MEDIA ADVISORY/WINTER COMMENCEMENT COVERAGE

12/17/14
TO: Media representatives
FROM: Susannah Brooks, srbrooks2@wisc.edu, 608-262-3846
RE: MEDIA ADVISORY/WINTER COMMENCEMENT COVERAGE

Here are details about the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s midyear commencement ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 21 at the Kohl Center:

• The ceremony begins at 10 a.m.
• Reporters and photographers may move around the floor of the arena, but no filming or photography is allowed on the stage, with the exception of the studio that takes the official graduation photos. University Communications’ Susannah Brooks will be on-site to aid the media.
• A mult box will be available for broadcast recording. It will be located at the electricians’ table to the right of the stage.
• Media parking will be available in Lot 91 behind the Madison school district administration building, with entry from Bedford Street only. Parking permits will not be required for media vehicles.
• Ben Deutsch, vice president for corporate communications at Coca-Cola Co., will deliver the charge to the graduates at the ceremony. In his current role, Deutsch is responsible for corporate media relations, global brand PR, social and digital communications, issues management, and internal and executive communications. He is a 1985 graduate of UW–Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a former chair of the SJMC Board of Visitors. For more information, see http://news.wisc.edu/23246.
• The ceremony will be streamed live for the benefit of friends and relatives who are unable to attend. Windows Media Player and a broadband connection are required. The link to the streaming will be on the university’s main website at http://www.wisc.edu. The stream will not be available until the beginning of the ceremony.
• The school expects an estimated 1,365 students at all levels (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and professional) to participate in this Sunday’s ceremony. The exact number of graduates will not be determined until after winter break in late January.
• Information about commencement is available at http://commencement.wisc.edu.