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On February 5, 1990, the Midpeninsula Public Access Corporation (MPAC) opened its doors to the public in a tiny suite of offices on Park Boulevard in Palo Alto. MPAC had one full time employee, director Elliot Margolies. Annie Niehaus (now Folger) was a contractor who came on board full time as Associate Director on June 17 of that same year. A Board member by the name of Andrew Mellows oversaw the construction of a very rough studio and helped stock it with mostly used or donated equipment.
This past Friday, February 5, 2010, MPAC now the Midpeninsula Community Media Center turned 20. An impromptu party was held in the conference area in mid-afternoon. Andrew (still on the Board), Annie now our Executive Director and Elliot now a staff consultant were there as well as current staff members. Doug Devore, a former production manager who joined MPAC over 18 years ago, dropped by with little Penelope Devore.
A lot of changes have hit the Cable Access industry over the years. We even had to send Annie to Washington to testify before Congress on behalf of PEG preservation! To be able to have a 20 year birthday party when many access stations have had to shutter their doors is a reminder of how fortunate our community has been in the dedicated, constant and selfless leadership of people like Annie, Elliot and Andrew. They make the party possible! Thank you Annie, Elliot, Andrew and to all the board members, volunteers, employees and fans who over the years who got us to 20!
MC volunteer Scott Van Duyne grabbed the camera and I jotted down notes to capture the rally at Gunn High School this morning on behalf of tolerance and diversity. It became known that some agitators from a church in Kansas would be picketing out front of the school to voice their opinion that a godless gay-tolerant community is what is behind the recent suicides. The assertion is by definition ridiculous and should not be dignified by anybody even showing up -- that's one approach and it has its merits. However, 400 people felt it was important to show up, be counted and drown out the fringe message. The following video, I hope, will share the strong sense of community that was engendered this morning on the campus of Gunn High School. Published 2010-01-29T16:08:00.000-08:00 by Becky
Last night Media Center volunteers produced the second PRACTICE SHOW where volunteers have a chance to practice the jobs they want to try in a safe setting that not only forgives mistakes but encourages them as the valuable learning tool that mistakes are. Remember the entrepreneurial adage? Fail often fail fast. Well that's what you can do on the Practice Show. And you can have a good time, too. Last night's guest set the stage for a good time. Chiquita, my dog, was camera shy at first and insisted on facing the back wall most of the time. However, a succession of practice show hosts soon put her at her ease and she relaxed and gave the cameracrew something to work with.
Last night's focus was honing directorial skills. We ran a series of eight 2 minutes show where the goal was for the practice director to get all the tapes rolling, the graphics up and down, the cameras ready, the mikes up and the talent cued all in the right order -- Stan, Bill, Leena and Hannah took turns making it happen. I wanted to stay out on the floor and work on my camera skills. I was much better this time as I learned how to work the contrast, brightness, and peaking settings on my monitor to get me the best picture to work with to practice the art of focusing. I spent a lot of time out of focus and trying to get back in focus as fast as I could. Also working on camera out on the floor were Fred, Hannah and Anis. There was also ample time for people to try their hand at audio, so Fred, Anis, Bill and Hannah got in some time on the audio board, setting the levels and bringing the mics up and down.
You can watch the eight minisodes of the Chiquita Practice Show starting Thursday, January 28 at 7 pm on Channel 30.
If you want to crew for the practice show, keep an eye on the Yahoo Groups for an announcement of upcoming shows or send Scott an email at Scott.vanduyne@gmail.com.
An interesting outcome of this show was that Anis in a moment of weakness volunteered to draw up an electrical grid of how the control room is wired. When audio maven Eric crawls behind the console, what is he doing? Anis is planning to help us find out.Published 2010-01-21T11:24:00.000-08:00 by Becky
Our state senator Joe Simitian is co-hosting a special meeting to discuss the new business plan released by the California High Speed Rail Authority last month. He will be joined on the podium by Long Beach senator Alan Lowenthal. The meeting takes place tomorrow night, Thursday, January 21, at 7 pm in the Palo Alto City Hall in the City Council Chambers. If you can?t make it out, you can watch the meeting from the comfort of your own home. We are playing it live on Channel 26! And we will be scheduling playbacks on Channel 27 in case you miss it live. Get the inside scoop on the proposed plan on our channels!
For more on the meeting click here to visit Joe's website and the article about the meeting.Published 2010-01-20T12:26:00.000-08:00 by Becky
MC Volunteer Scott Van Duyne produced the first PRACTICE SHOW, the show where crew practice and rotate through crew positions they want to learn. The plan which we executed was to perform 3 9-minute shows. The set up was simple. Tech Nancy Brown suggested a no fuss approach to lighting, so we set the host and guest chairs up basically where they had been for the prior show, so the spots were already lit. That got us going fast.
There was about an hour of mentoring where studio pros helped out people wanting to improve their skills. Bill worked with Patricia on graphics. She reported that it really helped to do 3 shows. By the third show she was really getting it.
I worked with the hosts going over possible scenarios and questions for the guest.
Audio pros like Scott and Steve worked to teach microphone set up for a two person show with singing microphone and guitar microphone.
Executive Director Annie , volunteer Stan, Tech Nancy and volunteer David all gave me pointers on camera which I hadn't run in over a year. I learned I had forgotten a lot! I know what not to do, and what to do, but I think I need more practice! My fast zoom on Show 2 made everyone seasick in the control room, and my soft focus on Camera 3 during Show 3 showed me where I need to "focus."
The guest in the studio was Victoria Van Duyne who performed some original songs and was interviewed. Crewbies (New crew) Brian, Anis and Marty set up her microphones, did sound checks and ran the audio board. The show hosts were Eiko for show 1, Andrey for show 2 and Stan for show 3. Making their directorial debut last night were Stan, Leena and Kamla. Exec. Dir. Annie ran camera for the first two shows to keep her camera-tone. And I was really glad to see Floor Director getting some respect. I really think that FD is undervalued sometimes and we had standalone floor directors who learned fast that you have to get into the line of sight of the host and not expect the host to come looking for you! FDs were Anis, David and Bill. Great job guys!
I could go on and on. It was for the most part super-fun. It was relaxed with the emphasis on trial and error and learning. Scott would like to run these monthly but is looking for producers to step and plan the guests. He plans to to track who attends and does what position. So he'll keep the list and track progress.
I plan to keep coming until my camera skills are great. Then I can't do that job any more on the Practice Show and I'll have to try something else.
You can watch the practice show starting Thursday January 14 at 7 pm on Channel 30. Click here for show timesPublished 2010-01-08T12:37:00.000-08:00 by Becky
Media Center Intern Jose Rodriguez has just released his seven minute video profile of the Media Center Family. Jose interviews several "family members" including yours truly, Annie, Dave, Louise and Becca. He put this piece together with minimal supervision by Becca Fisher, our Youth Services Coordinator. And he is only in middle school! The piece is very nicely put together and captures the heart of what we're about. Nicely done, Jose! You can watch Jose's piece on Channel 28. Click here for viewing times.
We have so much talented youth around here. We are grateful that Jose has taken the time to talk about us! We're so busy pointing the camera at other people and issues in our community, it's nice to remember that the Media Center is a worthy subject for the camera as well.
Jose Rodriguez comes to us through the SPARK program, which is a non-profit youth empowerment organization focusing on Middle School youth. He is learning about different careers in media as well as developing his own production skills. At the Media Center he receives one-on-one training and mentoring. Thank you, Jose, for choosing us as the subject of your first video here as one of our valued interns.Published 2009-12-17T13:37:00.001-08:00 by Becky
The Surdna Foundation awarded a grant to the Alliance for Community Media for "capacity-building" and disseminating "best practices." Elliot Margolies, of the Midpeninsula Community Media Center, was hired to conduct interviews with some innovative leaders working at community media centers and put the audio clips on a blog site called "Community Media 2.0."
The latest interview is with Tony Shawcross from Denver. He talks about the drupal web site they've constructed that automates ways to find crew members, reserve equipment, and even upload and schedule your own show! Other interviews on the site include Sue Buske, the first Executive Director of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers (the ACM precursor) who talks about current state legislation that threatens media centers, while both Laurie Cirivello and Colin Rhinesmith talk about the thriving citizen journalism programs in their communities of Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge, MA.
Check them out and get a macroscopic view of what's happening at Media Centers across the country.Published 2009-12-15T10:26:00.000-08:00 by Community Media 2.0
Our Interns and our Youth Advisory Council are hard at work developing their craft and they seem to be able to work at lightning speed producing relevant, edgy videos. Just a few weeks ago, Edoardo de Armas was in here talking about a project he is doing for polio awareness. And today he sent me the link to it. It is with great pride I embed the video here on our blog. By the way, listen up for Dave Sorokach's voiceover. Gorgeous.
Way to go, Edoardo! Making a difference doing the stuff you love. It's happening right here, folks, at the Media Center. We help you develop your skills; you help us develop ours and the results are often spectacular.
Edoardo is a high school junior, a current Intern here at the Media Center and a "graduate" of our Youth Advisory Council. Edoardo is also a 2009 recipient of the coveted WAVE award for his PSA on Suicide that he produced with the help of the Media Center. Thank you Edoardo for another thought-provoking piece.
Karen Adams and her elfin crew of staff and volunteers prepared for and decorated the Studio and Studio lobby for our annual Volunteer Appreciation Holiday Party last night. Tuesday night's elves were Brian Good, Steve Hall, Jim Seawright, Joanne Scott and Erik Baker. They stayed up until all hours setting up the studio for a sit-down dinner for a hundred. On the day of the party, Joanne Scott, Lupita Segura, Leena Elhousseiny, Interns Ola and Wes stepped up to put the finishing touches on the decking of the halls. Cathy Keys expertly carved the turkey and ham for the traditional holiday feast that Karen had arranged for. Warm and welcoming, our facilities sparkled for an evening of magic where we recognized the contributions of volunteers' time and talents. And when all was over we had an incredible turnout of staff and volunteers to put right the studio. After all the show goes on every night around here.
After everyone was served and seated in the studio, our Executive Director Annie Folger addressed the audience briefly on the very serious issues confronting PEG stations nationwide and the CAP Act being introduced in Congress to save PEG. Please read about the action you can take to help support the Media Center and other PEG stations here. Annie also spoke briefly about some of the exciting new things happening in 2010 around here.
Karen then hosted the rest of the evening. We watched short clips from all the series produced at the Media Center during the past year, including our WAVE award finalists and our WAVE award winners. This reel was produced by Nancy Brown, Becca Fisher and our intern Ola. These clips can be watched on our website. Additionally, we played our annual party game. This year, we competed in a trivia game based on the shows we produced here this year. Studio tech and volunteer, Stan Ng won the trivia game. He's volunteered for, teched on and done roll-ins for so many of the shows around here, well it's hardly surprising he'd come in first.
After the game, Karen announced the Studio Stats for the year thus far, carefully compiled for us by Lupita Segura. The Media Center has produced 335 shows thus far this year with 225 volunteers. Karen called out the names of the volunteers who had worked on 10 or more shows. We had fifty such persons! Can you guess who the number 1 volunteer was coming in at 235 shows? I'll give you a hint: It was the same guy as last year! Yep! Steve Hall! He was followed by Bill Lindemann at 156, Scott Van Duyne at 76, Eric Baker at 68, Marty Wasserman at 57 and there is Stan Ng again, coming in at 55. 8 volunteers worked between 40-50 shows, 12 worked 20-39 show, and two dozen volunteers worked between 10 and 19 shows! If you have a hankering to see the complete list it has been posted on bulletin board outside the gold room.
The gift hours represented by all this time and talent, well it's enough to restore your faith in the basic goodness of people. Sometime we can lose sight of what's important when there's so much misery, hardship and rough times. But we at the Media Center are doing what we can to offset the baddies out there. And because we are a media outlet, we are in a unique position to influence the messaging out there.
Thank you to our volunteers. We couldn't do much or influence anybody without you. WE LOVE YOU and thank you for another year of unparalleled, selfless service.
And thank you to Karen and the elves for giving us a magical evening of celebration and friendship.Published 2009-12-10T15:41:00.001-08:00 by Becky
The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra, directed by Fredrick Palmer presented its annual "Holiday Concert" at Grace Lutheran Church, Palo Alto on December 5th 2009. The concert was recorded and edited for cable-cast by Andrew Mellows. The concert includes music from the 1300s through the 1900s.
The concert debuts on Channel 27 this Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 8:30 am. You can watch it many times during the holiday season including Thursday, December 17 on Channel 30 at 7:30 pm. Follow this link to find out when you can watch this delightful one-hour program.
Andrew Mellows provides the Media Center with various programming throughout the year. He is the producer of the weekly cablecast of the Sunday service at Grace Lutheran Church.
What I want for Christmas this year is a handful of Andrew Mellows... locally focussed producers that bring us the local programming that just can't be seen anywhere else!
The Media Center is grateful for all our community producers!
Keep that great programming coming!Published 2009-12-07T11:25:00.000-08:00 by Becky
The Media Center and the City of Palo Alto are co-sponsoring an "Election night Special" on Channel 27 from 9:30 - 11 pm, tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3. This program will also be streamed live on the Internet from our website.
Regular Channel 27 programming will be pre-empted during this time, but will resume at 11 pm or when the Live Coverage is complete.
The program will be hosted by outgoing Palo Alto mayor Peter Drekmeier and former Palo Alto mayors Liz Kniss and Gary Fazzino. These election night "anchors" will interview current candidates, report on election results as they come in and provide analysis of the issues influencing this election.
In addition to our live show, we will be providing current election results via live update feed. The live update feed will begin on Channel 30 at 8:30 and run until midnight. Regular Channel 30 programming will be pre-empted during this time. At midnight, the live feed can be viewed on both Channels 26 and 29, our government channels, until 9 am, Wednesday, November 4.
In summary, our election coverage is scheduled as follows:
LIVE FROM CITY HALL - Channel 27 Tuesday, November 3, 9:30 pm - 11pm
LIVE UPDATE FEED OF ELECTION RESULTS Channel 30, Tuesday, November 3, 8:30 pm - midnight Channels 29, Wednesday, November 4, 12 am - 9 am
And if you are still weighing candidates and issues, you can view the several candidate forums and other election programming on demand right on our website. Visit our election page for links to this important programming.
See you at the polls!Published 2009-11-02T14:49:00.000-08:00 by Becky
900 San Antonio Rd. • Palo Alto,
CA 94303-4917 • 650-494-8686 • info@midpenmedia.org
