Weekly Wrap-up (with a Shout Out)

Being closed Monday for Patriot's Day was really nice and our staff took full advantage of the three day weekend to travel to all kinds of exotic places like NYC, New Jersey, and, of course, a goat farm in Shelburne Falls.

We hit the ground running on Tuesday morning, however, with Community Action's Mediation & Training Collaborative (TMTC) beginning an almost day-long shoot in our studio. Thanks to a grant, they were able to hire two of our independent producers (Jimmie Bailey & Drew Hutchison) to set up the technical aspects of the production and run cameras. Drew & Jimmie helped the shoot to proceed smoothly and, as Betsey Corner of TMTC said, "they were worth every penny".

On Wednesday, our studio was again in use most of the day---this time by three separate shoots and a tour. In the morning, we recorded a video statement, for our website, by one of the candidates in Greenfield's upcoming election (Don't forget to vote June 8, 2010!). After lunch, a group from Ludlow Public Access Television (LPTV) in Vermont stopped by to check out our facilities. They are about to move into a new space and were visiting several nearby stations to get ideas for their architect to use in the planning and renovation process. Not long after they left, Mayor Martin and Sandy Shields (Director of Greenfield's DPW) came in to tape a new "Mayor's Memo" focusing on Greenfield's Solar Farm project. When they had finished, Philippe and Alicia spent the rest of the afternoon setting up for the Town Council Meeting which was broadcast live from our studio that evening.

Thanks to a respite on Thursday, Alicia finally had time to evict most of the dustbunnies from our studio. Her thorough sweeping job means that when the crews for "Silly Wizard" and "Kid Trivia" come in to record shows this afternoon their feet will not be producing crunching sounds as they walk across the floor. Yay!

In other news, "Valley Homegrown" director Richard Roy is participating in the World T'ai-Chi and Qigong Day Celebration here in Greenfield this weekend. A group meditation for world peace and awareness of T'ai-Chi and Qigong will be held Saturday, April 24th, from 10AM to 11:30AM at Beacon Field. The event, which is sponsored by J. R. Roy Martial Arts Studio & Dial/Self, will be held rain or shine. It's free and Richard hopes that he'll see many of you there.

I Know You've all Been Waiting for Today's Post with Bated Breath

We were pretty busy in here so this is not the control room "before and after pictures with the amazing reveal" post I had planned. That will be up soon, never fear. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these pics from the "Local Bias" shoot this morning. Richard Roy took the switcher and new monitors for a spin while Jimmie Bailey operated the new cameras. They gave us good feedback that helped Scott to make some changes this afternoon. We'll be open to more comments from the rest of you as you begin to use the new equipment.

Day 2 of the Upgrade

By the end of the day yesterday we had three new cameras installed in the studio and large program and preview monitors mounted in the control room.








Special thanks go to producer Jimmie Bailey who assisted Scott during the late afternoon and early evening. Scott said that, without the benefit of Jimmie's expertise, installing the monitors would have been very difficult.
This morning, Jal & Scott put together our new control desk and began placing equipment on it.
















Several volunteers, including "Local Bias" & "Homegrown" director Richard Roy, stopped by to check out our progress. Their comments echoed the ones some of you have left on prior posts; sentiments of being impressed and grateful. We appreciate all the compliments and good wishes. Keep 'em coming!