The meeting was adjourned due to lack of a quorum. On the bright side however, we have a working editing station and remote kit so it is now possible for producers to make shows. Ted Keylon will be working with the station on Friday the 13th at Crowdson and Company. Here is Boardmember Brian Crowdson’s message regarding access to the station:

“For now, the editing station will be by appointment only, and there is no guarantee of availability. It will be available only when I or one of my employees is scheduled to be in my office. Email me for an appointment - brian[at]imaketv[dot]com.”

1999 Wabash Ave. Suite 203, Springfield, IL 62704

The Remote Kit will be available after this Friday 13th to check out by contacting Brian at the email address. There will be a log book at the editing station to sign up for it. Until voted on at a meeting we will allow up to one week at a time to use the kit.

A slide show of step by step instructions is in development and workshops are being planned. Please come to the next meeting to help decide on these matters and how we can teach the producers how to use the equipment.

At our last meeting we received a carrying bag for the remote kit equipment from VP Cameron Counts. The equipment was cataloged at the last meeting and the serial numbers were all listed by Cameron and he will provide that list plus the others he has collected prior to his move coming up this June. Cameron has been very helpful and we will be sorry to see him go.

The remote kit will be tested and the resulting raw video will be brought into the editing station computer at Crowdson and Company, here-after referred to as Station 1. Once the raw video is transferred to the computer, it will be edited into a show with iMovie and the steps will be recorded and put into a slide show that will be available on Station 1  for others to use so they will be able to edit their shows.

Holding a workshop to help teach other producers how to use the equipment is still being discussed and more information will be posted here as that develops.

Our next fundraiser has been post-poned due to an error in our registration. We are going to postpone any further fundraising activities until the error is straightened out.

Due to the library being closed on our regular meeting night, we will be meeting the following Wednesday, February 15th at 7pm instead of 6pm in the Bicentennial room at Lincoln Public Library. As per the decision at the January meeting, we will inventory the new remote kit and if we have time, we may try it out as well. The public is invited.

Production:

All the equipment itemized by Brian Crowdson has been ordered and received except for a bag to put it in and a tripod. Those last two items will be purchased soon and on the next meeting, we will take time to remove all the items from packaging and inventory them by writing down their serial numbers in a registry that will be kept by Cameron until further notice.

Plans are underway to set up a time to have a workshop on using the equipment, both the remote kit and the editing station.

Treasury:

Only two producers have paid dues this year, not counting the Board members who have all now paid their dues. Dues are  $10 per year and 2012 is due by July 2012.

Fundraiser:

The next fundraiser was scheduled to happen in February but may have to be postponed until later, depending on how long it takes to set up the editing and remote kit workshop. There is the offer to work with Basement Radio Network on the fundraiser as well as with a physical space. At the last meeting the pros and cons of this were discussed in general the group assembled thought it would be a good idea. More discussion will happen on that at the next meeting.

Editing Station

A4PG Board Member Brian Crowdson of Crowdson and Company has the editing equipment set up along with the pieces that we needed to purchase: an external hard drive and an editing table for the computer and hard drive to be placed on. The station is set up in Brian’s office on 1999 Wabash Ave. Suite 203, Springfield, IL 62704.

(Website: http://www.IMakeTV.com)

Here is a word from Brian:

“For now, the editing station will be by appointment only, and there is no guarantee of availability. It will be available only when I or one of my employees is scheduled to be in my office. Email me for an appointment - brian[at]imaketv[dot]com.”

By-Laws Amended

Several details have been voted on regerding slight changes in our by-laws, namely that officers will hold their positions for three years before elections. Other details include issues regarding the Board and the Officers, membership dues, and how the elections are handled. Essentially, the membership nominates candidsates and the current Board elects the new Officers and they in turn appoint new Board Members.

A4PG Hour Long Show

Approval has been given by the city to schedule an hour long program produced by the A4PG. Portions of the content plus various PSAs will be available on the editing station hard drive for other producers to use.

More at the next meeting . . .

STAy tUNed!

…………

Annual Election

This year’s officers have been elected and are as follows:

Ted Keylon – President
Cameron Counts – Vice President
Meredith Dumyahn – Secretary
Danny Hicks – Treasurer
Irma Wallace – Assistant Secretary
Bhikkhu Mahunda – Assistant Treasurer

Meeting Night Changed to Second Monday of Each Month

In the time left after the election, the general group expessed interest in changing the meeting night to the second Monday of each month instead of the second Wednesday to allow for more of the church producers to come since Wednesday night is a church night for many. The first meeting on Mondays will be in July on July 11th in the Bicentennial room.

Production Committee

Brian Crowdson, Lisa Hensley, and Darryl Moore are making plans to set up the editing station at Brian’s place of business. It was suggested at the last meeting that we set up a workshop on how to use the editing softeare on that station as well as how to go about acquiring a camera and editing software for PCs for producers that want to have a cheap personal alternative and a workshop will be set up for that as well.

More at the next meeting . . .

STAy tUNed!

…………

501c3 Status Acquired

Congratulations Producers! We finally have our 501 c3 Determination Letter! The IRS has finished the final approval of our status and we are very happy to say we are now a full-fledged 501 c3!

Public Posting of By-laws

There has been some interest in knowing the content of our by-laws so at the last meeting it was agreed to post them publicly on the site so here they are: By-laws.

Editing Station Set-up

Brian Crowdson has offered to set up an editing station at his business with the equipment received from the old Comcast studio. It will be available during daily business hours and there will be no support or instruction provided by Brian or his employees so in order to use the station, you will have to possess some knowledge of video editing.

More information on the type of software you need to learn about and which producers that will assist you will be posted here when the information is available.

Brian is working on testing the equipment and setting up the station and will have the results when he is finished and it will be posted here.

STAy tUNed!

…………

Fundraiser 5 UPDATE

The FUNraiser was a big success. We raised $361 after expenses.

For the first fundraiser of the season it was very well attended and everyone had a blast. A4PG would like to thank Babbling Brooke for the Hula Hooping and the Hula Hoops, Steve Sowers and everyone at Maldaner’s, Casey Cantrall for doing sound, Mandy Saia Magill for bringing bake sale bags full of chocolate and homemade “healthy” chocolate chip cookies, her own photographs for donation and sale, and watching the space while artists dropped off their artwork.

Thanks to artists Chris Martin, Matt Schultz, Melanie Edmonson, Michael LaFrance, Tom Kelly, and Jenifer Snopko. Thanks to the Legendary Clampetts, Long Story Short, and Hot Bag O’ Donuts (you all know who you all are), thanks to community producers Tom Schafer (for donating a huge spread of free food), Pamela Woodson (for handing the 50/50 raffle), and Archer Logan (for running the donation box at the entrance).

If we have left anyone out, please let us know.

Below are the details about the show . . .

The next fundraiser is going to be at 7:00 P.M. to Midnight on Friday, February 25th at Maldaner’s Upstairs in downtown Springfield. The entertainment will be provided byHot Bag O’ Donuts , Long Story Short, Bük and The Legendary Clampetts. There will be a cash bar. There will be no cover and all ages are welcome.

Thanks to Greg Bishop and Kirk Farah of WMAY, John Reynolds at the State Journal-Register, Patrick Yeagle and Tom Irwin of Illinois Times for all helping get the word out in local media about public media.

Thanks to Tom Schafer of the Shooting Sport for chipping in with some Maldaner’s catering for the first 50 people to show up!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

***

Access 4 Producers Group FUNraiser 5 
Date: Friday 2/25/11, 7pm to midnight
Place: Maldaner’s Upstairs, 222 S. 6th St., Springfield, IL
Contact: Ted Keylon, (217)691-1301

Admission is FREE
The Access 4 Producers Group FUNraiser 5 will be held to help raise funds for the community producer’s non profit organization to assist them in their quest to provide production and advocacy for the producers.

There will be a lot of room so many events are planned. There will be a Hula Hoop Workshop by Babbling Brooke during the music, a 50/50 raffle, a silent auction, and an art sale and exhibit featuring a number of local artists.

The restaurant will be open downstairs, but there will also be food for sale upstairs by Cameron Counts and perhaps some potluck items as well including Maldaner’s catering for the first 50 people to arrive courtesy of Tom Schafer of the Shooting Sport.

The music schedule will feature The Legendary Clampetts at 8pm, Long Story Short at 9pm, Hot Bag O’ Donuts at 10pm and Bük at 11pm.

All sales of food, the raffle, and silent auction will go to the FUNraiser with the exhibiting artists giving 20% of their sales to the cause.

For more information please go to http://www.access4.tv/ or email toinfo@a4pg.org or call event organizer Ted Keylon if you have any questions at (217) 691-1301.

***

Equipment

The Equipment Comittee was authorized at the last meeting to sell a pice of equipment that we do not need for productions but was included with the equipment we received. The money from this sale will go towards the purchase of the piece wil still need to do productions.

PO Box

A Post Office box was purchased for six months. This will go on our letterhead. Now we have the ability to accept donations in check form written to “Access 4 Producers Group” (no apostrophé) and sent to:

Access 4 Producers group
POB 5214
Springfield, IL 62705

STAy tUNed!

…………

Round Up

At recent full group meetings it was agreed upon to wait until after the New Year to plan any further fundraising events. In the meantime we are open to suggestions for venue possibilities. We have some in mind that offer accessibility and some that are not in bars. We could still use some more suggestions.

The equipment is still being stored by Brian Crowdson and an Equipment Committee was formed to look into the exact cost of what we still need as well as to put together a simple set of instructions for producers on the least expensive and complicated way to set up your own home studios.

The 501 c3 paperwork and final fees were submitted which left us with $777 in our account. By the New Year we should know whether or not we were accepted and possibly what else we need to do. With the certification we will be privy to many more fundraising opportunities as well as looking forward to another year of our events where we spotlight local talent.

We encourage other producers with cameras to be on site for as many of these events as possible to get footage that can be used for fundraising DVDs and as material for other producer’s shows.

Please come to the next meeting the first Wednesday of January and let us know your ideas and what you might be able to do to help. The master list of producers is being put together so that we can keep as many producers informed as possible. We also do not want to give out anyone’s personal contact information without permission so we are trying to be careful with the list.

We know we have a pool of talents within the community producers and if we can work together we can get some more shows produced until we can get a down payment on a year’s lease for a studio.

Please also know that you do not have to be a producer to come to a meeting and help out with this cause. Whether you want to become a full member of our group or just help, your ideas and concerns are welcome at our full group meetings.

STAy tUNed!

…………

United for the Arts

Three words describe the reason our fundraiser went so well: Mandy Saia Magill. She was the best person to pick for curator of the photography exhibit. Jeremy of Norb Andy’s suggested a photography show to spotlight the artists who too often take a back seat to painters and sculptors at shows. Mandy is a recently juried member of the Prairie Art Alliance and her photography plus that of her peers graced the show that many attended in spite of the car show blocking off traffic and parking space.

We made $223, half of which came from 40% of the photography sales. Everyone had a great time and there were people in and out all night.

Plans are underway for the next fundraiser and the discussion turns on the question of whether or not to have another one before the end of the year.

Equipment Update

The equipment was turned over to Brian Crowdson who is storing it for us until we can get it set up in some studio space that will be available for the producers. Brian’s help has been invaluable and his background with Access both techinically and as a tireless advocate is a true asset to our cause. It is for this reason he is being nominated for board member at the next meeting.

There were enough pieces missing from the equipment to render it incapable of being useful for production until they are replaced such as a tripod, batteries, and power supply for all three cameras, a DV tape deck, and several other odds and ends but nothing impossible to replace with enough time and support.

Full Group Meeting

The next full group meeting is planned for Wednesday, October 20th at 6:30 P.M. at the Bicentennial Room in Lincoln Public Library in downtown Springfield. We would like to see all the producers there to get back on board now that things have been done. We will answer questions, take contact info and nominate more Board members.

Channel 4 and the City

Last Monday the 4th of this month, Secretary Lisa Hensley, Treasurer Ted Keylon, and Municiple Delegation member Brian Crowdson all went to speak with Ernie Slottag at the city. He said that requirements such as how soon to update shows before the slot would be given to someone else or what format to give them will be as lenient as possible due to the confusion of the change-over to their management. Ernie assured us that they plan to be as understanding and compassionate as possible while we try to organize and help all the producers figure out a way to keep doing their shows.

The delegation also asked about the missing pieces of the studio equipment and Ernie said they have not found any pieces that may have been misplaced and does not suspect that what CACC gave us would be any different than what they gave them and what Comcast have given them in the first place. We agreed to pursue the matter with Comcast and Brian agreed to contact them via his associates there.

STAy tUNed!

…………