SUNY Oswego’s Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit will return to Waterman Theatre at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, with an accomplished panel of Oswego-connected personalities whose work encompasses art, music, theater and communications—all four of the School of Communication, Media and the Arts’ disciplines.

The theme of their 90-minute summit is “Digital, Social, Mobile: How Media Trends Impact Theatre, Music and Art.” The backdrop for the show will be the set of “The Wizard of Oz,” which will be mid-run at Waterman Theatre.

The college’s 12th annual media summit will mark the start of a weeklong celebration of the recently completed two-year modernization of Tyler Hall’s most public spaces, including the fully renovated theater.

Sean McAllisterSean McAllister, class of 2001 at SUNY Oswego, will moderate the media summit. He co-hosts two lifestyle and entertainment programs, “MORE” and “MORE Access,” for Fox affiliate KVVU-TV in Las Vegas, his employer the past 11 years. McAllister often interviews A-list celebrities on red carpets in Las Vegas and around the country for “MORE Access.” The journalism graduate formerly produced the morning newscast at WROC-TV in Rochester.

Panelists will include:

Mya Brown

* Mya Brown, a director, actor, playwright and visiting assistant professor of theater at SUNY Oswego. Brown, who has a master of fine arts degree from West Virginia University and a bachelor of fine arts from Jacksonville University, has performed onstage in more than 30 professional and regional productions. She also has experience working as a voiceover actor, and teaches acting/directing and voice/diction at Oswego.

George Gianopoulos* George Gianopoulos, of SUNY Oswego’s class of 2007, is composer-in-residence for the Los Angeles-based Symbiosis Ensemble and concert series Music @ MiMoDa. The award-winning composer immersed himself in studies of classical music at SUNY Oswego under the mentorship of professor Robert M. Auler. Gianopoulos has returned to campus for the Alumni-in-Residence (AIR) program, working with students and faculty in the music department.

Diana Preisler

* Diana Preisler of the class of 1996 stars in the Lifetime Television series “Pitch Slapped,” largely based on her experience as a sought-after a cappella performance coach. She performs worldwide with her a cappella band, Blue Jupiter. A member of State Singers at SUNY Oswego, Preisler voices for the Nickelodeon series “Wallykazam” and the Oscar-nominated feature film “Chico and Rita,” as well as voicing many national ad campaigns.

Michael Yoon* Michael Yoon, class of 2000, is communications manager for University Services at Princeton University, specializing in print design and illustration, offering design and communication counsel to seven Princeton departments. Yoon formerly was the marketing and communications coordinator for SUNY Oswego’s Department of Campus Life, planning events such as Family and Friends Weekend and promoting opening weekend activities.

“What excites me most is that this is an inclusive program,” said assistant event coordinator Boni Quatroche, a sophomore public relations major. “We are including all of the departments in the School of Communication, Media and the Arts.

While the Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit—honoring a beloved former broadcasting and mass communication professor—frequently focuses on the broadcast industry, the rapid advance of digital and social communications has swept art, music and theater along with it.

“We have a lot interest from other (non-communications) students who may not often attend the media summit,” said event coordinator Kalie Hudson, a senior in public relations. The summit’s 11-student executive board encompasses diverse majors within the school as well as representatives of student media. The faculty coordinator for the summit is Michael Riecke of communication studies, former morning news anchor and reporter for WSYR-TV.

The media summit also serves students as a career networking opportunity, featuring alumni Career Connectors in communications fields: 2005 graduate Gabriel Almanzar, supervising art director at “CBS This Morning”; 2014 graduate Sara Cooper, policy coordinator for the New York State Network for Youth Success; fellow 2014 graduate Omy Melo, assistant editor at The Station, an integrated content production company in New York City; another 2014 graduate in Adam Shear, a promotional strategy and multiplatform programming coordinator for USA Network, Syfy and Cloo at NBC Universal; 2009 alumna Jenna Wehn, a highlight producer for ESPN who oversees the assistants producing highlights for “SportsCenter” and other studio shows; and 2011 alumnus Quindell Williams, a photojournalist and video editor at CNY Central in Syracuse.

The Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit was founded in 2005 through the generosity of media pioneer and 1977 graduate Louis A. Borrelli Jr. In 2007, 1976 graduate Al Roker, weatherman and host of NBC’s “Today” show, provided additional funding to rename the summit in memory of longtime professor Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell, a seminal figure in the college experiences of Borrelli and Roker.

Admission for the panel discussion is free. Parking for those without a campus sticker is $1; to obtain a one-day permit, visit oswego.edu/parking.

For more information, visit mediasummit.org. For a complete rundown of all the open houses and other events of the week known as “Tyler Hall Take Two Debut”—including performances of “The Wizard of Oz” and the Ailey II dance troupe—visit oswego.edu/scmaweek.