{"id":1729,"date":"2020-08-31T14:11:04","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T13:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?post_type=events&p=1729"},"modified":"2020-09-04T14:53:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T13:53:51","slug":"a-pioneering-virtual-celebration","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/events\/a-pioneering-virtual-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pioneering Virtual Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UCD Festival has grown over the past five years to become the University\u2019s largest public engagement event, showcasing the research, innovation and creativity that takes place at UCD every day. It\u2019s a day when UCD\u2019s students, academics, strategic partners and festival sponsors come together to deliver an inspirational day of inspiring and interactive events enjoyed by tens of thousands of students, staff, alumni and members of the local community.<\/p>\n

To meet social distancing restrictions, it was clear that in 2020 the festival needed to adapt. So the UCD Festival@Home was developed, taking the spirit of the festival and transferring it to a virtual setting for thousands of alumni to engage with across the globe.<\/p>\n

The UCD Festival@Home has already welcomed over 30,000 virtual festival-goers to date, who accessed the content from the comfort of their homes via the UCD Festival website, YouTube, Zoom and Facebook.<\/p>\n

The inspiring, engaging, informative and fun activities of the in-person Festival prevailed. Over three days in May, more than 22,500 alumni, faculty, staff, students, future students and friends from more than 58 countries worldwide, engaged with a programme of 67 virtual events, live conversations, science shows and interactive workshops.<\/p>\n

This digital-first for the UCD Festival could not have happened without the steadfast support of long-term Festival partners Intel, Microsoft and Explorium who supported the programme with engaging content, and the creativity and hard work of teams from across UCD\u2019s Schools, Colleges and Units.<\/p>\n

Highlights of the weekend included an \u201cIn Conversation\u201d with Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn and Professor Margaret Kelleher, attracting attendees from across Ireland, Europe, Iran, Nigeria and the US.<\/p>\n

UCD Research and Innovation\u2019s \u201cKids Q&A with Dr Tony\u201d, was hosted by science journalist Dr Claire O\u2019Connell. Children around Ireland Zoomed in to ask the celebrated UCD alumnus and Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan questions about the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

UCD Business alumni and four of Ireland\u2019s top athletes talked about leadership, teamwork and resilience. Johnny Sexton (Leinster and Irish Rugby), Cliona Crammond (All-American Soccer and UCD Soccer), Brian Fenton and Cian O\u2019Sullivan (Dublin GAA Senior Football Team) joined alumnus Conor McNamara to chat about how they were staying mentally and physically fit through the lockdown.<\/p>\n

As well as a very special virtual performance of \u201cMaid of Culmore\u201d by the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin, there were interactive workshops for all ages, from colouring and drawing to baking and Gaeilge. There was even a presentation on earthquake-proof engineering with the Microsoft Dreamspace Challenge team.<\/p>\n

Mind and Body events included Dr\u00a0 Mark\u00a0 Rowe\u2019s\u00a0 talk on managing stress and there was Pilates by the Lake with Colette O\u2019Flynn, a talk on helping young people understand their emotional response to Covid-19 by Professor Gary O\u2019Reilly from the UCD School of Psychology, and nutrition advice from Healthy UCD.<\/p>\n

Thank you to the 20,000+ alumni and friends who tuned in across Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube for our two virtual series which launched in lockdown in April 2020.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Kids Q&A with Dr Tony Holohan on Zoom<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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UCD physicist and engineer, Phil Smyth<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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UCD alumnus and Explorium\u2019s Science Guy, Mark Langtry<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Author Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Rugby player Johnny Sexton<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Radio MoLI, the digital radio station for Irish literature, created by the Museum of Literature Ireland<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Professor of Architecture Hugh Campbell, Valerie Mulvin, McCullough Mulvin Architects, Dr Ellen Rowley, Denis Brereton, RKD Architects, Ronan Phelan, Scott Tallon Walker and Agnieszka Wejchert Pearson, architect, whose father, Andrzej Wejchert, designed Belfield\u2019s original masterplan, discuss the architecture of UCD<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Rick O\u2019Shea and June Caldwell discuss the work of writer Nuala O\u2019Faolain<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Authors Dave Rudden, Helen Cullen and Anne Griff in discuss their writing lives<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UCD Festival has grown over the past five years to become the University\u2019s largest public engagement event, showcasing the research, innovation and creativity that takes place at UCD every day. It\u2019s a day when UCD\u2019s students, academics, strategic partners and festival sponsors come together to deliver an inspirational day of inspiring and interactive events…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2603,"template":"","event_categories":[53],"class_list":["post-1729","events","type-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","event_categories-53"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Pioneering Virtual Celebration - 2020 Alumni Relations - UCD Connections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/events\/a-pioneering-virtual-celebration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Pioneering Virtual Celebration - 2020 Alumni Relations - UCD Connections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UCD Festival has grown over the past five years to become the University\u2019s largest public engagement event, showcasing the research, innovation and creativity that takes place at UCD every day. 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