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Home My WebLink AboutMN-AOC-2023-08-01 1 Minutes (As approved September 5, 2023) Access Oversight Committee (AOC) Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 5 PM Present: chair Rich DePaolo, secretary Wayles Browne, vice chair Wies van Leuken, member Paul Smith; Access Coordinator Alex Wiers; Jeremy Menard, Manager of Television and Radio Operations, Ithaca College; members of the public Jim Garaventa, Bob Slaymaker. The AOC held its meeting by ZOOM Conferencing. 01. Call to Order by DePaolo 5:04. 02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none. 03. Public Comments. Bob Slaymaker: earlier attended film school. Hopes to make short narrative videos; asks about HD (high definition) recording. DePaolo replies: recording is HD, but what is broadcast is SD (standard definition). Slaymaker asks about specs of cameras. Wiers: 1080P, not 4K. Slaymaker speaks about narrative esthetics, hopes for higher quality for field work, so seeks 4K cameras. 04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken advises Slaymaker to consult with Wiers on his needs. 05. Approval of Minutes of the June 6, 2023 Meeting. Moved by DePaolo, seconded by van Leuken, adopted without change 3-0-0. 06. Educational and Governmental Access Channels - discussion. Jeremy Menard is invited to attend by DePaolo. Menard is Manager of Television and Radio Operations, Park School, Ithaca College, and Advisor and General Manager of ICTV (Ithaca College TV) and WICB TV. ICTV cablecasts 8-to-12-week sessions on Channel 16. There will be 400+ student volunteers for it in the next term. There are 18 non-repeat programs per week, mostly live-to-tape, 1/2-hour shows. ICTV also carries Ithaca College football live, and IC men’s and women’s basketball in the spring. It offers Newswatch and covers major events. Van Leuken: who handles cablecasting on Ch. 16 (Educational Access Channel)? Menard: We used to e-mail Lauren Stefanelli (previous access studio coordinator) with advance info on programming. Then the pandemic started, and school districts started using YouTube for their meetings (instead of 16); Charter told IC to just keep the switch "on" on Ch. 16 since only IC was using it. When IC has no other broadcast, it puts on the "roofcam" showing a view of the lake, paired with audio from VIC = IC's student online radio. (Wiers confirms this.) Van Leuken: what if the Board of Education wants to start broadcasting content again? Menard: PEG would have to switch between IC's content and the BOE's. [Ex-]Charter employee Montesano had asked Menard if Park (IC) could take over all management of Channel 16 from the Park School, but Menard had told him that IC did not have the structure to do that. DePaolo: It's news to us! If BOE does want to resume broadcasting, would switching Ch. 16 be a Charter function? Wiers: I would coordinate switching. 2 Van Leuken asks Menard if he would be willing to host the annual PEGGY awards for best public-access shows as he did with Stefanelli during Covid. He agrees. Van Leuken: Could IC broadcast repeats of school-year programs during the summer? Menard: No. Most IC shows are taped, then made available on-demand at ICTV. Most are time-sensitive. I could look into rebroadcasting some of them in the summer, but it's not how we're set up now. [He leaves the meeting.] Robert Henry, Tompkins County Media Production Assistant, who produces programming for the Governmental Channel (Ch 15), was not available for this meeting. 07. Access Studio Coordinator Report (attached) a. Mini-Studio equipment installation - update. On July 31 Wiers sent an e-mail message "The Mini-Studio Equipment Installation was completed on 7/20." and included pictures of the installation (also attached). b. Discussion. Wiers: Current users of the Mini-Studio are undergoing retraining. Browne: How long does training take? Wiers: it is a learning curve, but it is going well. The new system is similar to what is in the main studio. Some producers have backup shows that are being broadcast during the retraining. Programming hasn't been interrupted. Van Leuken: can Wiers send a notice to all producers that the new equipment is available? Wiers: will ask if he can. 08. Member Reports a. Outreach Committee - report. The Outreach Comm. (so far consisting of van Leuken, Smith, Tom Stern) met 3 times and will again on Aug. 2. It is focusing on: 1. increased use of the bulletin board; 2. production of "Ithaca Politics" in the main studio in the months leading up to the election hosting candidates running for office in the City - which is hoped to lead to more studio programs in the future; 3. archiving vintage photographs from the studio and also using this for a program, Re 2.: the League of Women Voters was asked to co-sponsor, but could not do so because of its rules for non-partisanship, but will encourage candidates with a Letter to the Editor to be on the show. Van Leuken asks for more people to join. The Committee identified some broken equipment that needs to be replaced; finds that entering PEG is complicated and finds Wiers very helpful. They are considering a YouTube channel for "Ithaca Politics". She mentions that Stern wants to involve student interns in the production of this program and wonders if AOC has funding available for this. (DePaolo: We need to ask Stern for details, but it is doubtful that we can pay them.) b. 2024 Budget - progress report. DePaolo will ask DeFendini to confirm that Common Council passed the Budget resolution. c. Equipment purchases - 2023 Budget - Resolution. Van Leuken: we need some equipment to be gotten quickly to operate the main studio properly - but there was not enough time to prepare an itemized budget for this meeting. We'll skip the resolution for now and have things ready for next month's agenda. d. AOC Member's reappointment - report. Van Leuken was sworn in on July 25 for a term ending at the end of 2024. The City no longer sends letters to notify appointees of their committee appointments. Browne needs to phone the City Clerk to find out the status of his re-appointment. 3 e. Common Council meetings on Government Channel 15. Is the City ready to cablecast them once again? DePaolo will ask DeFendini. f. PEGASYS Website updates - Resolution. Smith: I am working on retooling the PEG website. Wiers: needs a formal request from AOC to make changes. Smith: will screenshare his redesign to AOC at the next meeting. The resolution was withdrawn until that time. g. Showcasing PEGASYS awards and photographs at PEGASYS - Resolution. Van Leuken: framed certificates of winner of PEGASYS Awards and other events were removed during recent studio renovations and were not hung back. Also the Outreach Committee would like for some of the vintage photographs it is working with to be on the studio walls to show the history of the place. DePaolo moved and Browne seconded a resolution to make this request to Charter. WHEREAS, the PEGASYS studio is now accessible to producers and members of the public after a period of partial closure during the COVID pandemic; and WHEREAS, being able to see tangible reminders of the achievements and successes of producers from previous years and decades would be encouraging for present-day producers and would add to the reputation of the studio in the eyes of the public; and WHEREAS, recently-completed renovations of the PEGASYS studio necessitated the removal of framed certificates of the winners of PEGASYS Awards and other events, which had previously been displayed on the walls; and WHEREAS, the Access Oversight Committee (“AOC”) is in the possession of photographs of events and activities that took place at PEGASYS; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the AOC requests that said framed certificates and awards be hung back up on the walls of PEGASYS, preferably in its entrance hall; and be it further RESOLVED, that the AOC further requests that a selection of the above-mentioned vintage photographs, chosen in cooperation with the Public Access Coordinator, should also be posted on PEGASYS' walls. Passes 3-0-1. h. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual review. DePaolo screenshares the text as edited at the last meeting (through V.2.a); the committee worked through it up to VII.4. DePaolo will send out the latest revised text and we will continue working through it at the next meeting. 09. Old Business: none. a. Streaming Channel 13: not considered. 10. New Business: none. 11. Next meeting: September 5. 12. Adjournment 6:38. 4 ================ Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207. Page on the City website: https://www.cityofithaca.org/369/Cable-Access-Oversight-Committee Contact information for AOC members: City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>. City of Ithaca: Common Council liaison 2022- Jorge (George) DeFendini <gdefendini@cityofithaca.org>. City of Ithaca: Paul Smith <smithcommapaul@hotmail.com>. Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <rd@richdepaolo.com>, <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>. Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>. Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules: https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html or https://pegasys.yourwebsitespace.com/ studio location, mailing address: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York 14850 phone (607) 272-7272; fax (607) 277-5404 5 [Alex Wiers, 31 July] Hello AOC Members, The Mini-Studio Equipment Installation was completed on 7/20. Below are images showing the upgraded equipment. 6 7 8 Training for current Users on the new equipment is underway. I’m also sending along the AOC Coordinator Report for this month’s meeting. Looking forward to meeting with everyone tomorrow! Thanks, Alex 9 10 11 12