Cal Poly Maritime Academy, founded in 1929, sits on a waterfront campus in Vallejo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its cadets combine academic study with hands-on maritime training, including on the training ship Golden Bear. Plans change often, so the campus needs to keep everyone informed.
The challenge: a USB stick every day
Before Play, the academy designed its content in Canva and updated the screens by USB drive every day. Each change meant somebody walking from screen to screen. It was a hassle and took a lot of time.
When administrator Edward Pakenham took over the signage project from a colleague who was leaving, Play was already there but hardly used.
The solution: scheduling that does the work
Edward contacted Play through the live chat and worked with the Play team to set the system up properly. Many templates and menus were already built, so the academy was ready to launch quickly.
Content is now scheduled: menu boards, information playlists and general news change automatically at the right time. That was the biggest reason for choosing Play, besides the price.
The kitchen staff have their own access. They log in, change items on the menu and publish within minutes, without waiting for anyone.
“The biggest reason besides the price was the scheduling feature. It has taken off a big stress factor and workload.” – Edward Pakenham
The result
No more USB sticks. Screens across campus show current, reliable information, which the students especially value, and staff with no technical background find Play easy to use.
What other campuses can take from this
- Replace manual updates with schedules: set up the week’s menus and news once, and let them change by themselves.
- Give the people who own the content, like the kitchen, their own access.
- Templates make a handover easy when someone leaves.
Read the full Cal Poly Maritime Academy case story, or see how Play works for schools and universities.
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