By Sarah Huddle
Marry arts and technology at ODU, and the result is the Arts@ODU mobile app.
Arts@ODU enables users to explore all facets of the arts at the University, see upcoming events, purchase tickets, navigate to a specific venue and even make a donation.
Users also can sign up to receive push notifications about upcoming events, timely reminders and other news.
Arts@ODU was the brainchild of Cullen Strawn, executive director for the arts for the College of Arts & Letters, and David Kozoyed, ODU's director of information technology solutions.
Strawn was searching for an effective way to connect the arts at ODU with prospective and existing students, faculty and staff, and the surrounding community.
"It's important to keep up with trends in technology and use them to our advantage when it comes to communication," said Strawn. "Part of my role is to make sure the College of Arts & Letters is staying current with these trends, and our content is on popular platforms people like to use."
Strawn approached Kozoyed about including the arts in the ODU mobile experience. At the time, Kozoyed had initiated the move to a new ODU mobile application platform to better connect with users. He felt the arts app would fill a void and add visual appeal.
"When Cullen first approached me with the concept of including Arts@ODU in the University's mobile app, I was immediately taken with it," said Kozoyed. "It struck me that there are people on campus and in our community for whom information about ODU arts is as important as knowing the weather. Now they can get alerts about upcoming events along with ones about storms."
Make room next to the weather app, download the ODU mobile app, and click on the Arts@ODU icon to have a world of arts information at your fingertips.
