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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAOC Minutes 02-12-20081 Karen Billings From:E Wayles Browne [ewb2@cornell.edu] Sent:Sunday, April 06, 2008 9:15 PM To:Karen Billings; mjneff@cayuga-heights.ny.us; Cayuga Heights Clerk; Cayuga Heights Mayor; Julie Holcomb; council@cityofithaca.org; Doheny, Thomas; Stefanelli, Lauren Cc:Jennifer Dotson; Wies van Leuken; Wies van Leuken; Will Burbank; Trish O'Rourke; Wayles Browne Subject:Cable TV Access Oversight Committee, approved minutes of Feb. 12 '08 meeting; please circulate as appropriate (correct version of title) Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (as approved Mar. 11, 2008) The Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, at 4:30 pm. Present: AOC members Will Burbank, Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Wies van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli. 0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary. 1. The minutes of the Jan. 15, 2008 meeting were approved with 1 change. 2. No comments from the public. 3. Reports by members: W. Browne sent a letter to the editor of the Tompkins Weekly, describing public access and the AOC's work. It was published in the Jan. 28 issue under the title "For More Local News Watch Public Access TV." The editor did not react to a call to print PEG channel schedules in his paper. 4. Update on Ithaca City Council (Common Council, CC). Jennifer Dotson will make a report to the new CC committee tomorrow, the Community and Organizational Issues Committee (chair: J. R. Clairborne). In her report she will refer to the ca. $133,000 remaining from the previous Time Warner-City of Ithaca franchise. A group of City staff are working on a "wish list" of items it could be used for. Duane Twardokus, the city's IT person, is planning well for future goals and has a good understanding with Thomas Doheny, Time Warner Cable's Ithaca manager. Items include: - City Hall connection to new fiber-optic i-net. - A digital video recorder (DVR) for digitally recording broadcasts of City Hall meetings. It records in the same format that the PEG studio uses for broadcast, and gives a choice of video qualities (higher quality = larger-sized file). - Firefighter training over net. - Capability to originate TV programs at City Hall and at GIAC. Dotson will also report on the problem of PEG studio opening hours. Van Leuken: on the last point, the public needs as many studio hours as the budget will allow. On the old franchise money: it came from TV subscribers, so its use should benefit them as much as possible. Could some be used for studio needs? Dotson is interested in getting multi-use equipment as far as possible. V. Leuken: There should be someone on City staff who can operate equipment. Could the money be used to train 1 or 2 or 3 people to use it? W. Browne: Does training count as a capital expenditure? L. Stefanelli: Only when buying new equipment and training someone to use it. But the videographers that the City hires now are not very costly per hour. 5. Studio Manager's report: L. Stefanelli has sent letters to schools, asking them to submit requests for equipment to be put into the 2009 budget; she gave them a deadline of the end of March. No replies yet. The Alternative Community School has taken over some computers that were over 7 years old (and so could be written off) and has upgraded them. Other schools have some TWC equipment that is very old and not worth taking back from them. An advantage that schools have is that computers in school libraries can do editing (using iMovie, for example). But human resources to help students with this are scarce in schools. 2 Stefanelli will send the text of her written report (attached below). She handed out TWC's report on monthly capital fund collections covering Jan. 2004 to Dec. 2007. Discussion of nationwide dangers to public access TV: there is a trend towards unfavorable bills in many state legislatures. Rates would go up; funding for access centers would go down because of franchises being statewide (rather than local). There is a possibility of cable providers shifting access TV over to formats difficult for viewers to access. In Ithaca, it should be possible to include PEG channels in the Preview Guide (on some remotes: info button brings Preview Guide on the screen). There is a company that compiles Preview Guide on a day-by-day basis, and puts in whatever programming it is informed of. 8. Next meeting: Mar. 11, 2008, 4:30. AOC should get a report on TWC's capital purchases, and should prepare a report to the city. We should discuss ways to get publicity for PEG channels. 9. Adjourned about 6:05 pm. Access Coordinator Report to AOC February 2008 • Equipment All production areas are in operation. Producers are starting to learn to make DVDs from studio programs and for archive purposes. One producer uses our laptop exclusively for his editing and DVD burning. This is a model I am interested in seeing more people try. Converting video material from various digital formats on the market is a continuing challenge, as people bring in new media and seek to incorporate it into their shows. We’ve wired Mark Finkelstein’s laptop and Mike Brutvan’s iPod through our control room so they can play clips on their live studio shows. We’ve rearranged equipment to incorporate DVDs, mini-DVD-camcorders, MPG files from the Internet or hard drive camcorders into our digital editors. I expect the process will continue to challenge us, but we have had quite a bit of success – and education – from these requests so far. • Facility: A PEGASYS orientation is scheduled for February 21 and a portable class is in progress. Our January studio class had 5 students, and helped create programs for the Ithaca Toastmasters and a local author. 33 programs were entered into the 2008 PEGASYS Awards. 3 judges worked for about 10 hours this week to review the entries. The awards ceremony will be held on Friday, February 29, with a reception at 7pm and a ceremony, cablecast live from our studio, starting at 8pm. AOC members are cordially invited to attend. We have been discussing liability issues in the facility, and considering ways of communicating indemnification information for guests. A sign-in sheet and a posted notice are being considered. . • Notable Public Access Productions The Family Reading Partnership did a taping of its musical duo, “Simon and Calfunkle,” better known as John Simon and Cal Walker. The two reprised the songs from a recent CD they produced for local children. Irene Stein called us the day of (!) a debate by the Democratic Committee [before the primary]. A PEGASYS producer actually answered her call and volunteered to tape the event for her, Cablecasting it numerous times in the weekend before the vote. Institutional Access • School Board: ICSD school board has doubled the number of meetings they wish to cablecast. They wish to record meetings weekly for the next couple months. • TC3: I met with Chrissy Guest, the new video instructor, who promised to resume submitting programs from the college. Considering that a single series, High School Challenge, has been the sole output of TC3’s video program for many years, I was excited to hear that she 3 is also taping all sporting events, as well as news and cooking shows. 3 short subjects produced by her students for Cooperative Extension are already running on channel 15. Access Coordinator Report to AOC February 2008 Addendum: Letter sent by email on January 18, 2008 To: Tompkins County City of Ithaca Ithaca City School District School Board Ithaca High School Lehman Alternative Community School Cooperative Extension Greetings, school and government access producers! I am writing to try to renew contact with you all as we go into a new year. All of you have produced programming for a PEG channel, and all of you have received long-term loans of PEGASYS equipment to facilitate access program production. We do have an annual budget for capital, and replacement and improvement of your equipment is possible through PEGASYS, provided demonstrable programming goals are achieved. Requests for additional equipment support can be submitted to me at any time, but I wanted to share our purchasing planning timeline to help guide your submissions. January through March 2008 • accepting written equipment requests for 2009. No specific form is needed, just a specific written request that relates directly to the production of programming for a PEG channel. Email submission is fine. March through April 2008 • invitation to present your organization's needs to the Access Oversight Committee in person. AOC meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of the month at 4:30pm. Please check with the chair, Will Burbank, about specific dates/times: willburbank@twcny.rr.com. This step is not an absolute requirement, but particularly in cases where program production has lapsed or has not started, acquainting the AOC [and me] with your ideas will increase your chance of receiving funding. April through May 2008 • I submit a budget for the next year to the AOC. June 2008 • The AOC approves, with any additions or deletions it deems necessary, a 2009 budget. January 2009 • Funds approved in 2008 become available for spending. Actual purchases may be made at any time during the year, depending on need. Usually, March would be the earliest equipment would arrive, given the various steps in the purchasing process. In addition, I have attached a copy of the entry form for the 2008 PEGASYS Awards. I hope you will consider entering something produced and cablecast by your institution in 2007. The entry deadline is 1/25 and our awards ceremony will be on 2/29. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions ro need more information. Cordially, Lauren Stefanelli Access Coordinator PEGASYS TV Center Time Warner Cable 4 Ithaca, NY PEGASYS TV Center a service of Time Warner Cable Channels: 13 (Public), 15 (Government) and 16 (Education) Hours of Operation: M -Th: 5:30-9:30pm Tel: 607-272-7272 Web: www.pegasysaccess.org Tape drop-off outside PEGASYS hours at Time Warner office, 519 W. State St.