Category: News

San Antonio – July 20, 2014 – The Institute of Texan Cultures and the Convergent Media Collective proudly present Converging Texan Cultures. This exhibit examines Texan Cultures from a 21st century technological perspective and highlights contemporary themes in Texas architecture, food, and textiles/clothing. You can check out the exhibit at The Institute of Texan Cultures from July 26 – October 5. Mark you calendars for an opening reception on August 6 from 6 – 8PM. RSVP here or join the Facebook event!

About Converging Texan Cultures
Converging Texan Cultures is inspired by the collective members’ desire to explore the rich contemporary efforts of Texans to develop cultural experiences and artifacts, while also sharing the Convergent Media Collectives’ technology-centric experience. These displays will engage the visitor in an array of high definition digital video experiences that utilize projection mapping and video productions in a non-traditional way.

Here is an excerpt from the Convergent Media Collective’s website explaining their purpose and motivation for working on exhibits like Converging Texan Cultures:

“The Convergent Media Collective was formed when joey lopez moved to San Antonio, Texas and began teaching at the University of the Incarnate Word. The group consists of traditional artists, tech geeks, teachers, musicians, new media artists, social media professionals, photographers, activists and more… Read More”

This project’s contributing members include:

Andy Castillo –  Andy Castillo is San Antonio designer, with a BA and MA from the school of Architecture at the University of Texas at San Antonio.  He is a local urban development advocate.  He works on the South San Main Street project, the neighborhood he lives in.  He has developed a community garden, performed building restorations and works with the neighborhood association and local district 5 council person to bring additional funding to the area.

Kaye Cruz – Interactive Children’s book designer, Social Media Intelligence consultant & News Producer for National & International Network News agencies. “If there’s a wall to keep a good story from being told, I’ll always find or create a new media design to keep your Voice heard to the masses.”

 

Eliseo Diaz – A junior at Crystal City High School in Crystal City, Tx. Eliseo is a member of the high school band where he plays the sousaphone, tuba and trombone. He is also a musician in general. He hopes to become a filmmaker and through this installation received hands on experience doing cinematography.

 

Jonathan “Johnny” Guajardo – Johnny holds a B.A. in Communication Arts from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, where he is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree. He is the Vice President of the Convergent Media Collective, as well as Social Media Coordinator for the UIW School of Media and Design, and served as UIW’s Student Body President from 2011-2014. He has experience in all aspects of videography, photography, content design and social media marketing. Having produced both corporate and creative multimedia projects for the past six years, he has gained a reputation as a reliable and creative producer in the San Antonio area. He is also well-read historian and academic who enjoys meeting new people and traveling. In his free time, Johnny enjoys collecting vinyl records for his hi-fi stereo and studying Texas history.

joey lopez phd – Joseph Lopez (aka “joey phd”) is a Professor and the advisor of the Convergent Media concentration at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. His background spans many fields however his passion is teaching and working with students and the community to realize their dreams and aspirations. A northwest side San Antonio native and PhD graduate from UT Austin, joey’ PhD experiences creates a unique environment for students to feel encouragement to think and create freely while also giving them the professional and cultural attention needed to succeed in the real world.

Corina Zavala Lopez PhD – Corina is a fourth grade bilingual teacher for San Antonio Independent School District. Originally from Crystal City Texas, she is working on a book about her hometown. Outside of work she likes to make meals for the Collective and friends.

 

Joel Peña – J.P. Marcus is an expert director, photographer and videographer who enjoys traveling and storytelling. He holds a B.A. in Communication Arts from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas and is a first-class director, video editor and music critic. Having interned for media outlets such as San Antonio’s News 4 WOAI and NBC Universal in Los Angeles, he possesses a wide variety of media production skills. In his free time, Joel enjoys attending and photographing concerts and meeting artists from all around the world.

Miriam Thomas – Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts at the University of the Incarnate Word, Miriam concentrates her studies in the area of Convergent Media as a member of the Convergent Media Collective headed by Dr. Joey Lopez, Ph.D.. She recently completed a documentary exploring the media’s influence on the female body image.

 

Andrew Valdez – Andrew Valdez is a Comm Arts alumni who specializes in convergent media. A Bachelors of Fine Arts graduate of Texas State University, Andrew is able to design for many communication channels. His concentrations involve social media, augmented reality, animation and graphic design. Andrew is currently the Senior Multimedia Specialist at Palo Alto College and recently graduated with a Masters degree in Communication Arts from the University of the Incarnate Word.

Charlie Young – A Rio Grande Valley Native, Charlie relocated to San Antonio to obtain a higher education, he recently graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word with both a bachelor’s and masters in Convergent Media. Charlie is renowned for his photography skills as as well his fluency in Photoshop.

 

Jeremy Zunker – Jeremy has worked with hardware since he could get a hold of a screwdriver. His skills range from embedded systems, computer and electrical engineering, telecommunications, software development, and pretty much anything technical you can think of. He dabbles in art, and has participated in Luminaria as an artist and has done a few collaborative pieces with local artists. Additionally he dabbles in neurology, amateur radio, science and anything else that strikes his fancy. He is a co-founder and CTO at ParLevel Systems and President of 10BitWorks Makerspace (a non-profit makerspace).

 

To connect with the Convergent Media Collective, visit them at www.thecmcollective.org and follow them at @thecmcollective on Twitter, and facebook.com/ConvergentMedia

As a collective, we like to shine the spotlight on those members who have received outside recognition for their efforts in the realm of media and technology. This last academic year, one of our members, Andrew Valdez, received national attention for his social media campaign for Palo Alto College, one of the Alamo Colleges. Andrew began working for Palo Alto in June 2012 as a Senior Multimedia Specialist. Since his arrival, his contribution to the Alamo Colleges has been noted. His work can be reflected in the renovation of both the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the campus. Prior to his involvement, Palo Alto had multiple pages for each social media outlet, making it confusing for students to get in touch with their campus. Andrew has since empowered both students and employees to continuously engage online. Furthermore, he has successfully opened up a line of communication and continues to keep an ongoing dialogue between the college and its students through the use of social media.

In addition to managing the campus’ Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linked In and Twitter accounts, Andrew is also on the planning committee for PACfest, an official Fiesta event hosted by the college. This year’s event improved on the success of a unique and innovative attraction that was suggested and implemented last year by Andrew and his team. His idea was to incorporate the use of social media and blend it into the event, providing real time comments and feedback. The idea was named Social Media Alley, which included large screens on either side of a walkway that projected live status updates about PACfest using the hashtag “#PACfest”. The Alley also offered onlookers a chance to see what their community and classmates were posting on Instagram and Twitter so they can be informed of the best entertainment, games and food during the event. Check out this years event below.

Originally, Andrew thought this campaign would win a certificate and possibly state recognition, however he was later informed that the PACfest Social Media Alley campaign was nominated for one of the best Social Media Campaigns at the 2014 National Council for Marketing & Public Relations Conference. The conference was held in New Orleans and Andrew was in attendance to accept the Paragon Gold Award for Social Media Campaign of 2013, which was top honors in that category beating out several colleges such as Tallahassee Community College and Colorado Mountain College.

Congratulations Andrew for all your hard work!