About imagine
Mission
It takes creativity to imagine the unknown into existence, and Moody College of Communication lives at the cultural intersection where innovation meets entrepreneurship. Our goal is to develop the next generation of visionaries who see the world through a different lens, who find solutions to big problems, who embrace diverse means of communication to ensure the “new” is both responsive, responsible and remarkable.
The Innovation & Entrepreneurship initiative was established to promote the college's faculty, programs, and centers focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, provide mentorship, resources and networking opportunities to students interested in media entrepreneurship and bridge Moody College's efforts to the University of Texas and across Austin.
Community Resources
imagine Lab:
If you want to experience emerging technology and explore your curiosities of the future related to multiple verticals, then check out the imagine Demo Library to get you started. Some of these you can download and play right on your mobile device but others are available in the imagine Lab (CMA 6.154) where the technology and our team are available to help you.
imagine Lab Hours:
- By appointment only
Feel free to stop by for informal mentorship or check out our reservations page so we can make sure to prepare a demo product or platform for you to try out!
imagine Meetups:
Every 2nd Wednesday of each month at 6:00, Moody's Innovation & Entrepreneurship initiative connects the Austin Media Community with students and faculty at UT through an informal network event. At each MeetUp, there is ample time to demo emerging technologies that have impacted industries we interact with every day and to bring ideas of your own to discuss with others interested in the industry. MeetUps are hosted online at the virtual Imagine Lab ... the perfect place to collaborate and develop the next big thing here at UT!
imagine eNews:
Once a month, we recap and mark dates for must-see events, experiences, competitions, and the monthly imagine Meetups for UT faculty, students and the broader Austine community. The newsletter highlights events to network, opportunities (jobs, internships, awards) and what media entrepreneurship events to explore around Austin
Team
Founding Director - Erin Reilly
Erin Reilly is the inaugural Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Moody College. Erin is an entrepreneur, educator and strategist with 20 years of experience inventing new approaches, products, services and experiences about storytelling, engagement and learning through emergent technology. Erin is Board President of NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education), and serves on the Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer Group, as well as advisory boards, such as Disney Junior and PBS Emmy-award winning Sci Girls. As an educator, Erin currently is Professor of Practice and Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship for Moody College of Communication at University of Texas at Austin. In her roles, she designs and teaches courses on the future of media and entertainment, builds university-wide initiatives and fosters relationships with other academic institutions and industry partners. She has authored both academic and industry publications including Headspace VR on Medium, Fan Favorites in Strategy + Business, T is for Transmedia: Learning through Transmedia Play, and co-author of the book, Reading in a Participatory Culture.
As an entrepreneur, Erin founded ReillyWorks to creatively build connected experiences for families to get active and play together. Current projects in development include CARPE´, a new Augmented Reality and SMART Kit game and Winklebeans, a sensor-based toy that connects to a data-driven story world. She is known for her social entrepreneurship activities in founding Zoey’s Room, one of the first social media programs connected to a licensed afterschool program for young girls.
As a strategist, Erin consults with private and public companies in the areas of audience engagement, creative strategy and transmedia storytelling. She has been a frequent guest lecturer worldwide at universities as well as industry conferences such as SXSW, Sandbox Summit, and Nintendo Marketing Summit. She has helped to build the first Infinity FILM Festival in Beverly Hills.
Erin was a founding member of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab holding the positions of Managing Creative Director and Research Fellow. Before that, she was Research Director for Project New Media Literacies at MIT and also has conducted classes as a Visiting Lecturer at MIT’s Comparative Media Studies and Harvard University’s Project Zero Summer Institute. She is a graduate of Emerson College and has her Master of Fine Arts degree from Maine Media Workshops + College.