the existence of new
guidelines governing the use of this resource.
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