Sorbonne University Virtual Graduation
Global Event Management (GEM Events) organized Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi’s 12th graduation ceremony under the patronage of HH Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Due to Covid restrictions, the live ceremony could not take place, but the virtual (hybrid) graduation exceeded all expectations and was well received by students, parents and staff alike.
The hybrid graduation included both onsite video recording, green screen shooting and the integration of these elements into the virtual environment, the beautiful Sorbonne auditorium. The auditorium was identically replicated by the GEM team in Unreal engine to provide an extremely realistic and lifelike experience for viewers. This included the iconic red seats, hard wood stage and socially distanced audience.
Fatima AlHashmi, a Sorbonne AD Alumna commenced the graduation with the iconic rendition of both the UAE and French national anthems. The professional operatic singer was shot on green screen and embedded onto the virtual stage set. This was followed by speeches by Professor Jean Chambaz and HE Zaki al Nusseibeh, congratulating the students on their success and motivating them for their future.
Both the Bachelors and Masters programs where presented by the Emcee with moving portraits of the 230 graduating students appearing along with their names and graduating programs. These portraits were captured over 3 days on site in Abu Dhabi, ensuring all Covid regulations were followed. The graduates highly appreciated this unique way of commemorating their achievement and were very thankful to have had the experience.
Lastly, GEM created two videos: The first was to show students all the services that would still be available to them, on campus once they become an alumnus. All the footage was captured on site by the GEM team and edited with the added voice over into the final video.
The second was a memory video with a few short videos captured on site at Sorbonne and pictures of the students Sorbonne experience to end the graduation on an emotionally high note.
The entire graduation was streamed live to the graduates and their families, teachers and friends using YouTube live. This attracted more than 800 spectators on the night and was an ideal streaming platform as it allowed viewers to interact and connect with each other through comments. Additionally, attendees were able view the stream on any of their devices in a socially distanced and safe way across the world.
Since the live airing the graduation the number of views has exceeded 5,000 views.
"Thank you GEM for the remarkable work done for Sorbonne’s 12th Graduation Ceremony. All staff members are very professional & friendly and most important they can handle stress and respond to last minutes requests,which was very helpful. The quality of services and end results are extraordinary. Hope collaboration will continue for future events" - Eisa Al Raeesi, Head – Student Affairs Department.
