Showing posts with label Governor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Governor. Show all posts

Friday, June 10, 2011

Thunderstorms

Another week of wild weather created some interesting situations for us.

On Thursday afternoon our new media producer headed down to 18 Miner Street for the grand opening of the combined Massachusetts RMV office and Franklin County Visitors Center. (You can find out more about this by checking out the story on our homepage.) As that outdoor shoot came to an end, participants heard loud claps of thunder and began to see lightning cross the sky. Seconds after the equipment was safely stowed inside our staff member's vehicle, the deluge commenced. Whew! Good timing.

The timing of the storm was, unfortunately, not so good for filming the school committee meeting. As the thunderstorm moved across town it took out power to Greenfield High School while our station manager was attempting to set up. The school committee did end up convening a short meeting, which we filmed with one camera on battery power, in a trailer that had emergency lighting and we'll be posting that to our Video on Demand Player next week.

Finally, the storm also took out the transmitter for WMCB 107.9-lp FM. Our station manager is working frantically to restore the signal and we'll keep you posted.

Friday, July 2, 2010

This was a busy week!

Following up on a terrific end to last week, having the governor here on Friday, we spent this week following local politics, improving our website, and helping several local producers get their message out to the public.

Last Friday afternoon, about 50 people packed into our studio for a taping of “Mayor’s Memo”. Various state & local officials, citizens, and members of the media were on hand not only to watch Mayor Martin interview Governor Patrick, but to take a trolley ride around town with them afterwards. Alicia accompanied them on this trip and had a blast. It was nice for her to see politicians both demonstrating a sense of humor and discussing important issues in a realistic way. She got some great footage that you’ve already seen on our homepage but hopes to get a longer, documentary style, piece from the tour up soon.

Greenfield’s mayor returned to GCTV on Tuesday to record another episode of his show, this time featuring Lisa McGuinness championing our public schools, which will begin airing on July 6th. Other interesting guests here this week included representatives from NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) on “Franklin County Matters” and New England Farmers’ Union (NEFU) President Annie Cheatham on “Local Bias”. Jonathan Mark, of Fly By News, also brought in a couple of experts to discuss Big Pharma.

The last two shoots mentioned above, combined with Jonathan Mirin’s Piti Theatre Company’s production of “28 Feet”, filled our studio for the entire day yesterday. Producers were good about getting in and out on time so all the shows were able to go smoothly. “28 Feet”, Jonathan’s one man comedic play about dealing with his own medical issues, was open to the public and had an audience of about 20 people. You’ll be able to watch all of these shows on Cable Channel 15 soon and some of them at gctv.org as well.

Referencing our Video on Demand Player reminds us that we want to welcome Greenfield YMCA Programming to our online offerings. These episodes join videos of “Healthbeat”, “Local Bias”, “Valley Homegrown”, “Mayor’s Memo” and more. This is also a good time to mention that there is a new look to video content on our website.

We are now able to embed single videos from our Video on Demand Player so you can watch our top community coverage stories without leaving our homepage. This also means that producers will be able to link directly to their shows from, and even embed some of their episodes on, their own webpages.

Wow, we really did a lot this week! Oh, as promised, we also recorded Greenfield’s Inauguration Ceremony on Thursday and you can see it, along with some interviews with newly elected officials, on our homepage. Check it out!

Friday, June 25, 2010

It's All About The Governor (and the Earthquake)

What a week this was!

On Tuesday afternoon Owen, Simeon, & our Station Manager attended a session at the new Veterans' Resource & Referral Center, on Main Street, in which Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and his staff listened to the concerns of local veterans. In addition to recording the entire event (which will air on Cable Channel 15 at 2PM on Wednesday, June 30th, and be available to watch online as part of our Video on Demand Player soon) they were able to catch a quick interview with the governor to create a short news story for our homepage.

It was pretty quiet around here on Wednesday, until 1:40PM. Alicia was sitting at her desk, Philippe & Owen were working at editing stations, when Alicia felt a rumble beneath her feet. This is actually not that unusual because there is some machinery in our building that periodically sends a buzzing up through Alicia's desk and chair. The shaking this time was more pronounced, however, so she asked the guys if they could feel it. They said they could and asked what it was. Alicia replied that she thought it was an earthquake, since she remembered feeling in Ashfield the one that occurred around Albany five to seven years ago. It was a little scary while the building was moving because, even though they were gentle, the tremors had increased from the time they'd started and we had no way of knowing how long it would last.

As soon as it was over, Alicia picked up the phone and called WMCB DJ/Host of "Let it Rip", and GCTV Volunteer, Reba Rasbury. Alicia told Reba what had happened, and about her theory that it was an earthquake, and asked Reba what she thought. Reba hadn't felt anything but gamely hopped online to check it out. At first, she couldn't find reports of an occurrence but she did explain why it would make sense that we felt the effects on the third floor while no one on the ground floor did. Her opinion is that, as our structure was built by Masons, the foundation of this edifice is solid and deep allowing vibrations at lower depths to be picked up. As the oscillations traveled upward, farther away from the anchored portion of the building, their effect increased.

A few minutes later, Reba called back to let us know that a 5.5 Magnitude earthquake had been reported in Canada that was close, and powerful, enough for us to have felt it. Philippe suggested that Reba call into the radio station (476-4266) so he could interview her on the air. They talked for several minutes about the science behind earthquakes and how far their effects can be experienced. At 4PM, Reba discussed the earthquake, and other environmental issues, on her show. If you'd like to hear a segment of it, check out our website or listen to her rebroadcast on 107.9FM today at 2PM.

Later today we will welcome Governor Patrick back to our studio where he will be Mayor Martin's guest on "Mayor's Memo". They will be signing the solar farm contract here in front of an audience made up of town employees, councilors, and other officials. Before that, however, Alicia will be accompanying them on a trolley tour of Greenfield to record that event for posterity. Look for footage from all of this to be posted on our website late this afternoon or early this evening.

Whew! That's about it for this week. We'll let you how things go when we check in next Friday or maybe we'll even have a special post here on Monday.

Monday, June 1, 2009

VOD Fully Up & Running

Please check out all of the videos we've posted at www.gctv.org. If you are looking for the "Greenfield Public Schools Study", "Local Bias" with Governor Deval Patrick, or the Ways & Means Committee Meeting from May 26th we hope to have them up tomorrow. If you would like us to re-post the April meetings please let us know by emailing mail@gctv.org. Thanks!

Monday, April 27, 2009

We have Video On Demand!

So, you only caught part of Drew Hutchison's interview with Governor Deval Patrick on "Local Bias"? Did you miss last week's Ways & Means meeting? Perhaps you decided to enjoy the beautiful weather outside instead of attending the latest School Committee meeting? Well, that doesn't have to mean that you aren't informed. You can now watch GCTV programs on your computer, whenever you want! Go to www.gctv.org/VOD. We will make every effort to get meetings up within 24-48 hours after they occur.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Governor Patrick's Appearance on Local Bias

Today Massachusetts' Governor Deval Patrick arrived at our studio to be interviewed by Drew Hutchison for next week's "Local Bias". The governor was gracious and funny and accompanied by his adorable dog, Zoey. If you can't wait to find out what the governor said to Drew, make sure you tune in to the first airing of "Local Bias" on Wednesday at 5:30PM. We will be posting more photos from the governor's visit shortly but, in the meantime, enjoy this group shot.