 And without a cameraman and a control person, there is no television. I could be talking into an empty studio if it were not for these two fine gentlemen. So thank you for being here. And it's probably hard to see what's going on in the rest of the room, but we're having a party, we're celebrating the solstice. I woke up this morning, I think it was about 10 of 7, and it was so dark that I could not get up, and I refused to wake my daughter up either. So we slept until daylight, which was about 7.20. And the only thing that encourages me is that in about two days, it will be the solstice, the longest night. Hello, it's Solomon and Stella Rose. Stella Rose, would you like to join me, Solomon? I got Solomon and Stella Rose here. Hi guys, this is the future right here. There you go, you can't be standing in front of each other. There you go, beautiful. Now what do you think about these really dark days? I'm thinking it's too dark. What about you? No, I was just saying that. What do you think about these dark days? I poop on them. Well, that's actually a very intelligent thing to say. Thank you very much. But I have to say that they're kind of frustrating for me. I can't get up early enough because it's too boring. It's pretty dark. Okay, so now listen kids, do you wait for Santa Claus? Is he part of your world? You did, what happened then? I just visited him and I did not get a candy cane. I think you guys are filled with discontent, which is not hard to be this time of the year. But here at Channel 17, we are really grateful for all of the many people that helped make this channel happen. Many of them are here, and I'm actually going to be recognizing some of them. We have a whole series of volunteers and I just like to speak to some of them while the little fairies dance. We have Doug Dunbenman, who I'm not sure is here this evening, but I'm going to just go ahead and talk about some of these wonderful folks. Doug Dunbenman started 18 months ago, and he's very responsible and steady, and he bites his tongue with some of the content that is presented by the guests and the hosts. He is willing behind the scenes or in front of the camera, and he's a great volunteer to have around. He also is responsible for a lot of the designs that are out here, a lot of the graphic design that we do, that you see under the titles and the logos, and a lot of the ads that you see every day in the Burlington Free Press. I'm not sure actually if any of you see the ads in the Burlington Free Press, but we have them, and that if you check there in the TV section, you can find out what's going on, not only by tuning into our channel, but by checking out the Burlington Free Press. In any event, Doug designs those ads for us, but we are really especially grateful for his work as a volunteer. Graham is here. Will you come over here, Graham? What? Graham, I'm so glad that you're here. You've been volunteering for how long? Since September. And what do you like best about being here at Channel 17? It's really fun, and the best part is directing in the control booth area. And so you run the camera? Yes. You've worked your way up to directing pretty quickly. I've done that a couple times for like two or three people. And then, but there's like five or six of them on the camera. And do you think this is something that other people that you know might be interested in helping out with? Yeah, it's something anyone could do. You don't need training or anything like that. You can just come in and help pretty much. Are the people pretty helpful? Yes, very helpful. And what do you like best about being here? It's just fun to like film with all the like cool equipment and stuff and get to, I don't know, it's just cool. What school do you go to? Edmunds Middle School. Oh, you go to Edmunds Middle School? Fabulous. Well, we have this gift for you in appreciation for all of your help. We thank you so much. And thanks for coming on and talking things over. All right, so that was Graham, Rob Vogel, and he actually came by way of his mother as a school commissioner, and he's been working since the middle of the summer, as he said, and he does want to be in front of the camera, although he did a great job here tonight, but he is great in all aspects behind the camera. Robin, is Robin here? Where's Robin? Somebody find Robin for me, because Robin is one of our wonderful volunteers. She found out about us through our website and our newsletter. She graduated from UVM, and she called about volunteering, and then she came that same night, and she picked up directing really quickly. Robin, how are you? I can't see through the lights. Thanks so much for joining us. Oh, happy to be here. Tell us about why you volunteer here at Channel 17. I volunteer at Channel 17 because I feel like it's necessary to have this alternative to what I see on television, what I see my grandparents watching on television, and their reactions to that, and to learn from everyone here who's very helpful and ready to teach me. What's been the best part for you about volunteering here? I think you guys, really everyone at Channel 17 has been so nice and helpful and understanding of me pressing the wrong button and it being black and being totally just, everyone's really nice and wanting to, you know, really make this work and make it successful, and it is. So that's nice. It's successful because we have wonderful people like you who are working here, so thank you so much for doing that, and you also just graduated from UVM. Yes. The other day. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you. That's a really big accomplishment. Yeah, thanks. And what do you think you might do next? What are your hopes for next steps? Well, I'd like to get a job. I'd like to start paying back those big old bills that are coming. But yeah, I mean, I'd like to keep working in sort of independent media realm. I really enjoy that and working with video, making videos. Yeah. Great. I have a gift for you. And thanks and appreciation for being here at Channel 17. Well, thank you. That's great. Congratulations on graduating, and we hope that you actually stay in Burlington. That's what we're working on. I might be back in the month if I get this job. Great. Thanks. Okay. Thank you so much. Now, Carl is behind the camera, and he got his gift the other day, so I guess I don't have to bring it, bring him out here, but maybe I could. Can I have you come over here just for a minute? Because Carl has been... Okay. Okay. Carl, thanks so much. You're the quiet man behind the camera. Yeah, that's why I'm there. And we actually brought a picture of your son who you came in to volunteer with. How many years ago was that? Over 10. Yeah. He was in eighth grade, and now he's out in the big world. And he's moved on from his experience at Channel 17, and you have been just one of the most reliable and wonderful volunteers. Well, thank you. I've enjoyed it. What has stood out for you? What stands out for you about this channel? Oh, well, it's been a great chance for me to meet political people that I hear about and read about in the paper and everything and then meet them in actuality and also to find out about some of the other programs that are available in Burlington, things assisting other people, that sort of thing. You know, one of the things that I find interesting is that you have this deep and abiding interest in radio and old-time radio shows. Tell us a little bit about how you got into that and how you share that with other people. Well, it probably started when I built a crystal kit when I was about six years old, a crystal radio. And I used to listen to programs late at night in bed but a few years ago I started collecting radio programs on tape and with the advent of the internet, they're more easily available for downloads, widely available. And I thought it would be interesting to have people who are older and remembered radio more directly hear them. So I've gone around to a number of the retirement homes and senior living facilities, Wake Robin and Pillsbury Manor, that sort of thing. And I have a show of about an hour and a half where we listen to some of the old shows and I try and draw the people out and get them to talk about what they remember and some of the remembrances have been just great. Very interesting, yeah. Oh my gosh, well I have a gift for you actually. And this is old-time television and our colleague in Northeast Kingdom Access in Newport downloads these from the Internet Archive. And I'm not sure if folks know about Internet Archive but you should definitely check it out. And these are, I won't ruin the surprise for you, but they're basically TV produced and films produced in 1935. And it's Cinderella instead of hopping into a, I'm going to spoil it for you, but instead of hopping into a carrot, she hops into a Chevrolet. So Chevrolet made these commercials that were basically these long animations and they're really, you'll find them pretty interesting. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for all your help. Thank you for the next 10 years. Great, me too. All right, okay. We also have Ivan McMullen and Jonathan McCandless. I wonder if Ivan and Jonathan are still here. Yeah, we're going to get them. They're going to be here. And they come every week with David Krause and they're not only willing volunteers, but they make the most of the no-show hosts and they talk about everything from sports trivia to political climate. And you, the two of you, how long have you been volunteering, Ivan and Jonathan? Come a little closer. Stand in the light, stand in the circle light. How long have you been here with us? Three years? Three and a half years we've been volunteering at the television station on Thursday night doing the show with David Krause who couldn't come because he had a meeting. And we really enjoyed and appreciate the fact that you gave us a chance to do that. And what's the best part about Thursday nights? What do you like the best about what you do? Meet all these nice characters from around the community. Not only that, but you also come across some kind of interesting stories every now and then here. It's very informative and all that stuff. And Ivan, you also work here a couple days a week, right? Yeah, Mondays and Fridays. You keep the skids greased for us. You do all the things we need help with and nobody gets to. Yeah, I also bring up some good shows here every now and then. I'll be getting around to doing a program on Japanese anime sometime in the future. That would be good. Now, one of the things about you is that you love traveling and you're always going somewhere so interesting. Where are you going this year, Jonathan? I'm going to be going to Minneapolis St. Paul to visit my elderly 91-year-old grandfather tomorrow. It sounds like fun, but it's a lot of work. I'd much rather be here on Thursday night filming the show, but I can't. But it's kind of you to invite me to my fourth holiday party in a week. Well, I have special gifts for the two of you. And I'm not sure you have these, but they're TV Begons. And these are very special because they are universal remote controls that can turn any television off. And so if you're walking down the street here, why don't you hold that up, Jonathan, so people can see the TV be gone. It's got a little program there. And you can turn any television off. You can also turn it back on. But basically, I'm going to just hold this up. These were developed by a guy who came to the media literacy conference that Acme held in October. There it is, the TV be gone. And we actually have these available here at Channel 17 if anyone would like them. But what I like about them is being able to walk down Church Street and turn the TVs off in bars all the way down Main Street and Church Street. So I figured you guys would really particularly like them. You would get a kick. So thank you both. Would this work if the President of the United States was making a speech on television? It would work if anyone was making a speech. Thank you. Thank you so much. In fact, CNN found out about these TV Begons. And they've now created in the airports boxes around their TVs so no one can shut them off. No, that's true. I'm not kidding you. Greg is not here, but he's also another one of us. He's our Friday night volunteer. And he is just a wonderful guy. I just want to say a few words about him. He came, he was part of our summer camp for youth that Megan O'Rourke ran this summer. She did two rounds. One for the younger middle school folks and one for the high school folks. And if you're at all interested in that for yourself or your children, you should give us a call because we'll be doing it again this summer. But Greg got the bug. And he wanted to be involved in a live show. And fortunately, his parents drive him every Friday from Essex and Underhill. He's the ultimate in outgoing personalities. He greets all the hosts. He's focused on making good programs. And he's just a wonderful guy. And I just want to recognize him. So thank you so much, Greg. I also, I have, there's two folks. There's actually a number of folks that I'd like to recognize. But I've got the chairman of the board of CCTV and one of our board members, Steve Shepard and Richie Parolato. I'd just like to have you come on over. The thing to know about Richie Parolato is that without Richie Parolato in his business there would be no CCTV and there would be no Channel 17 because we got to use the copiers and the computers and everything in the early 1980s. And thank you for that, Richard. You're quite welcome. I was just telling Steve that story about your falafel cart and how we met. The budding entrepreneur. Right. The serial entrepreneur. Yeah, Richie bought one falafel that summer. But he gave me his card and I kept it in the drawer of the falafel cart. And then in September I called you and said I'll come and work for free. And then you paid me. Which is the way to do it. I don't have 60 cents but I would also like to introduce Steve Shepard. Steve, you've been globetrotting that teaching telecom companies how to rethink the way they do business and you're on our board. Absolutely. In fact, being in Vermont right now I feel like I'm in a foreign country. I've been gone so much. What will you say sort of the main thing changing in the media business? I know there's a lot of factors at work but what's sort of like the one thing that people could be looking for as we move forward into 2007? That's a good question. I think there are really two major changes. LG, one of them is mobility. The fact that we're starting to see more content developed for mobile devices like cell phones and palm pilots and that kind of thing. And the other one is a huge rise in... How do I say this? Content developed by individuals. So instead of all the content coming from networks people are now beginning to create their own content and post it at places like YouTube and MySpace and so on, you know? And that's a huge phenomenon. I mean, citizen journalism at its best. And what do you think that means for a channel like Channel 17? I think it gives us more access to our constituents. To be able to get more information out to them in different forms that they can access at in their time rather than having to sit in their living room and always get it just on the living room on the cable network. It gives them more access. It poses some interesting challenges for a channel whose meeting length is two, two and a half, three hours long. Doesn't it? It absolutely does. But think about this. What we're really talking about is the democratization of information. It's the fact that not only do I have to rely on a single large source for my news, which is a constant concern for those of us that are really involved in the creation of content. It creates a whole new medium that says, you know what? I can go many places now to get the stuff I want to know. And I can get different perspectives and different opinions and so on. And I think this channel is right in the middle of that. I think that's a great place to be. I think with all the content that we have we can change some of it to give it into different forms for people so they can see it on some of these devices so it isn't as long. So we can do some editing but be able to deliver it and let people deliver their messages on a more regular basis rather than just, you know, set timeframes. Well, there's the 2007 Look into the Future. Thank you so much for all your support. And thanks for joining us tonight. I love having you guys around. And we have also Richard Kemp. Richard Kemp who is not only another CCTV board member but he's been on the Channel 17 Board and he's a very prolific, a very prolific producer. Richard produces once, you know, once or twice a month. Richard, you said coming up on Niren Farr you've got a program on credit cards. Yeah, and what, how is it affecting people all over the country and it's, I think, a well done program and I hope people will watch it. It'll be coming on on Thursday at six o'clock, one of these Thursdays. I'm not sure what Thursday. And is it really about credit card debt? Is that what the issue is? Yes, it's about credit card debt and what kind of debt people are having and the ramifications and the effect that it's having on lots of people that you don't really see. And the bankruptcy law is interesting. The bankruptcy law that was recently changed is in favor of banks and it's not in favor of poor people to get in financial problems and stuff. So it's, it's not nice. Tell me why you think Channel 17 is an important forum for airing issues like the one you've just described. Well, it's important because the media and people with a lot of money can control the content of what goes on television and in public access you can almost talk about and expose or show anything you want, almost anything, but maybe 90% of what you want. And that's very important if we're going to continue to have a democracy in America that there will be forums open for people to be able to express their views and come up with new ideas and stuff. Well, thank you for being an active user of Channel 17 and a long, long time supporter. Well, thanks. And the party's great. I know, it's pretty fun. Thanks a lot. So we, there's all kinds of fabulous people here and I'm wondering, Richard, can you find Megan? Do you think she's around somewhere? There's Megan. Can I just pull you in, Megan? Can I just pull you here for just one quick second? Hi. Yeah, Megan at work is our training and outreach coordinator and she's really an unsung person here and I just wanted to take a minute to sing to you. And also just for you to remind folks how they can get involved in making television here at Channel 17. The first, every Wednesday night, four out of five Wednesday nights in the month, we have activities for you to get involved with. The first Wednesday is a movie night that's open to everyone to come to. And this year we're going to have a series of themes that are cosponsored with other nonprofits or government agencies. And this first January, for example, we're going to show a movie called The Real Dirt on Farmer John and we're cosponsoring that with the Intervail Center and that's Wednesday, the first Wednesday at 6.30. And then the second and third Wednesdays are camera training and nonlinear, introduction to nonlinear editing. So if you want to learn how to make TV you can come in to those classes. That's the second Wednesday and third Wednesday. And those are also at 6.30 and you can contact me by calling the station or my email address. Emma Work at cctv.org and then the last Wednesday starting in January will be a media literacy series that's open to classes or individuals. It's a chance for you to come in to the studio audience, watch an event like this and watch how community TV is made and also learn about different media literacy topics. In January, for example, we're going to do pharmaceuticals and advertising. And you've got the schedule for the next six months pretty much working on the schedule for the next six months and it's all will be up on the net soon in the next couple of days. And if people want, it can't make it on Wednesday nights and they call you to make appointments. Yep, you can also come in and usually come through me and we'll find a way to get you working and doing what you need to do to make your own media. Thanks so much for all your work. We love having people involved. Alright, so thank you so much for watching. I think that pretty much rounds it up. We've got wonderful folks here. They all make it happen here at Channel 17 and you make it happen at Channel 17 by watching and by participating. So if you would like to get trained, if you would like to just come and participate in the live shows and get behind a camera and learn how to direct, if you would just like to get involved in media policy and how to make sure that free speech forums are available for now and into the future, we need your help, we want your help and we are part of a network of 25 centers throughout the state of Vermont that operate three access channels, which I think in the span of 25 years is a pretty great accomplishment that we have all these free speech and open access forums in this state. It's quite remarkable and of course we're part of a much bigger national and international network of access channels. So please be sure to come here to make your TV and also if you want computer training or your nonprofit wants to learn how to make and use new media tools to advance your mission the Center for Media and Democracy is the place to be. Thanks for watching and thanks everyone have a wonderful holiday of light and a marvelous 2007.