Polycom and the Ryan Seacrest Foundation connect Denver and Cincinnati Children's Hospitals via video

[Chris Thorson (cthorson)]

Last Friday I had the opportunity to participate in a truly great experience at Children’s Hospital in Denver along with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.  The goal of this project is very simple, to help improve the lives of children at the hospital by giving them something fun and meaningful to do.   In this case, the foundation is working with donors and vendors, such as Polycom, to build a series of audio/video studios to broadcast music and information throughout the hospital.  The neat part about this program is that the content and production is generated by the kids themselves and shared across facilities throughout the country.

Today’s event was the grand opening of the Denver studio, the seventh hospital to be outfitted with a studio located right in the main lobby of the Hospital.  The event was kicked off by the CEO of Children’s Hospital, Jim Shmerling, and was followed up by Ryan Seacrest himself along with several of his famous friends.  Special guests for today’s event included Lady Antebellum of Country Music  fame, Pop group MKTO who performed their hit single “Classic”, as well as local baseball great Todd Helton from the Colorado Rockies.  Other guests included Stephanie Scott and a sneak peak at the upcoming film Earth to Echo from Disney.

As I looked around the room throughout the day, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of smiling facing on kids and parents whom are definitely navigating some troubling waters.  It’s great to see up close what an impact entertainment can do to lift the spirits of these families and I’m proud that Polycom was able to be a part of the festivities.  For this event Polycom’s involvement was to help spread the joy not only throughout the Denver campus using our video systems, but also to include Children’s Hospital of Cincinnati via a live remote video call. 

I also had the chance to talk to Ryan Seacrest directly today as well as his production manager Brian Clark who set up the system for the broadcast.  Both of them were so positive about the use of our technology to connect these world-class organizations together as well as bringing in remote talent to engage directly with the kids.  I’m certain that as they continue to expand their knowledge of video conferencing they will increase usage and learn what a change agent it can be to help defy the distance between a hard day and a smiling face.

If you want to see what the day was like for yourself, check out the photos below or visit the grand opening launch page here.   Enjoy!