46 LIVE: Capturing the Essence of THON

THON will be here soon, and everybody is preparing in many different ways. From the committees, to the dancers, to various clubs, everyone has been gearing up since the beginning of the school year. And get this – 46 LIVE, the THON webcast, has people who have already put in over 400 hours to prepare for the weekend. So tell your friends and family to tune in because THON isn’t something to be missed and this webcast is taking it to new heights for its viewers.

“46 LIVE is an incredible way for students passionate about multimedia to get experience in the field while also benefiting the amazing cause that is THON. Our whole team is excited to bring THON to people around the world with 46 LIVE,” says Dan Balton, a senior marketing major and one of the executive producers of 46 LIVE. But this is just a glimpse of what 46 LIVE is about.

46 LIVE is (in more technical terms) the College of Communications, Telecommunications Club’s Webcast. The club has started fresh with the brand new name and is branding themselves to be a one-of-a-kind, full-blown, industry-standard college production.

The live webcast will begin at 5:30 p.m. on February 20 with a pre-show and will go live until the dancers dance their last.They are working with students in the Telecom Club and others who have expressed interest in working – including the 20 hosts for 46 LIVE.

The three executive producers of 46 LIVE are Erica Kasan, Dan Balton, and Marielena Balouris, each working closely alongside Andrew Burd, the Telecommunications Club president. They are all seniors at Penn State and have expressed their excitement for all the new changes to the webcast this year.

This year, 46 LIVE is incorporating new ways to see THON. They will bring THON to online viewers around the world through the webcast and will include special features including GoPro segments, dancer video messages and a lot of social media activity.

The crew are especially excited about the dancer video messages, which will bring the well-wishes of dancers’ loved ones to the floor of the BJC and keep spirits high throughout the weekend.

46 LIVE is also working with a lot of pre- produced content. They held interviews with all 16 THON directors before Thanksgiving and also interviewed those that are dancing in THON 2015, as well as past dancers.

Each of these personal segments is set up to tell a different and emotional story about THON. The producers say they want to show the different sides of THON and the different connections each person has with the event.

To get the inside story, Valley sat down with Erica Kasan and talked to her more about 46 LIVE.

VALLEY: What part are you most excited about doing for 46 LIVE?

Erica Kasan: I’m most excited that the 46 LIVE team is going to be able to bring THON to a new light, with the new technology and ideas through the webcast. We’re going to able to tell a lot more stories and share more perspectives of the weekend. I’m most excited to work with the team and all the students involved with 46 LIVE.”

V: How did the dancer profile videos go?

EK: The profiles we have been pre-producing really show all the work that the directors have been doing throughout the year to make THON possible and how the dancers have been preparing for the weekend and their personal connections to THON. It is really powerful and really personalizes THON more and it’s nice to hear individual stories as to why they THON.

V: What is the social media aspect going to be like over the course of the weekend?

EK: 46 LIVE is going to have a big social media presence along with our webcast. We plan on being really interactive with our viewers, and that will be a big focus of mine specifically for the weekend.

V: What kind of support has 46 LIVE had throughout planning the webcast?

EK: We have been in direct communication with the THON directors and the support they have given us has been really great. It has been a pleasure working with them and we are all excited for the weekend to be a success- both in the BJC and on 46 LIVE.

V: What does THON mean to you?

EK: It really is special to me that we go to a school with so many different kids with so many different interests and that we all come together for the same cause that is bigger than ourselves. It’s been an honor to finish off my senior year working on such a powerful project through 46 LIVE.

V: This is the first year of 46 LIVE, where do you see it going in the future?

EK: I see it only progressing from here. From this year to last year we’ve made huge advancements. And with new technology and new students that have new idea, it’s only going to get bigger, brighter and better. We really want this to be the inauguration of something huge.

46 LIVE will be capturing THON for viewers around the world. They have created a promo video that is only a preview of how chilling their webcast is going to be. Be sure to tell friends, family and everyone you can to tune into 46 LIVE during the weekend of THON. The countdown to THON has begun. Where will you be when it gets to “Three… two…one”?

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