 So I want to first of all thank you all for coming tonight. It's been wonderful to see the conversations going on We're going to let you get back to them just as soon as possible But typically what we do in this annual meeting is just have an opportunity for people to say a few things about Orchimedia talk to you I know my staff and I've been preparing for this evening So I don't really have anything prepared to say but there are some things that we wanted to make Bring to your attention first of all drinks are all in the fridge if you haven't had a drink yet There's there's stuff in the fridge. There's also in the studio We set up a nice chroma key so you can sit in front of a nice underwater landscape and just to have an interview or talk if you want to We wanted to get an orca in there. So they work stuff orcas in there as well There's a swag on the front table up there with Some fridge magnets and some stickers for your car and even some caps if you'd like to wear the nice ball cap So if you may or may not know me, but I am Rob Chapman. I'm the director of Orchimedia So we'll start there I guess Thank you, thank you So the only thing that I really like to say is what a great time It isn't what a great bunch of people to work with I have here And so I would just say that my staff is wonderful. I have Zach on the camera over there now. He's our post-production coordinator Chris Green is our production coordinator. He's over there Our newest content manager is Jin on who's sitting in the door right there And if you're enjoying the food it comes from Jin's family and the new restaurant Bon Chon on Elm Street We've stepped up our game this year instead of the platter from Shaw's we decided to make it a little bit nicer So we hope you're enjoying the food And if you do enjoy the food make sure you go to Bon Chon and check it out They're now doing dinner on Friday and Saturday As well as lunches Some other people that are on my staff here I think I see Adam up there with a camera And I saw Jerome over here. There's Jerome Sue is on staff as well as being a board member. We have a couple board members here Sue Bettman, I was just recently joined the board behind Sue is Rachel who's on the board as well We got Mike Abadi who's over there on the board And CJ right here is on the board. So I'm just introducing them. I hope they'll all say something So I'm going to do now give an opportunity for anybody who wants to say something I will pass this wonderful mic that my staff has given me to hey Richard's here How are you producer producer? You want to say something? No? No, okay Larry you want to say something? Sure My name is Lauren Seiler my wife and I my wife are linear and produce the show here Thanks to Orca Media. I'm originally from the Bronx Come from Bronx net over there But we produce a television program called abled in on air which focuses on the needs concerns and achievements of the differently able not disabled but we do all kinds of topics and Welcome to Orca Media. Awesome. I liked it. We're gonna just go around and figure it out. Do you want to say anything? I Would you like to say sure? Alright never had a loss. Is this really working? It doesn't sound like Is this really working? Well, is it attached to anything? Is it like on? Hi, I'm Pat McDonald and I host vote for Vermont with Ben Kinsley. We started out as a half Thank you. Thank you We set it out as a half hour show progressed to an hour show once a week And now we're doing two hour shows twice a week or one hour show Monday and Thursday a lot of work I'm knee deep in doing and a four series and a total of eight series of with Joe Linda LeClaire who's the director of drug Addiction program and she oversees the opioid Counsel and she asked us to do a series of eight shows on the opioid crisis here in Vermont and if you think Managing and writing questions for a bunch of doctors is easy. It's not This is something's a little over my head, but I'm really learning a lot. We've had a fun doing it staff here is great I'm sure every time Chris or Zach get the email for me. They're like, oh my god, but thank you all very much I really appreciate it So I'm neither a staff member nor a board member My name is Monica hot I'm actually the commissioner at the Department of Disabilities aging and independent living and when Rob told me that you all were having your Annual meeting today. I actually wanted to come by to say thank you to the board Because we've had the most amazing collaboration with Orca media over the past several months Working with with Zach working with Chris working with Rob for a program called stay savvy Vermont Which is targeting is created essentially public service messages in the form of skits to educate Vermonters and older Vermonters about some of the most common scams that are out there So really working to provide some protection and the collaboration has been great. It's the department. It's the Attorney General's Office It's Orca media who's been our filming crew putting everything together Cove the community of Vermont elders and the SMP savvy seniors so an acting troop from Lyric Theater Who we have been able to borrow indefinitely to produce these skits? It's just been awesome and it really You know the power of public access and public media is so profound and and Orca's been great about really getting this message out I was up in Jericho speaking at something and someone said hey I saw that stay savvy Vermont series and So as Rob informed me they put it in the box Which I know isn't called that gin tried to tell me what it's called But some place where other public access stations across the state can get hold of programming from here Which is just so cool. So thank you very much to Orca media and to the board that supports it makes that happen That's a nice little segue I'm Michael a body from Randolph. I'm on the board and we just got to thank you from the state to Orca and Orca would like to thank the state of Vermont particularly a public utilities commission for being so supportive And realizing that public access television often gets oh get-a-wise a little bit We don't have access to high definition or the Program guide and the public utilities commission said to Comcast These are things that you need to do to bring us into the 21st century. So community access media can flourish and Presently we the state of Vermont is being sued in federal court by the Comcast Corporation I don't know if everyone knows that it's a pretty meaty savvy crowd We may may be preaching to the converted here. But anyways, there's a motion to dismiss right now And we'll see how it goes just keep keep your eyes on the news because it's a fascinating time. It's definitely A lot of balls in the air and this Vermont could set precedent yet again What's the suit about Um, the the the public utilities commission Um told Comcast in order to maintain their certificate of public good They needed to upgrade public access in the state And there's a list of the list of stipulations and there's money to go with that stipulation There's money From whom The government who's making the Oh, I see what you're doing. I get what you're doing. Um, actually, um State of Vermont, you know the state of Vermont's but you know the state of Vermont budget is a 5.8 billion They're arguing about it looks like scott's vetoed or going to veto, but that's the number 5.8 Comcast is an 80. I think it was in 2017 the 86 billion dollars in revenue. So um, they're doing all right and um They do make their money from people who pay their bills They're their cable bills, right? So, um, that I mean that's Part of the ground part of what Comcast is saying is just that so it's we'll see how the motion dismiss comes out And uh, I just went up to the north St. Albans they're brand new studio not your socks. Oh all new equipment Mm-hmm. It's just it's staggering. I was in the old studio on the same show years ago and it's just like Monday And I don't know where they get that one Well, um, it's uh, is it five percent of the cable bill? Yes. Yeah, that's it Right Yeah, this will loop back around to rob and he can fill in all the all the details But um, I'll I'll keep it moving All right, so well, um One of the things that orca has done is improve the um, participation of Our town and meetings because we're starting to be able to see them in real time, which is very much appreciated Working on interactive participation So that we'll be able to actually If you can't be at the meeting at some point, we're hoping to be able to allow you to You know get your questions and have a moderator Um, that's going to take some town participation working with orca But the opportunity wouldn't be there for us without orca. So, uh, we're really grateful Um, I actually can I put you on the spot for a moment? Just because you've got a business that may tie in so, uh Steve prescrivener didn't know I was going to drag him in to see orca media But when I found out what he did and what he was trying to do for vermont in the arts Um, I thought there might be a possible marriage. And so you may as well just explain a little bit about who you are and what you do and Okay, maybe it'll Maybe it'll turn into magic So I've usurped your meeting. Sorry. Um, my name is Steve Scriven's. Uh, I run a a theater and music agency on Elm Street in Montpelier I booked tours and when I met cj today we got talking and I also mentioned I sit on the board of the south burlington city center for the arts And we have a project there where we're trying to put together a 400 500 seat theater Which would have state-of-the-art streaming facilities within it And I didn't know you were here at all So my bad, um, but I thought it was an interesting, um Meeting And and something that perhaps, uh, might be worth having further conversations with so Um, thank you for the opportunity to say hello and uh, hello to everybody Thank you Richard chair. I'm a producer when you're over here Well, that's because I was going to talk. I didn't want to talk about richard projects But what I'll talk about is the state legislature And this has been a very significant year for the state legislature in terms of partial legalization of marijuana in terms of gun legislation And in terms of a whole lot more including the vetoes and orca has been The persona the organization of record for that doing a lot of yeoman-like work Sitting down in some very boring meetings as well as some good meetings and some good press conferences And I think that uh people ought to look on the website and take a look at what's going on in the legislature And the way to do it is to go to either the orca media site or the youtube page They've said no I'll take it quickly, um All right I'm rachel feldman. I'm a board member and to dovetail off these latest comments orca media is The boots on the ground group that is reporting to people what needs to be seen in the state house Which is the actual committee hearings the actual full legislative sessions To let the people truly see what is happening and let them form their own opinions rather than depict and choose that comes from The soundbite news media and in addition This requires a really steep learning curve on behalf of the entire orca media staff To be able to cover a committee while knowing what they're talking about I mean a lot of it sounds like they're speaking in another language, which some of it's latin. So yeah, it is but really this requires dedication this requires commitment to Not their cell themselves, but to the people of vermont And again, if people know that orca media is here and orca media is doing this work This will be the place that people come for their legislative coverage to know what's going on and to form their own opinions Yes, it is a thankless job, but the thanks comes I believe through seeing What comes of informing people and that's also what our shows do our shows give people The ability to discuss opinions to discuss matters of importance such as what pat mcdonald is doing and It draws attention to issues that people may not know are actually happening here in our own backyards and It's one more way that vermontgers speak to each other as neighbors and as friends rather than as just people that they live next to So I'm really proud to serve here and i'm really proud of the work that everybody does so thank you so much Who's next I'll keep dancing around mike Thank you. Um, I'm I'm I'm another hat I'm from berry vermont, and I run the public access cvtv And here in vermont, we have a team Of 32 public access stations. Is it 32 26 25? Well, I'm a good republican. I always add numbers um I was so glad when rob said he was coming over here to orca because I knew that rob was going to push the envelope for under the golden dome And I forgive rob for stealing someone like prime employees from cvtv, but you have an a team And you bring it across The state these important issues. This is a very very important hub And it reaches all parts And rob is uh working on a team about streaming Where we're going on the next generation because we all know cable tv is going to go away Millennials don't watch cable tv. They're on their smartphones apple tv pads We still love you kids But we got to keep the lights on we have to look at what's going to happen down the road and down the road It's not that far away five or six years and rob is on a team. It's leading A plan on where we're going because these content this content is going to continue and it has to keep going and so I I just love being part of this the team In barry vermont next door to mount pilier But love you all you got to you guys have a great team here boots on the ground I'm jeroem. I've been an access producer here for some years now and Uh this place has really become a home to me as a radical artist. Uh who has done Street theater all over the world in relation to the environment I Always wanted uh the coverage of those events that we were doing to be much better than they were They were uh the the major media was never reporting the real intention of our act They were never reporting the seriousness of our work they um And uh undermining Usually even when we did get things on the evening news in new york or in denmark or anywhere else They were they were not properly reported So in coming here I've decided that i'm going to be the one who's going to turn that around for other people because I had I've had the negative experience of not being understood for so many years And as an actor in the theater with the living theater, I had decided a long time ago It must be like 35 or 37 years ago now that I wanted to be the actor with the camera So this idea of that we're coming through with streaming right now is exactly What I dreamt of the need of 35 years ago so that you could actually Have an actor on the stage with a camera Interacting with the performers and the the the image could uh of various Views of the actors could be projected onto the stage at the same time as everyone was playing um So that's that's one that's one reason why I'm happy about this possibility of the streaming thing, but Mostly I'm I'm I I have a great deal of gratitude to the that I can that I'm able here to film pieces of bread and puppet for example, and that I'm able to film radical environmental activists in their work That I've been able to help the anti pipeline People with their work. We've been able to do that here The fact that I get support for that here feels to me virtually miraculous. So That's all I have to say All right, I'm I'm sue betman um I'm Rob's boss because I'm on the board of directors And he is my boss because I'm one of the people who films different um meetings and um One of the main things I did over the winter was film the Ali series the ish life long learning um Lectures Some of which were pretty great and all of which were um The were much it was much appreciated by the osher people Um the ali people that that those lectures were given this kind of attention They they Were thankful every single week. They said thank you for doing this and um, they had some really amazing people on there one of whom was Uh garret graff who's uh Montpelier kid now grown up living in washington dc and doing political journalism and uh, he did a presentation about uh, robert moeller Which was incredibly well attended but i've also done uh select board meetings and school board meetings and Got to do a few of the legislative committees, which was really cool because in each of those places You get to see the development of issues and their resolution how they're how they're treated and What people think about them? and So that that's part of the service of of orca is to inform the public About those issues and about those themes and it's incredibly valuable and and I think that the the people who watch orca on on tv or on the youtube channel are Very appreciative of it Just to there's some people that i haven't mentioned yet. maryl is back from california maryl comes back every once in a while when he's not playing drums in la Or being uh, what's background? On some movie, what do we see when like with the breaking bad guy and some shawty sent us I don't know but they would you just send us a still and in the shot was Okay, we won't say a word maryl's back there. He just stepped in maryl. I hope you're feeling better. maryl has been helping out with us on editing So, you know just to sum up just how wonderful it is to work here You know, I like to thank the people who actually are behind in front of the camera the volunteers The board of members who come and spend the time and help me try to steer the ship or let me know where they'd like it to go As mentioned the people who are actually at home And watching on cable is wonderful because they're they're the ones who actually pay for our bills. So I think I've said everything that there is to say other than I hope you will enjoy the food That you'll stay in mingle and have a great time and talk to some interesting people If you have any questions about what we do at orca staff and cj you It's just not coming to me. So thank you everybody. Enjoy the food and we'll see you next year. Hopefully it's not sooner All right, I'm gonna put Rob Are you going Zach? You got us. Oh, yeah I'm gonna put Rob on the spot here for a moment the the lawsuit Where comcast where the cable companies are suing vermont is actually Big news. It's gonna get nationwide interest and a certain amount of excitement The reason is that the the puc actually decided to enforce Something that the cable company see is very strategic and very much part of their control of how we Of our content and there's a bit of a freedom of ability to determine what we watch that's involved with it so it was a brave suit And orca along with the other 27, you know, vermont access network companies made the decision to get status in that suit As an intervener and we're granted it So, uh, you know, it may turn out that this suit is very important Part of the conversation about our freedom to choose what it is that we watch and how we get our information so i'm gonna just Say way to go That Utilities commission Department of public service or no, it's the public service board it became the Which ruling The the board the board came out. Uh, it was a year ago january So, uh, at that ruling we were given they were told or said that they would give us access to the interactive program guide Which is where we get our listings on the program guide that you see when you watch gable and they, um, that said they had to do that within a year which are now at 18 months or something like that because of the suit And it's being held up in court, but it's uh, what cj was saying it's been a lot of work on many people across the state And it is getting national attention because of the importance of it and the issues that are being discussed and and litigated So, uh, we're getting support nationally from the alliance for community media Uh, as well as organizations to understand that the work the important work that access does And that we do not want to get regulated to Siberia where we're Channel slammed up in places. So it's uh, it's an important decision and vermont's leading the nation on it So it's just has a lot of work and it's a lot of effort and a lot of money It's been going in it. So we may be coming hoping to raise money for it. So so At the attorney general's office, I forget I forget who is it I because I would miss the one court hearing that we actually were at so I don't know so They did hire um, uh, a corporate A cable lawyer that we recommended the state did so they took our lawyer But so we got another one. So we're now working with um Oh No, I can't forget. I've forgotten his name, but some high power washington lawyers. Yeah, so Yeah, they're And they know their stuff. Yeah, so it's great And I was on the other side of this issue in my career So that was why when I heard this was coming. I said When if this happens, this is actually going to be surprisingly important because when you're dealing with Annual revenues in the 50 to 100 billion dollar range when you're dealing with the global 500s or the fortune tens It's and it's they have a lot of money and resources to throw at it And we've been at it now for three years now three four years And we're you know, there's no end in sight at this point. So we just keep plugging away. Yeah, great. Thanks everybody enjoy the food Cheers