October Classes

Here are a few amendments to the class schedule for October 2018.

The only regularly scheduled classes for the rest of October are:

Intro to the Studio, Monday, October 29, 6-8 pm

Field Production, Tuesday, October 30, 6-7 pm

In addition, if we can organize our 4-person minimum, Tom has said he will give the Intro class at 2-4pm on Monday, Oct 22 and Tuesday, Oct 23

or

2-4pm on Monday, Oct 29 and Wednesday, Oct 31.

Please let us know if you would like to attend these TENTATIVE classes as soon as you can! That way, if we get our quorum, we will make it happen!

Contact Arthur Nichols (arthur@portlandmedia.org) or Tom Handel (tomh@portlandmedia.org)

September Access Mixer

PMC will be hosting a September Access Mixer on Wednesday, September 19, 5:30-7 pm.

Since the success of our mandatory meeting in August, we have been inspired to connect with our content producers and volunteers.

We are hoping to get people better connected with a new Access Exchange.

We hope to be able to see a few clips from current projects. Let me know if you would like to present something; 3-4 minutes or less, no intro or outro necessary...

Please RSVP here. We hope that folks might sign up to bring some food. If you would like to do that, please indicate what you'll contribute on the form. Thanks!

New Storage Racks in the Studio

Construction of the shelves behind the studio curtain has been completed.

Intrepid carpenters Ken Kohl and Brian Leonard - aided by a generous donation

from Atlantic Plywood - have constructed a two-level 

shelf system for storing props and set pieces for our studio productions.

There is also the ability to add a third level as our needs increase in the future.

We are asking that all studio show producers who have props or set pieces

stored behind the curtain come in to identify and mark your items so we can

assign you a specific storage space. If you have small items we strongly 

suggest that you put them into a lockable bin that would be stored in

your space. In addition, please do not use any items that belong to other

producers.

PMC is now streaming!

Streaming Screenshot. Thanks, Brian!

Portland Media Center's Channel 5 is now STREAMING LIVE on our website.

To watch our great local programming anywhere on your computer, laptop or other device, go to www.portlandmedia.org. Click on the WATCH tab at the top and on the NOW button on the schedule. Just hit the PLAY button in the view window and start enjoying all that PMC has to offer. 

September and October Classes

Summer's almost gone!

I said I would be back with a new schedule of classes for the next several weeks, and here they are!

Intro to the Studio: 

Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 6PM

Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 4PM

Monday, Oct. 1 at 6PM

Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 6PM

Monday, Oct. 15 at 6PM

Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 6PM

Field Production:

Monday, Sept. 10 at 6PM

Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 6PM

Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 6PM

Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 6PM

You can always find out what's going on at PMC by going to our website pages and viewing our Events Calendar, here, or to our Classes page, here!

Free Speech in Community Media

Portland Media Center has just announced its participation in Free Speech Week 2018, and will be a co-host for some of the sponsored events (see our post "Free Speech Week...."). One of the things that we do at Portland Media Center is to serve as a platform for the exercise of your right to free speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. We offer training, equipment, and facilities to community members wanting to create video content that is aired on our cable channels 2&5 in the Portland, Maine area, as well as on the internet and this website. 

One of the most effective things that we do to support your First Amendment rights is to air several shows that are created especially to explore this topic, and to inform the people through three national television shows: Democracy Now, the Thom Hartmann Show, and the David Pakman show, all syndicated by Free Speech TV, a non profit television network. 

To watch these shows on the PMC website, click on WATCH, and use the search function, or check the schedule. To watch on tv, tune in to your local cable channel 5 in Cumberland County, and/or cable channel 2 in the City of Portland. You can also view our local programming by going to our YouTube channel, ctn5me. 

Lots of Operational Changes goin' on

Collaborate Better!

On August 8, PMC staff carried through with threats of announcing lots of big changes to our  M.O. We hosted a very successful meeting with  29 people, including staff, attending.

Members of the staff, Tom Handel, Brian Knoblock, Lesley MacVane, and Arthur Nichols went through a list of changes that will have an impact on each and every Access Volunteer and Access Producer. The list included:

• A new, keyless system for the front door
• New lighting capabilities and equipment
• New audio capabilities and equipment
• Some new policies and procedures designed to make Access productions work more smoothly
• A listserve of interested volunteers whom producers can contact to work on their shows

If you are an Access Producer and/or Volunteer, please be advised that if you did not attend this meeting, you MUST make an appointment to review all of the changes with Tom Handel PMC Executive Director, before you will be able to actually work on a project.

If you would like a detailed summary of what transpired, please let staff know!

Collaborate Better!

Major Studio Upgrades

Peavey FX2 24

A couple of big changes are coming to the Portland Media Center Control Room and Studio.

The Control Room is getting a major audio upgrade with the arrival of a Peavey FX2 24 Audio Mixer. The new mixer has an additional 8 channels providing more audio inputs for your productions. The new inputs will include dedicated 1/4" jacks for direct connection of amplifiers. There will also be an additional output for a second Floor Monitor speaker. Perhaps the most exciting feature are two built-in Digital Effects Processors so you can add effects, such as Reverb, from within the mixer.

Studio connection to the mixer will be via a new audio snake that will allow connections to Floor Monitors to be made directly to the snake instead of the wall patch panel.

The new mixer will require re-certification for anyone who runs the audio board for studio productions. Training will be a full review of the new mixer and will probably take 60-90 minutes.

Pro Par LED lamp

In the studio, the Red Head lights will be replaced by Blizzard ProPar Z19 lights. As with the backlights installed last year these LED lights can produce any color directly via the panel in the Control Room. The lights also have remote Flood/Spot controls. These lights complete our transition of the main studio lighting to cooler and more versatile LED lights. Training will be required for anyone operating studio lighting but if you are familiar with how the backlights work learning the new lights should go quickly.