Rogue Valley Community Television

OPEN HOUSE WAS BUZZING!

Attendees get the scoop on social media from DMC academic coordinator Erik Palmer at the RVTV Open House on July 31, 2013

Thanks to all of you who attended our RVTV Open House last week here at the Southern Oregon Digital Media Center. We were so glad to get current producers together with producers from years past who are looking to get re-involved, not to mention the folks just getting to know about Public Access TV!

SOU Communications Professor Erik Palmer gave a captivated audience the scoop on how far-flung social networks can create whole new audiences for the work of many of our grassroots producers. It’s up to the producers out there to make use of these tools and be their own best promoter – and in doing so, they’ll be expanding the audience not only for their own show, but for RVTV and non-commercial media in general.

We also heard from Public Access Advisory Board member Dean Walker about ‘that vision thing’ and how we’re breaking out of the cable TV box to ensure the survival of our mutual endeavors and this irreplaceable community resource. Following up was RVTV mentor David Bruce who simultaneously tugged at heart strings and nudged comfort zones with three stories of local community members featured on different local series sharing their love and creativity.

As promised, RVTV staff presented a ‘How To Primer’ to make use of the new Underwriting Policy (https://rvtv.wpengine.com/public-access-2/rvtv-underwriting-policy/), with a step-by-step process laid out to demonstrate for producers the best practices involved.

Read all about it at https://rvtv.wpengine.com/publicaccess/underwriting-how-to/ and let us know if you have questions.

QUARTERLY PRODUCERS MEETING SET

Once again, it’s time for our producer community to come together and map out our production schedule for the forthcoming three months. The Fall Quarter covers October, November and December – and with the wildly successful system of offering three production timeslots every Saturday, along with the first and third Friday live times, that’s 39 timeslots in all up for grabs! (Please note that we will be closed on the Saturdays following Thanksgiving and Christmas, those being Nov. 30 and Dec. 28).

Only producers who are studio-certified may bid for these timeslots, and we will continue our new lottery system first implemented almost a year ago and refined in each successive meeting. Thanks to the careful tracking of volunteer hours, staff shall grant further pre-lottery timeslots to those RVTV Public Access Producers who are the leading volunteers on other public access programs in the three months leading up to this meeting. Producers Helping Producers – this is the motto by which our Public Access program at RVTV will continue to survive and grow.

The same rules apply in terms of attendance at this meeting – Producers must be physically present to bid for timeslots, and each producer gets one pick at a time, not one pick per show they produce. After the up-front bonus picks, each producer will have the opportunity to bid for a production timeslot in every round before going through the draft pick lottery order once more.

For those of you reading this newsletter who aren’t certified, you might consider partnering with someone who is if you’d like to try a studio show concept out in the next three months. Please keep in mind that these are three-hour production timeslots, which means TWO half-hour or ONE hour-long program MINIMUM must be submitted to air on Channel 15 as a result of each production timeslot. Any special projects deviating from this formula require prior approval.

PROGRAMMING BLOCS IN DEVELOPMENT

As was established in our Series Status Policy (https://rvtv.wpengine.com/series-status/) issued a few months ago, the concept of ‘Programming Blocs’ holds out the hope of making the Channel 15 schedule more viewer-friendly and coherent (not to mention entertaining). RVTV Staff is looking for producer & community input on what the categories should be and where viewing times would make the most sense. Please give your feedback to Brandon (givensb@sou.edu) or Charles (douglasc@sou.edu), or let the Public Access Advisory Board know of your thoughts on the matter.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE NOTES

Our normal weekly equipment checkout time is on Wednesday between 3-6 p.m. Producers are highly encouraged to reserve the equipment they need IN ADVANCE. To do so, please e-mail Charles Douglas at douglasc@sou.edu or call (541) 552-6898.

Fri.              5pm-8pm          Oscar Rodriguez – One Way
Aug. 16     LIVE at 6:30

Sat.            8am-11am        Therese Swenson – Tough Times
Aug. 17     11am-2pm        Britt Ivy – Passion
2pm-5pm          Bob Schropp – Staying Connected

Sat.            8am-11am        Biome – Constitutional Republic Now!
Aug. 24     11am-2pm        Kumud Gokani – Cooking With Kumud
2pm-5pm          OPEN

Sat.                                       STUDIO CLOSED – NO PRODUCTIONS
Aug. 31                                (Labor Day Weekend)

Fri.              5pm-8pm          Jason Houk – On The Media
Sep. 6        LIVE at 6:30

Sat.            8am-11am        Therese Swenson – Tough Times
Sep. 7        11am-2pm        Michael D. Fox – The Mickey Balloonman Show
2pm-5pm          Kumud Gokani – Meditation, The Art Of Loving

Sat.            8am-11am        Britt Ivy – Passion
Sep. 14      11am-2pm        Oscar Rodriguez – One Way
2pm-5pm          Dean Walker – Presence

Fri.              5pm-8pm          Gokul Gokani – Art & Awareness Of Happy Health
Sep. 20      LIVE at 6:30

Sat.            8am-11am        Oscar Rodriguez – One Way
Sep. 21      11am-2pm        Angie Christianson – Talking Points
2pm-5pm          Dean Walker – Presence

Sat.            8am-11am        Nica Vano – (show title TBA)
Sep. 28      11am-2pm        Nancy Bloom – Life Passages
2pm-5pm          Craig Comstock – Like, Wow!

News & schedules for studio production

As you may have noticed, we are expanding our advance listing of crewmembers to make sure producers have lined up sufficient support from our RVTV Public Access crew pool; if you are having trouble finding volunteers, that probably means you need to be volunteering more yourself on other people’s shows!

If you would like to be contacted to Direct or crew for any programs, please contact Charles (douglasc@sou.edu) so that we can put Producers in contact with you. We always need capable Directors and crewmembers wanting to hone their skills!

New Dawn For Public Access: Part 5 – Social Media

Producers must promote their content by all means necessary

By: Charles Douglas

Whether or not you use Facebook or Twitter, your content may have already been promoted there thanks to RVTV!

We’re ramping up our public outreach efforts as part of the evolution towards digital media and on-line distribution of our content. This not only helps establish Rogue Valley Community Television as a relevant and up-to-date resource for Southern Oregon, but also directly helps put eyeballs on our live web streams and on our Public Access Archive at http://www.archive.org/details/roguetv.

Some of you at our Quarterly Producers Meetings have emphatically told us that you don’t use social media and you don’t ever want to; this is your choice and we respect it. We might suggest, however, that in doing so you are crippling your own ability to share your own work with family, friends and the wider public. Part of your role as Producers is not just to make TV shows, but to get the word out so people actually watch them.

Remember, it is your choice how much, or how little, personal information you provide these companies, and exercising caution given their privacy policies is perfectly appropriate. With that said, please consider helping out RVTV by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and spreading the word about Public Access Archive programs.

http://www.facebook.com/RogueValleyCommunityTelevision

http://www.twitter.com/RogueValleyTV