Dear Diary:
We will be better at documenting the goings-on around here. What better way to start than to recap what January’s dealt us so far! Well, Melrose staff had a full January calendar ready for those who wanted to start off the year learning or enhancing a skill, or for anyone who just wanted to try something new. From a photo walk to a new video gear meetup, the release of a new Orlando Audio Podcast episode and Instructor Video, there was a little something for digital media enthusiasts out there.
One notable event was organized by the Audio team earlier in the month, Exploring Music Production & Performance with DiViNCi.
DiViNCi, member of Solillaquists of Sound, gave a short performance followed by Q&A with the audience. He gave insights from his experiences and engaged the audience. We had a really nice turnout and the audience had great questions. We even posted a video of the livestream up on our Facebook page and an event video on YouTube.
We appreciate DiViNCi for coming out to share and give back to the local community! If you want to learn more about the Audio team’s events or meetups, check them out here.
Jumping forward another week, and we find that our team exhibited at the Orlando Science Center’s Otronicon. We set out to make this unlike any of our previous exhibits. We wanted to have an exhibit that showcased the various areas of the Melrose Center, but in a cohesive format, and so the Virtual Boxing Experience was born. Can we just agree that this event was RIDICULOUS in all the best ways? We estimated interacting with over 2,500 people, some of whom waited in line for up to an hour to get the chance to fight a virtual zombie (or robot or ninja girl). We met some pretty rad people, got to talk a bit about our resources and the upcoming Expo. We also got to witness some amazing virtual fighters. It was worth all the hours of work and tireless effort that the team put into pulling it together!
Visitors could choose from one of four parts of the Virtual Boxing Experience, or EXPERIENCE IT ALL! They could be the Player, donning the HTC Vive goggles and fighting a digital opponent. They could be the Sound Effects engineer, matching the Player’s hitting actions with button presses on a MIDI controller to play punching noises, or a knock-out bell. They could be a Sports Announcer, giving a play-by-play in front of the action and seen on a projected screen. Or, they could be the MELROSE CHAMPION, the Player who has what it takes to grasp the Championship Belt in victory (whether you actually won or not, but that’s besides the point) and has their photo taken–for posterity, of course. It went so well, part of it will be set up during the Melrose Creative Expo so anyone who saw it on our social media who didn’t get to try it, can!
Up next: tomorrow’s Open Mic. There is a packed lineup, so hopefully the performers get here early! Until next time, Diary…