#equalityohio

Let me take a moment to introduce myself --  my name is Chris Riley -- I have been an organizer in the LGBT movement for over 20 years and am the Outreach and Engagement consultant for THE CAMPAIGN. I strongly believe documentary film is a creative, unique way to inspire and engage folks and bring people into the movement.  

This past week, I served as a moderator on an incredibly new, cutting edge piece of technology -- OVEE -- ITVS' new social screening platform for watching PBS and local television programs together, from anywhere.  KQED, San Francisco's public television station, and WDET, Detroit's public radio station, sponsored Tuesday's viewing.

                           We invited leaders and journalists in the LGBT movement for a Tastemasters viewing of THE CAMPAIGN.  Truly an innovative and engaging experience, I was inspired to see movement leaders (including Out & Equal, Equality Ohio as well as others) online from all over the country watching, expressing emotions (through emoticons), asking questions and giving feedback.  

The whole experience was very interactive and offered a personal aspect as Christie Herring (Director/Producer) and Marc Smolowitz (Producer) were able to introduce the film by webcam and provide live commentary in the chat box.  

Emily Bazelon, Senior Editor of Slate Magazine; Senior Fellow at Yale Law School and host of SLATE’s popular podcast THE POLITICAL GABFEST, provided analysis specific to the US Supreme Court DOMA decision throughout the film via the chatbox.  Emily also talked about a variety of strategies to achieve marriage equality for states that ban marriage for same-sex couples.  

The viewers (and myself) found the platform easy to navigate, enjoyed the live chat and thought the whole experience was moving, inspiring, innovative and informative.  Participants can share via Facebook or Twitter while watching to invite their friends! One of the informative tools OVEE offers is metrics from the viewing. After the screening we can see how many people participated (75), shared with their friends via Facebook and Twitter (28), and how many times emotions were expressed by emoticons (260), along with a whole host of additional information. 

OVEE now gives us a new way to engage people we may not be able to reach and offer them a way to see THE CAMPAIGN, hear from movement strategists, and find out how they can get involved. Stay tuned as we hope to use OVEE again as part of our national rollout of THE CAMPAIGN.