KMTV has launched the county’s only dedicated video news app.

The Freeview channel, owned by the University of Kent and the KM Media Group, broadcasts to thousands of residents across the county every day. Now, even more people are being kept up to date with stories and content that really matter to their communities through its innovative app.

The app, that’s available to download for free on both Apple and Android devices, broadcasts KMTV’s live output 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Users are also able to watch all of the channel’s shows on demand, including its flagship news programme ‘Kent Tonight’.

‘We’re so excited to be launching the app and serving even more people in Kent,’ says Andy Richards, KMTV’s News Editor. ‘Every single minute of the content that we create at KMTV is now available on the app. 90,000 people currently watch our content on Freeview and Virgin for three minutes or longer every week. 100,000s use our social media and website and we’ve achieved 1,000,000s of views of our videos since launching. We’re delighted to have built this audience in our short existence but by developing the app, we’re now able to serve an even wider audience.’

After a soft launch of the app to help test the software, hundreds of people have already downloaded it on both stores. ‘It’s been amazing, considering there’s only been limited promotion whilst we finessed the app’s functionality. I think it shows that there’s a huge appetite for the kind of content we’re creating and we’re really excited about its future’.

The app has been developed by Publishers’ Toolbox, an international digital agency that’s working with media organisations such as NewsUK and The Gay Times.

Working with Publishers’ Toolbox, KMTV’s helped develop key innovative features. Users are able to submit their own content to the channel that flows directly into KMTV’s news gathering system. ‘Through producing our content online, we’ve seen how well user generated content does in terms of traffic on social media groups,’ says Richards. ‘Why not take this a step further? We want smaller communities to use our various channels to tell stories that wouldn’t usually get a platform to thousands. The public are more educated than ever before on how to use powerful devices such as smartphones and it’s a really simple process to send the content. We’re hoping to work with lots of diverse groups to deliver hyper local stories to areas that doesn’t traditionally get a voice’.

As part of its relationship with the KM Group’s newspapers, KMTV will also be trialling the use of ‘Augmented Reality’ through its app. Users will be able to scan pictures in the KM newspaper titles that will bring the pages to life by delivering videos within the app. ‘This
could be the future,’ continues Richards. ‘Augmented reality has been around for a little while, but has had limited uptake or success. That’s because technology wasn’t ready for it but I think it is now. It’s a fantastic way of bringing a modern twist to traditional media and we think it’s a really interesting feature that’s worth exploring, as there are both editorial and commercial opportunities through its use.’

For more information contact Andy Richards on 01634 202024 or visit the KMTV website and social media pages: Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.

In October 2018, the Student Experience Board commissioned a review of student welcome, induction and transition activities and communications.

The review aims to better co-ordinate all our welcome activities and communications to ensure our activities are accessible and fully support our diverse student population.

We have worked closely with the Union throughout this project.

For 2019, we are implementing the following quick wins:

• A joint ‘Hello Kent’ campaign with the Union to welcome new students to campus.
• This campaign includes a shared ‘Hello Kent’ campaign webpage, which pulls together all events and information for new students in one place. The Hello Kent webpage will be available in early July at – www.kent.ac.uk/hello
• Improvements to our current maps on the Kent website. The new maps will work well on a mobile device and have geo-location.
• A more co-ordinated approach to arrivals communications.

For September 2020, we hope to build on this work and improve the support we offer to both new and continuing students.

Study Plus and the Centre for Journalism ran a free journalism course for Kent students from 10-14 June. It was the perfect opportunity for students thinking of journalism as a career, adding a Year in Journalism to their degree, or considering doing Kent’s Master’s in Multimedia Journalism, to have a go at being a journalist for a week.

The course offered an intensive immersion in the basic principles and practices of journalism in the multimedia age. Philosophy and Literature student, Iona, says: “Not only did I develop skills directly in line with my passions, but I expanded my skill set by taking on new skills I wouldn’t have considered if it weren’t for this course.” You can read her blog post on the CEWL (Centre for English and World Languages) webpages.

Study Plus is a range of short, non credit bearing courses which can improve students’ employability skills, develop their personal creativity or expand their cultural and academic knowledge. They are free to all students registered on an existing Kent programme. They range in duration from single one-hour workshops to a 30 hour, five-day course.

We are always looking to add new courses to the Study Plus portfolio and welcome suggestions from any member of staff. If you have an idea for a new course or one-off workshop for 2019/20, please read the information for staff on the Study Plus website. 

If you have any questions about Study Plus, email studyplus@kent.ac.uk or contact Ruth Newman on 01227 823790 for an informal chat before submitting a course proposal.

Congratulations to alumna Zoë Carey-Williams, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and French in 2017, who worked on the comedy TV movie Death on the Tyne (2018), which has been nominated for Best Comedy Programme at the Broadcast Digital Awards 2019.

Death of the Tyne was produced by UKTV, and saw Zoë starring alongside comedy legends Johnny Vegas and Sue Johnston. The film is a follow up to Murder on the Blackpool Express (2017), and follows a mystery on an Amsterdam cruise ship crossing the Tyne.

Explaining her background, Zoë said: ‘I studied Drama and French at Kent and the teaching on the acting modules I chose for second and third year were outstanding. We were really pushed and taught so many tools to apply to the craft.’

Following her study, she wanted to pursue acting professionally – which swifty led to her getting the role of Hen in Death on the Tyne: ‘I got the role from a self-tape audition. It was only a couple of lines but it was my first professional speaking role on-screen and I was ecstatic – and very nervous – because the cast featured many brilliant and hilarious actors who I’d grown up watching, and the director Ed Bye had directed my favourite comedy show as a kid, After You’ve Gone.’

Has Zoë any advice to current students? ‘Sometimes we take our time at university for granted – the access we have to brilliant minds ready to impart their wisdom. I still go back to the notes from my courses. I will always be grateful for my time at Kent!’

To see the full list of nominations, please see the page here.

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, speaks to Vivian Asimos.

Vivian recently achieved her PhD on theology and virtual storytelling at Durham with Douglas Davies (next week’s guest), with ‘Slender Man’ (a fictional monster created on an internet forum) as her main case study. The pair discuss blurring the line in horror between fiction and reality.

She and Chris go on to discuss video games; Florida; wanting to be a creative writer; ‘stumbling into’ Religious Studies; playing the piano; funk; listening to the charts on the way to church; ‘Lord of the Rings’; working in a food bank and on President Obama’s re-election campaign; the comfort of not belonging; what her childhood version of herself would expect she would be doing now; and using the past as a learning experience for future situations.

We are looking for great student stories which showcase our students’ successes and achievements, many of which have been acknowledged and celebrated via a range of awards, initiatives and publications while others may have gone on to have great jobs.

If you know of such a student, please get in touch with the Press Office as soon as possible. We would like to hear about those in any year of study or who may be about to graduate. They could be an entrepreneur or have overcome particular challenges to get to where they are now. They may have made an impact on the community, or have been an inspiration to others. They may have landed the job of their dreams.

Whatever their story, if you think it’s worth telling please drop us a line at pressoffice@kent.ac.uk.

A big congratulations for the First prize winner goes to Harry Ghosh, a final year student in Politics and International Relations for his atmospheric photo taken in the ever-popular K Bar, having fun with his friends. Harry won £80 worth of Amazon vouchers…well done!

The competition was open to all University students and staff past and present as part of Keynes College 50th Anniversary celebrations and participants were encouraged to submit photos that capture the essence of life in Keynes.

We thoroughly enjoyed viewing the wide array of entries including some golden oldies from a past Keynestock festival in the 70s to the tranquil pond area that all students and staff love to relax by. We thank everyone for participating!

Second prize went to Alumni Claire Dowling and third prize went to staff member Natalia Crisanti. Well done!

Why not take a look at the winning three and all of the shortlisted photos next to our ‘We are Keynes’ exhibition in Keynes Atrium, both on until the end of July.

The winning photo by Harry Ghosh (click to enlarge).

With the launch of the expenses module some changes have been made to the menu in Staff Connect.

These changes include:

• Access to your personal absence record and related documents is now under My Absence Details. If you have delegated responsibility for the absence module you can access these details via this screen

• The Form History button has been removed from the main menu and placed under each menu section.

• A button called My Pending Authorisations has been added. This page will display any items requiring your authorisation and works with your Authorisation widget

• In Progress widget can be added to your Dashboard page.  This will enable you quick access to any forms you have saved and are pending your submission.

If you have any queries about locating any items in Staff Connect please contact the HR Systems team via hrsysplan@kent.ac.uk