President’s Message: March 2022

by Bob Duthaler


Working to Improve Our Communications



We are a few months into 2022 and we will continue to provide the best for our membership.  I, along with your board, feel that communication (the business we are all in) with our membership is key to the success of the organization.  With that thought in mind, we are continually updating and developing new ways to communicate effectively with all of our members.  This newsletter continues to be a good example of one of those ways.  In fact, we are currently working on reformatting this document starting next month.  I urge you to print it out monthly (it could become a collector’s item), read through it and mark your calendar with the important dates detailed in the newsletter.  In addition, I urge you to share the electronic version with members of your staff, volunteers, and board members, along with members of your government. I believe information found in this newsletter is worth reading and sharing with others as well.  There are so many facets of our organization and issues that are touched upon, you would be surprised how many people you know would be interested in reading about them.

NJ Advocates for Aging Well   

  Susan Brooks, Communications Manager, NJAAW



“People tend to think that aging is something that happens later in life. In reality, we’re aging every day,” says Cathy Rowe, DrPH, Executive Director of JAG associate member NJ Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW).

“Right now, more than 23% of New Jersey’s total population is over 60,” she adds.  “The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2030, America will have more 65-and-older residents than children, and all Baby Boomers – and one-fifth of the total population – will have reached the traditional retirement age of 65.”

Accomplishment of the External Relations Committee

  Geoffery Belinfante, Chair


One of the things that keeps my hard-working colleagues on the committee very busy is the coordination of this very newsletter.  We hope to publish articles that are of interest to our municipal and community channels as well as our independent producers and nonprofit members.  Making the newsletter a valuable source of information is a very high priority for the External Relations Committee. This past year, thanks to our managing director Rich Desimone and committee member Doug Seidel, we redesigned the look of the newsletter and changed the way it is distributed.  We currently enjoy a particularly high open rate which hopefully means we are creating something of real value to our members. Recently, we sent a survey to all those who receive the newsletter asking for their input so we can make it better.  Please fill out the survey and let us know your thoughts!  We are continually looking for ways to make it more valuable and informative.  The survey is one way we can ensure that it is something you can look forward to receiving each month.

New “All In One” OMNI Solutions with Closed Captions!

Randy Visser

by Randy Visser, East Sales, Cablecast Community Media


Video play-out systems provide community media operations the tools they need to distribute their content to members of their communities, and beyond.  Early systems involved the use of multiple video tape machines, and eventually DVD players that were programmed by external devices to play, and then switch, programming from one source to another.  You never knew if this complex chain of events was going to work as planned, and the set-up time to cue tapes and calculate “pre-roll” times for every event made the process challenging and time consuming. 

Social Media Stats – March 2022


by Doug Seidel, Social Media Manager, External Relations Committee

The Newsletter Survey results are in!  Keep your eyes open for changes coming soon.  We are very excited about these changes and look forward to using the new and improved newsletter to help market JAG better. 

President’s Message: February 2022

by Bob Duthaler


A Look Back At 2021 and Looking Forward To 2022


The best way to get a feel for what the future of an organization holds is to look at its past. With that thought in mind, I though it important to share with you the year end reports from some of our committees. I hope by reading these you will realize all the effort and hard work these committees have done all for the betterment of our members.

Social Media Stats – February 2022


by Doug Seidel, Social Media Manager, External Relations Committee


Let me officially announce the start of the Social Media subcommittee. This is great news as I take a larger role in JAG, now I will have assistance in running our social media accounts. This will only make our social media campaign stronger and extend our reach. This will also give us a chance to post more information on our accounts and maybe add more places where you can find information about JAG and the Eastern Video Expo.
If you have an interest in joining the Social Media subcommittee but do not believe you have the time for the commitment, just know that a) you don’t have to join a formal committee to be a part of the subcommittee and b) subcommittees are very informal and won’t require a lot of time. You can contact me at dseidel@piscatawaynj.org if you are interested in joining the subcommittee.

Montclair TV34 had to adapt to the COVID-19 Pandemic       

  by Rick Gearhart, Montclair



Like many other entities, Montclair TV34 had to adapt to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  The last official meeting that was in person was on March 9, 2020 – A Planning Board Meeting.  Once the state of emergency took effect, the township immediately found a solution to host our meetings virtually.  The Township uses Webex, a virtual meeting platform.  To get these on TV, I use the program OBS – this allows me to capture the Webex window and stream it directly to my broadcast server (and Youtube for online viewers).  The online meeting program works well with not only the Council Meetings.  With the pandemic, I realized the importance of live video.  All official meetings are streamed live, and will be streamed live even after the pandemic is over.  We also implemented a call-in feature allowing the public to participate.  I hope to get back to in person meetings sometime this year, as the Township purchased a new TriCaster model and 3 PTZ cameras, which gives us the ability to stream live in HD to both our cable channel and Youtube.  With Youtube Live, the meetings are available right away after they finish – there is no wait time for anyone that missed the meeting.  The TriCaster was installed the same month that the pandemic hit.

JAG AWARDS: MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD; ENTER THE JAG AWARDS

JAG AWARDS IS OFFICIALLY OPEN!

JAG AWARDS CLOSE FEBRUARY 28

Winning an award is exciting news.  It feels good to be acknowledged for the hard work you and your team has done.  Even more important is the fact that winning an award can be used as a great marketing tool.  You can announce it to your administration; send a press release to your local media outlets; include it on your website and social media; include it in a newsletter.  It can also lead to greater involvement from your viewers.

JAG Joins the Alliance for Community Media

  by Dave Garb, Legislative Committee Chair



Members of JAG, I am pleased to announce officially that we have become an Organizational Member of the ACM – the Alliance for Community Media.  The ACM’s mission is closely related  to that of our own organization.  They advocate, promote and preserve the rights of communities to have access to media training, production, distribution, civic engagement and education in support of diverse community voices.  This is achieved through Public, Educational and Government Access channels and other forms of media.