A huge hip hip hooray to all the staff and volunteers at MPACT Studios in Monroe, MI for making the Fall 2018 station tour a success!
The event started off at 9a.m. with donuts and coffee sponsored by Tim Hortons, time to network and a fabulous tour of MPACT studios & Rewind 94.3 at 20 W. Fifth St. Ste. 201. We were lucky enough to have an open discussion with State House Representative Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe). State Representative Ballino talked to us about the importance of building close relationships with your representatives and how critical it is to make sure Community Media is here to stay. Next, we had an awesome Sony Demo from Vince Deur! He showed us new Sony cameras and tips to make shooting a breeze. And last, but not least, we had Randy Visser from CableCast by Tightrope Media Systems show us a demo of the interface and all it’s features; like video on demand, streaming and more! As we were leaving an MPACT volunteer was coming in to record a band segment for Rewind 94.3.
We then enjoyed a tasty lunch sponsored by CableCast by Tightrope & Sony at the Public House where we also got to meet State Senator Dale Zorn (R-Ida) to discuss state franchises agreements and local franchises authorities. Senator Zorn was also very supportive of making sure Community Media thrives and survives.
After lunch we headed to MPACT Government Access in Monroe City Hall at 120 E. First St. The Council Chambers was under construction as they update the room to be full HD. But it was still cool to see the space and envision what it would look like once complete.
Next, we went to the Monroe County ISD studio at 1101 South Raisinville Rd. to meet with Christopher Slat who is the Instructional Technology Specialist. Christopher works with teachers in the ISD to offer media programs. He mostly does remote shoots, but he does a few studio shoot each year. The most well know studio shoot in the annual Quiz Bowl!
We then went south to Bedford Township’s government access channel, in Bedford township hall, to meet with George Welling who runs the city meetings. Their space is small, but very well engineered and we enjoyed meeting George and a volunteer!
Our last stop was the Bedford High School TV & Radio Studios, which is a CTE operation taught by Mickey Kent. His classroom has it’s own television and radio studio where students produce high school news shows and much more. More photos here can be found on the HOMTV Flicker Page; click here!
Huge thanks to Michigan ACM Vice President & Executive Director Milward J. Beaudry II & MPACT Studios for hosting and putting together the 2018 Fall Station Tour! Special thanks to all the stations that let us come visit! It was a jam packed day full of inspiration, knowledge and great conversations!!!
Our next event will be during the 2018 Great Lakes Media Show hosted by Michigan Association of Broadcasters on Wednesday, March 6 at 8 a.m.! More information about sessions, registration and pricing TBA. We hope to see you there!
Michigan Alliance for Community Media 