 Good evening. We're live. It's 525 and I'm Lauren Glendavidian. I'm so pleased to be here with Henry prime my co-host today We're celebrating 25 Christmases of CCTV and 20 Christmases of Channel 17 Henry. I bet that's older than you are. Yes quite Henry has been working here as a volunteer and he also is a director and a community producer and we're gonna be talking to a number of community producers today and We'll also take your calls if you have any but in the meantime Henry tell us a little bit about how you started to work here at Channel 17. I've been volunteering here for a little over a year and a half now And I started just by volunteering and doing care work on the live shows But since that I've been helping out. I helped out at the summer camp, and I've been Going out the community and taping from events. It's really awesome. It's a great group of people here and You know you did that great piece with Megan where he went out on the street you asked people about public access TV Yeah, that was really awesome. Were you surprised at whether people knew access or? It was a lot more people that I thought I actually watched some access TV Almost everybody we talked to knew about it So we're gonna where to interview James Drew now He has been doing a great show the artful word for many many many episodes and and then we'll talk to Jen Berger who from the Peace and Justice Center and a couple of other folks and then we'll give out some awards and you Can help me do that. Okay. All right. Good. So James. Why don't you come on over? We're gonna I'm gonna have you come stand right here next to Henry Henry's gonna sort of be our standby guy welcome Thank you so much for the work you're doing on the artful word. Well, thank you for having me at channel 17 It's been quite an experience for me It's been great to have you know this is a half-hour show that you produce every week pretty much, right? Well, they're letting me go to 55 minutes and they're telling me to keep it to 55 minutes But sometimes I've got away. We're doing a two-hour show I go anywhere from a half-hour to quite a few bit within about 55 minutes But they give me a lot of slack here for some reason Well, we we give people slack because it's public access Well, it's government access, but it's all access and it's really all about you having the opportunity You see equipment and tell the stories of the community, right? And it's been really great to get out in the community and I Feel that you probably don't have any favorites here But I just like to say I come in here every Monday and I'm Not one of the staff here, but I'm coming in working with professionals and I feel like I fit in here And it's just been a joy Just been a pleasure to work here It's been great to have you and I understand one of the one of the things that you really appreciate is that because over time you've had Encountered a lot of different people and now they recognize you and they'll work with you And they're probably a lot more cooperative than they were at first right I've got to know in the governor Senators congressmen the mayor Art critics Actors dancers as you know, I have a traveling road show So I'm covering a lot of things that aren't necessarily political But that's one of the great things about channel 17 is we see all aspects of the community here And I think through my lens and it enables me to experience the community and I love to volunteer in the community James your programs are really great I'll just remind people it's your program is called the artful word and it runs on channel 17 And also you have some episodes that run on channel 15, right? Yes I've been at channel 15 in March for 13 years and I've had the great good fortune to be here at channel 17 in July 5th for four years and I've done a show once a week for four years and It's quite a workload, but Really gives me something to do and I love doing that you really qualify as one of the most prolific and Intent community producers that we have so thank you so much for being here and have a great holiday Well, Merry Christmas and have a wonderful holiday So James throw it really very valued valued member of our community here at channel 17, you know, we have behind the camera We have two young young ladies Stella Rose Johnson who happens to be related to me and Allison Simons who's running the camera and They're running and we also have Greg who's on the the other camera here We have a studio full of people and it's kind of a fun night, isn't it? Yeah, it is so last year You got an award, but you didn't get here entire remember so this year you're gonna help me with the awards But first, why don't we interview Jen burger? Do you want to do the interview? Okay, hey Jen burger peace and justice center, how are you darling? Thanks for being here So Jen burger works with the peace and justice center and you've been doing video on and off different projects What's the most recent project you've been working? I just completed a 40 minute DVD about with military recruitment with interviews done at soldiers And veterans at Winter Soldier a few years ago. Oh, so you finally got that done. It took a little while didn't it? Yep, son You surprised when you produced your video at how easy or hard it was to do the work Yeah, it turned out once learning about putting Using the equipment and how to kind of storyboard and then figuring out the programs But I had a lot of help from you guys actually Tell us why in your justice work How does free speech fit into that scheme and your values? Well, we're in a day and age where we're not getting a lot of the information out to the people in the media is Filtered, you know through government and through a lot of funds And we don't have the voice of the people or the truth of what's actually happening in the community Television really gets the information out there and makes it available to people So they can actually make up their mind about what's going on I Think that's beautifully put. Thank you so much and thanks for all your support So, um, you know you may not know this Henry but when Nat air and I and actually I'll say this the governors here This is Governor Huff. Hello. How are you? I'm just fine This is Henry prime. It's one of our stars He's worked his way up into the director's room Wow, you're important I think he'll be running the place in a couple years Well, that's what I'm hoping maybe So the story I was telling Henry is that one of the first programs we ever did in the decision-makers series We got to interview you And that was a long time ago 25 24 years ago Is that the Time that they an awful lot of people decided they wouldn't subscribe to your station I think you helped viewers chef. In fact, I think it you know at that time we were probably We did this very extended interview with you We did an hour-long interview and I don't think anybody was doing Lengthy interviews in the media at that time. I don't think so either It's unusual Long format we were experimenting with do you have any thoughts about why community access channels like this are important for for democracy? Or for any other reason So What do you think about the healthcare debate that's going on right now? In fact, I think I agree with Howard's either They've taken the guts out of that bill and so they might as well forget about Terribly disappointed Well, there was so much momentum and hope behind it. I think Well, it seems to me that Impossible very difficult to accept Three people who say they are democrats I'm not willing to be joined With the seven other democrats and do something that this country desperately So I like many people I'm damn mad about it Well, I'm glad you were able to come here tonight and have some fun. Well, I didn't come here to be Thank you so much governor. It's just a pleasure to have you with us. Thanks very much So we're gonna give out some awards now. Oh, yes, we have to have received great good news Doug, how are you? Thanks for joining us. It's so nice of you to come to this party Oh, it's great to have a great party going on. So I love the holiday season. So thanks for doing this Yeah, some great people. So, um, are you going to be on the road a lot in 2010? I'm gonna be on the road a whole lot I think people know that I have a candidate for governor go to go through the next legislative session That's my job in the state senate share the health and welfare committee But politics will be part of it. People are going to get to get to see more of me We're going to talk about where Vermont's going to go after we get past the next election And when you think about these the public access channels that now serve vermont, there are 23 centers and 44 channels It's been your experience and when you go to those community centers What I what I see in channel 17 and the others is a real opportunity for vermonters to to be really connected With government and what's going on in their communities. It's just another way for people to hear from those of us Who are in office running for office? See what's going on with their local government and if we want democracy to work, which we do People have to be informed and whenever I'm on one of your programs or one of the other programs at the other Stations around the state. I hear back from a lot of people that they saw it. They were interested Sometimes they agree. Sometimes they disagree and that's fine But it's a real public service. So I thank you for that. Well, thank you so much and good luck this year Thanks, Doug Doug Racine who is um a member of the senate chitney county delegation and also is going to be running is running for governor He announced really early in in the session. So maybe we'll give some awards I'm not sure everyone people are going to really be able to hear me so I'm just going to sort of talk through these awards because um, There's some pretty there's some pretty good ones We've got we've had a lot of good neighborhood planning assembly coverage Right as you know And a lot of the community producers have come and been doing these shows including sarah flash Who's been doing some great npa coverage steve norman who's an outstanding community producer and um And maybe actually if you ask megan if you can find megan to find steve norman Maybe we'll get him up here. Okay, that'll be good. And we also have um, there we go. Thanks allison ryan davis from the The metropotin planning organization who's been covering their meetings and opening the door to regional planning And lee turhune phil levine chuck selene and carol levine and niche's surprise who host produce and do the camera work For the word four and seven live npa show. That's a really neat show We also, um, we've got some wonderful supporters and longtime volunteers and one of them is jonathan mccanlis who's a longtime live show volunteer and um Ivan who is his Cohort was a volunteer for many years too and the two of them have been delightful to have here behind the cameras Melinda molten has been doing on the waterfront for many years. She's a very reliable live show host And then um, jennifer wallace broder who I think is with a a rp. I want to say Who works and cooperates with other organizations in her show, which is burlington sustainable Communities. We also have a sustainable transportation show. That's by the ccta. Do you ever cover that one? That's when you're doing the live show there. They come. Yes What are the kind of things they talk about? Um, they talk about car share vermont and ccta and the bus new bus for us and and um The bike bike case I can't remember the name of that right up like a Local motion is about a lot of great sustainable transportation. Yeah, it's a really interesting show. Well, that's good That's chris kohl and annie borden and chapein spencer and they model how partner organizations can Share a live show spot and then we've got the woodchuck report Those they're friday night show and body scott and roll wheelock maintain a live live show every month But they also have a little baby that comes to their shows And um sort of sits on the set with them while they do their work and then um in The last two people that I want to recognize and maybe well, we can bring nick here I'm not sure if andy's here as well But nick carter and andy crawford who are two cctv staff people who they're new this year and they're really just It's been fantastic to have them here with us. So maybe you can find nick and we'll interview him after michael wood louis So those are the uh folks we have awards for and we're going to hear now from michael wood louis front porch forum Which is really the an online counterpart in a lot of ways to channel 17 michael. Thank you for coming It's nice to see you. It's really great that you came. I appreciate it So front porch forum is a real international model for bringing people together in their communities and online It's really gotten a lot of attention in the last couple of years, haven't you? Yeah, it's done great It's um, you know, we're we host a network of online neighborhood forums The blank is chitin in in grandisle counties and starksboro and anybody can sign up It's free and it's a great way to connect with your nearby neighbors And grandisle is new this year, right? Yeah, recently grandisle South hero grandisle north hero isle amant and allberg all have joined from porch forum and there's several hundred households who signed up I know of at least one lost cat that's been found and Several other things have been going on there. So is it sort of picking up or people using the resource? Yeah Yeah, it's it's starting to catch hold, you know wintertime in the islands It's a little a little tough to get out and see your neighbors So I think it's a you know offers a lot of potential there and we're looking forward to get more and more people to sign up So have you been surprised at how your project has grown? Sure, it's uh, it's really been remarkable in a lot of ways You know, we started this out just in our own neighborhood in the south end Many years ago and then a few years ago we opened up more broadly to anybody who lives in the area And now there are 17,000 households Um in the region who subscribe to front porch forum including nearly half of Burlington And half of communities like Huntington and westford and really any of these towns are 25 towns now that have it and it's a great place like I say to Find a lost bed or to sell a car or to voice an opinion about the select board or what have you How are you finding the um the I guess the revenue model that ad selling and I mean are you finding on that side? People are interested in getting out in front of those folks Yeah, well, of course, you know make an ends meet on the internet is really challenging and so we primarily we sell ads to local businesses and Our local advertisers have done very well and um You know because people pay attention to their neighborhood news and if your ads right in there they tend to pay attention So we're getting close to breaking even you know, we're well on our way, but it's it's a it's a challenging Um undertaking I want to say thanks to everybody We had a recent appeal to our membership to become a supporting member and um all the many people who who Sent in a donation. Thank you. That was great. Great. That must have been heartening this for the wikipedia model. Yes So, um, how do you see public access as an adjunct to the work that you're doing or as a value to the community? Well, what we've found is that when people Many people don't feel very connected to their to their neighborhood and community And oftentimes we hear back from people who use front porch form that they They they they sell their bicycle or they give away They're used couch or whatever and in that process they get to know some neighbors And then they get to know more neighbors and more neighbors and pretty soon. They're feeling really connected And um and the step after that is they get more involved in their local community They go to green up day or or they pitch in and help shovel out a senior citizen who lives down the block And so, you know, I would think that's the same spirit of public access And so people getting more involved in the local communities. So I see front porch form is kind of the minor leagues Maybe and you're the major leagues We're all the leagues, you know in a way because we're we've got a lot of the same People who watch and who participate. I mean, it's a particular kind of person You know in a way it's an active citizen active citizen person I guess that's why I might describe it. So thank you so much for joining us and your support of our work and all the work you're doing Thank you very much All right, michael with luis really great ally of this project now you found nick carter. Yes. All right, let's bring the man on Let's bring them on nick carter Nick carter congratulations. Give me a hug there, buddy. Hey On the other side of the camera, would you like to hold that? Hello? Hello, berlington happy holidays Whatever your persuasion. We're all welcoming. What's my special award? What do we got here? Let's hold that up for the viewing audience Nick Carter came to us out of a political campaign and he has brought his skills and enthusiasm and great dedication An incredible ability to work hard to the project and it's just been a pleasure to work with you So thank you so much. Well, I just wanted to say it's been a pleasure to work with everybody at channel 17 cctv Can ask for a better group of people and they really encompass the spirit of community media Thanks for a great party by the way anytime. Yeah, I mean not only is he a great co-worker, but he can make some real mean stuff Mushrooms, so thank you That's great Say that one more time Steve norman's next. Oh my gosh, you know, Steve norman. I think 25 years ago. He was in on the ground floor I have these mailing lists with his name on it 25 years ago. Let's see what he's got to say Steve norman, we've got an award for him Steve thanks for coming How are you? I'm fine. Thank you. How are you? Thanks for all your work? We have a little award and recognition for your great contribution as Well, there's a great community producer and um, there you go. You got your name on that An outstanding npa coverage. That's what you've got that award for We love those npas. Npas were so lucky to have people like you covering Well, uh, it's a privilege and an honor and I enjoy the production work What motivates you to cover those meetings? um Somebody needs to do it and I don't even get cables so I don't get to watch it except online, but I can watch them online and uh And people people who can't make the meetings come you know watch it too So we need to get that and we need to get people to the meetings We need to reach people who can't make the meetings and a lot of good stuff goes on there The neighborhood planning assemblies are a long time legacy of the berlington political structure. Aren't they? Yes, they are and uh They need constant reinforcement. We need to build the audience get people out get Topics that get people interested I'm trying to uh Make sure that the city council does not allow Development projects to have ad hoc neighborhood meetings. We want them to bring those issues to the npa meetings Which is where they should be where so people don't have to go to multiple meetings find out what the plans are to build new Infrastructure in their neighborhoods um So We try to keep it happening there Thank you so much for your work. We really appreciate it. Yeah, okay. All right. You know you want to interview ivan Yeah, you can do it. Okay. All right. I'm gonna let henry interview ivan. Ivan's the best. You got my favorite shirt on there, buddy Hey, ivan So, how long have you been here at shale 17? Six years What have you been doing over those past six years? Um, hold on just a second Oh my gosh Okay, what was the question again, what have you been doing here at shale 17? Oh everything Oh everything from wearing my own show to um I'm maintaining the equipment and stuff like that and uh writing the camera Put out some of your favorite things about channel 17 My favorite things about channel 17 Well, it's a great place to just practice your craft and just learn camera work and stuff like that It's very good for if you want to get involved in the animation For all your great contribution as uh as a volunteer many how many years did you do that live show? I do a live show here Live show the volunteering on the camera Well, thank you for doing that. We love you ivan. Thanks a lot Sure a little too much Megan emory we're gonna interview. Yeah, Megan. How are you? This is henry prine. I'm one of our star volunteers 17 Great that you came thanks so much Tell us a little bit about why it's um you like being on the channel 17 trustees and why you feel that's an important thing to do Oh, when I started out as city council, they asked me what I wanted to do is my service and Channel 17 was on the list and I think that having free access to media is key to Good government that is transparent and accountable And I think a lot of people in south burlington really rely on channel 17 on the clickable agendas online, especially But also they watch sunday evenings and even Tell me about them or they you know or other meetings that I attend to so it's it's very useful I think and it's a way for people who can't get to the meetings or too busy Since they're on week nights that they can go on the weekends or anytime and click on the agenda and Take a look at what's going on This year coming up. We're going to be renegotiating with Comcast for a new channel 17 contract So what are you thinking what what should we tell people about what to look forward to with that? Oh, let's just keep channel 17 moving ahead with The funding it needs in order to to access more people and to train more people and To be able to put all of this valuable programming on the air Uh, this is a local community where for not very much money. We can get a lot done with channel 17 and cc tv in general So I think it's really worth Those few pennies for Comcast which mean a whole lot more to us You know, we're so grateful to the cable cable subscribers of of Comcast and burlington telecom because They're the ones who support this channel and people across the community whether they're cable subscribers or not use the channel And so we're very fortunate to have that level of support from the community A lot of people use television as their main source of information these days newspapers are struggling to to stay alive And it's important for us to have that real access direct access to the people who make the decisions who are Using tax dollars and all kinds of important resources in the community. It's important for people to have that access Thank you so much and thanks for your service on the trustees. We really appreciate it Happy holidays Okay All right, you know, we have greg beso who's behind that camera and I know he's just dying to be interviewed So how are you? Were you just dying? Well, I guess I guess you could say I was I was uh Well, uh, I haven't working here for quite some time, you know Since how old were you? I was 14 when I started here And so what do we got now? We got a great award for you for all your work Oh Yeah, I've uh Ella It's the experience see I was playing on going to linen state college, which is a top-notch television studies program and This has given me quite a good experience with it. I'm sure I'll continue my work Back behind that camera and do all that great work you're doing. We love that. We love what he's doing So, um, you know, we're we got a couple more minutes and I just wanted to recognize scott moody And maybe we'll bring him over because he worked at cax for a long time and now he works here channel 17 So why don't we bring him on over? All right, here we go. So henry's going to go get scott. I'm just going to remind you all that 20 2009 was a big year a big year for um, he's right there For cctv because it's our 25th anniversary and we had some great events. We had an april retrospected We have a june holiday party. We've been doing cctv rewind all kinds of great programs and then in 2010 cctv and channel 17 have about 280 things going on next year not including all the programs we produce So you're going to want to check out our website www cctv Dot org or channel 17 dot org And find out the amazing events that we're going to have lined up for you starting the first of january Including the media maven series which are continuing And of course a new series called the npo mavens. So scott we got three minutes. So why don't you come on over here? How are you fantastic fantastic? We're so happy that um, we snagged you from channel three. Well, I'm happy to be here It's been just a wonderful experience with cctv and I um, I've it's been a learning experience for me going out and shooting all the um municipal meetings and Board meetings and stuff like that. I'm just learning so much about how our government works how The municipalities work how the different utilities work. It's it's a wonderful experience. I'm happy to be here And we're just so glad that maybe you bring a real high level of skill to the camera work And we really appreciate that I try to you know, I try to and try to try to get the The word the government out to the people and that's what we're all about and I'm just happy to be Grateful to be part of the team. Well, thank you so much for joining us and happy holidays Yeah Yeah, thanks for watching So henry we're about to wrap up here buddy any closing words for the people out there Well keep watching channel 17. It's great. There you go That I mean you couldn't stand any better than that and then one more minute or you have something to say one more minute That was a one more minute. Oh, we have a phone call on line one. Okay Hi, we've got a couple seconds left. How you doing? Oh, I don't know if I can hear you Hello, are you there? We're there. We're about to go off the air. But how you doing? Happy holidays from dale great great on channel 17 for the years. Thank you very much Thank you. We love that you're you you probably are gonna get a caller of the year this year dale So thank you. We have a little thank you very much any time you want to come over See you soon. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thanks everyone here channel 17 Thank you, henry prine my trusty co-host Thank you to allison simons and to greg and distella rose for being here and running the camera and being part of this great great Great operation. We've got kevin in the studio We've got all kinds of fabulous people here and we really couldn't make public access television happen without you So stay tuned for 2010 channel 17 will be renegotiating its contract with compcast We have all kinds of great events lined up and of course here at 5 25 We always have the live show so stay tuned and have a great year