NEWS
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TEDxUGA 2026: Dark Mode Presenter Lineup
TEDxUGA 2026 will spotlight six outstanding presenters from among UGA faculty, staff, students, and alumni, plus one inspiring member of the Athens community, each ready to share their bright ideas. Alumni Faculty + Staff Students Community Master of Ceremonies Sometimes the brightest ideas emerge from contrast. This year, we invite you to explore what lies beyond…
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TEDxUGA at GSPA
The TEDxUGA team presented at this year’s Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA) Fall Conference. The annual conference brings together middle and high school students representing broadcast programs, literary magazines, newspapers, news websites, and yearbooks for a day of learning and collaboration. In their session, TEDxUGA Licensee Megan Ward and Curator Isa Martinez shared how to craft compelling presentations, emphasizing the importance…
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Adobe Left the NMI Starstruck
Last month, ten NMIers traveled to the Adobe Max Conference in Los Angeles to join 10,000+ attendees for cutting edge workshops, jaw-dropping keynotes, and close-up connections with creative professionals. The Adobe Max Conference is an annual convergence of the people who teach, make, and use Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and more). Can you be…
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Drinking in the Experience at Coca-Cola HQ
The NMI was fizzing with excitement following our second in-state site visit of the Fall semester. Our day at The Coca-Cola Company started with a tour of the headquarters, which featured art displays and artifacts from Coca-Cola’s rich history – including a display of flags from every country where Coca-Cola products are sold. After the tour, we…
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Boss Lady Official
Big news! Megan Ward has officially been named the Director of the New Media Institute! For years, Megan has been the engine that keeps the NMI running – teaching, mentoring, organizing, leading, and somehow managing 1,000 things at once with a smile and a spreadsheet. From Graduate Assistant to Program Coordinator to Administrative Director, she’s done it all.…
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Welcome to the AC Fam, Joe Tomco!
The NMI would like to give a warm welcome to our newest Advisory Council Member, Joe Tomco! Joe is the Founder and CEO of GlobalDevs, a company specializing in building world-class global software teams. With over 10 years of experience in entrepreneurship, strategy, and finance, Joe has successfully led initiatives to hire over 1,000 software engineers across…
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Touring Through Time & Tech
Last month, the NMI took 15 students to South Downtown Atlanta for a site visit with our friends at Atlanta Tech Village (ATV) to learn about their ongoing development project reimagining 57 buildings across 16 acres in the historic core of downtown Atlanta. The vision is to create a downtown extension of ATV’s Buckhead hub, blending new…
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Thrive Takes Flight With The NMI
Before the Fall semester fired up, Isa Martinez, Megan Ward, and Chris Gerlach teamed up to give Thrive students a taste of all things New Media! Thrive is a signature Summer program designed to help incoming UGA first-years get a head start on college life with classes, community, and unique experiences — areas in which the New Media Institute shines. Megan…
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Welcome, Isabella Martinez (again)!
We’re thrilled to announce that our very own Isabella Martinez has joined the New Media Institute full-time as our Events Coordinator and TEDxUGA Curator! In this role, Isa leads the planning, communication, and execution of all the NMI’s signature productions, including TEDxUGA and NMIXpo. With a Master of Arts in Emerging Media, a Bachelor of Arts in…
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Sharing TEDx-pertise with UGA 3MT
The TEDxUGA curation team has once again partnered with the UGA Graduate School to support students participating in Three Minute Thesis (3MT), a global competition that challenges students to present their thesis or dissertation and its significance in three minutes or less. In August, TEDxUGA Curator Isa Martinez and TEDxUGA Licensee Megan Ward hosted an introductory training session for prospective 3MT…
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GOYM Heads to Dallas for Texas-Sized Inspiration
The NMI hit the road in August taking the Georgia on Your Mind podcast student team all the way to Dallas, Texas for Podcast Movement 2025—the world’s largest podcasting conference! For many of our students, this was their first time stepping into the podcasting space, and Podcast Movement proved to be the perfect crash course. They…
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That’s a Wrap on Spring 2025 NMIXpo!
We wrapped up the Spring semester with a tech-tastic NMIXpo that included an Advisory Council meeting, SLAM, Emerge, graduation party, awards brunch, and so much more. And before we settle into Summer semester, we would like to give one more round of applause to all of our New Media and Emerging Media students who debuted…
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A Look Back at Destination: TEDxUGA 2025
Last month, Destination: TEDxUGA 2025 took the stage and what an incredible journey it was! From the Dream Job Fallacy to Shorebird Conservation, seven inspiring presenters – including our first-ever Athens community member – shared their passions, research, and ideas worth spreading with a global audience of more than 700 participants. This year’s theme reminded us that…
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Site Visit to Delta HQ, Now Boarding
Last week, more than 30 NMI students took flight to Delta HQ in Atlanta for our final site visit of the year! NMI Alum and Advisory Council member, Kristyn Hicks, gave us a quick overview of Delta as a company, brand, and community. She also shared how she has transitioned through various positions at the airline…
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Making it Work Better
The NMI has received UGA’s inaugural Excellence in Academic Program Assessment Award! This award recognizes the intentional, dedicated effort of NMI faculty to annually assess student learning outcomes. According to UGA’s Office of Instruction, the New Media Certificate was among the top 1% of programs demonstrating outstanding academic program assessment. “It is evident that the program…