Lizzy Carver, a senior theatre arts and theatre education double major, presented “How to construct and launch a professional theatre website” at the Piedmont University Symposium on April 14.

“My main goal of creating my website was to create an online portfolio for potential employers to have,” said Lizzy Carver. “By having an online display of all the work, I have done within the theatre world, I feel as though it opens a lot more doors for employment.”

In her presentation, Carver informed the audience of how to build a professional online portfolio. She explains that there are many platforms online that can help you create your very own website. Carver used the editing software “Wix” to bring her website to life.

“For me, the hardest part of creating this website was working within the elements that were available within Wix as a whole,” said Carver. “I spent probably 12 + hours in total trying to get everything exactly how I wanted it.”

On her website, you can find Carver’s acting resume, contact information, past employment, education background and more. Carver wanted to make sure that her website was filled with information while also being easy to navigate and pretty to look at. Carvers website is bright, bold and informative.

“I think the thing that stood out to me the most was how personal she made it,” said Jo Collinson, a junior theatre arts major at Piedmont. “It felt like you were meeting Lizzy in person despite it being online.”

Bill Gablelhausen, the department chair for Piedmont University’s theatre program, was the adviser for Carver’s presentation. After looking over Carver’s website, Gabelhausen was impressed with her work and believes that every student on campus should look at this website as a model for how they should construct their own.

“I was very impressed, not only with Lizzy’s presentation of it but the amount of detail that went into it,” said Professor Gablelhausen. “The fact that she equally targeted each of her strengths, I thought that was a really smart move.”

From this experience, Carver has learned a lot about the digital world and now understands how frustrating the internet can be at times.

“I have a new appreciation for graphic designers,” said Carver. “Although Wix and other platforms make it easy to create a simple website, it is clear to see how much time and effort goes into some of the more elaborate sites.”

Carver’s website is ready for all potential employees to see and she feels confident and proud of all her hard work that she has put in creating this jaw-dropping online atmosphere. Carver hopes that her work will inspire others to look into building their own online website. If you are interested at looking though Carver’s website, you can find it at www.lizzycarver242.wixsite.com.

“As I have stated before, it’s not as scary as you think, and you might surprise yourself with how creative you can be.”