by Giuseppe Liquori

“There are limitless opportunities for students to make whatever they’d like.” – Michael Taranto

President Laackman sent the tweet that cut the ribbon and marked the opening of Champlain College Emergent Media Center’s Maker Lab!

The grand opening ended up being a success. Many people attended to listen to great speakers and experience the various projects of the EMC such as BREAKAWAY, Wealth Builders, and The Make a Change project.

Part of the success came from the many fun activities people enjoyed within the space EMC had to offer. There was a touchscreen that played music as you moved notes on screen and a table where attendees could make their own LED lanyard. Last but not least, attendees had the opportunity to check out the Maker Lab, the star of the show. In the MakerLab, technicians gave attendees a rundown of what resources students, faculty, alumni, and Generator members have available in the space. Details can be found here.

There were many high representatives of Champlain College who came to the MakerLab Grand Opening to speak with everyone who attended. They spoke to introduce the idea that this new makerspace helps Champlain’s EMC’s vision of promoting creativity among students. The event’s speakers consisted of Champlain College President Don Laackman, Director of The Emergent Media Center Ann Demarle, Chief Creative Officer/Solidarity of Unbridled Labour/Advisory Council member for the CCM division Michael Jager, Assistant Professor in the Division of Communication & Creative Media Ken Howell, HR director of Logic Supply Mark Heyman, and Champlain College Game Art & Animation major Michael Taranto.

Beyond the opening of a new space for making, there exists the concept of innovation and emergent media at the EMC.

Olivia Werenski, a student at Champlain, and Nichole Magoon, who helped worked on BREAKAWAY, both attended the event. After discussing the topic of emergent media, Olivia described the term as “new and innovative media,” and Nichole called it “the future of media.” Ethan Lamitie, part of the sandbox team at the EMC, says emergent media “advances the media and the way it can be displayed and how it affects people.” Emergent media is all of this and more. The grand opening of the MakerLab is another step for the EMC to foster this idea of emergent media and give students an environment to learn and help define emergent media.