ICT Facilitates Periscope Broadcast with Wildcat Wheels to Celebrate 4th Annual Bike Week

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 13, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Information Communication Technology (ICT) program facilitated two Periscope broadcasts as part of campus’ fourth annual Bike Week, which gave students and employees the opportunity to ask a bike mechanic questions about repairs and spring tuneups.

Bike Week — April 11-16 — is an initiative presented by the UK Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) and Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) that encourages cycling on campus. The two organizations achieve this by inviting students and employees to attend a variety of interactive and entertaining activities each spring.  A few of the events returning from previous years included a downtown bike ride tour to check out various Lexington murals, a DIY bicycle repair station on campus, and bike-in movies. A new event this year was the live Q&A broadcast with a bike mechanic from Wildcat Wheels.

“Bicycling continues to grow as a means of transportation on campus," said Chrissie Tune, PTS marketing specialist and BAC education chair. "Bike Week is all about educating members of the UK community about campus and local bike resources, as well as encouraging people who aren’t sure if getting around on two wheels is for them. The Periscope partnership with ICT allows us to educate students and employees about a few bike repair basics, as well as spotlighting a valuable campus amenity in Wildcat Wheels.”

The ICT Student Association (ICTSA), a student organization in the College of Communication and Information, encouraged peers to submit questions to the program’s Twitter handle. ICTSA also promoted Bike Week in classrooms, provided the necessary technical support for the Periscope broadcast, and shared questions with Wildcat Wheels' bike mechanic, Jerran McBreen.

“I’ve been a mechanic for almost five years now. I became a mechanic because as a kid everyone around me rode bikes, but no one knew how to fix them. I always liked fixing things and as an aspiring car mechanic I wanted to start somewhere to test the waters of mechanics,” McBreen said. “Wildcat Wheels grabbed my attention because of what it does for the campus. This was a great opportunity for me to fix bikes, help others, and teach them a few things, while avoiding the retail part of the bike industry.”

Wildcat Wheels is a campus bike shop that provides free bicycle use and repair assistance to students, faculty, and staff at the University of Kentucky. This program is funded by Parking and Transportation Services and managed by the Office of Sustainability.

Majors and non-majors interested in ICT can join the ICT Student Association. The group’s primary purposes are to facilitate communication between students and faculty in the ICT program and coordinate opportunities for student participation in ICT-related programs and activities. Contact ICTSA faculty advisor Deloris Foxworth at Deloris.Foxworth@uky.edu if you’re interested in becoming a part of the student organization. 

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Harder, 859-323-2396, whitney.harder@uky.edu