On the day of Point Park’s Center for Media Innovation (CMI) grand opening, Laura Jennings sat in Village Park during the lunch festivities to reflect on the day’s events.

The opening ceremony took place in the morning, but Jennings, the Student Media Coordinator for the CMI, still had one event to look forward to that evening. Still to come was a branding panel set to feature speakers from ESPN and AT&T, as well as a panel featuring speakers from local news outlets such as PublicSource and NEXTPittsburgh and finally an evening with Sarah Koenig, co-creator and host of the “Serial” podcast.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing Sarah Koenig,” Jennings said.  “I loved the first season and I think she brought attention to a new form of journalism.”

Jennings was in charge of hiring student reporters, photographers and social media directors to cover the day-long series of events at the opening of the CMI. She did so mainly through social media posts on Facebook, advertising a paid opportunity for Point Park students. Reporters from the Point Park News Service also covered the event.

“I focused on getting a reaction to the events of the day, I asked people about the center and how it affected them,” Jessica Federkeil, junior journalism major and reporter for the Point Park News Service, said.

Student-produced content appeared later on the Point Park website and the Point Park News Service, as well as social media outlets managed by Point Park.

“I certainly hoped to pique interest and get people from the community excited for this,” Jennings said.

The 7 p.m. panel featuring Koenig sold out all of its 200 tickets, but a live feed from her panel was streamed from the CMI to the Lawrence Hall Ballroom, as would the #MEDIAPIONEERS panel and the Speed of LIVE panels.

The day’s lunch took place in Village Park from 12-1 p.m., and was catered with walking tacos, kabobs and tofu wraps for anyone attending the festivities to eat. All School of Communication classes were canceled for the day, so the park and the food lines were filled with students enjoying the free food. Students also enjoyed music from Pioneer Stars Hannah Jenkins and John Rushlander and his band, “The Grandaddychilds.”

“I’ve played in this park I don’t know how many times, but I always like it,” Jenkins, senior sports, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) major, said.

“I like to take any opportunity I get to play live, and this was a great opportunity,” recent PPU graduate Rushlander said.

Other organizations also took advantage of the event to show their messages. Alex Mecs, junior SAEM major held a table for the Music Association club, where students could also sign up to be the next Pioneer Star.

Ericka Thomas, a junior SAEM major and Warner Music representative, advertised for a contest sponsored by the company to get musical artist Jojo to come to campus by gathering enough student votes.

The lunch festivities continued until 1 p.m., until the chefs began to pack in the food and the band wrapped up their set. Jennings commented on the purpose of the upcoming news organization panels.

“#MEDIAPIONEERS panel has more traditional news outlets, and it’s really saying that journalism is not dead,” Jennings said.

“I think it all showed that going into journalism or another communication field doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find a job,” said Federkeil, referring to the #MEDIAPIONEERS panel.