byDustin Dumas, Station Manager, SOMAtv, South Orange/Maplewood, NJ
In this column I regularly cover topics helpful to independent producers. Today’s column will cover some of the lessons I learned during the 2021 Eastern Video Expo that I will be placing in my virtual toolbox. I will focus on interviewing techniques, lighting and editing techniques.
by Dimitry Mikhaylov, Vice President, Fair Lawn Television
We in Fair Lawn were just dreaming to switch our old analog plant to digital. In fact, the digital upgrade didn’t begin until 2019 when our old Leightronix server was suddenly dead, and we got a chance to replace all our outdated equipment at once. As late as 2019 seems, there are some surprising advantages to coming late to a new technology. Digital workflow was a mature, robust system that was adopted by broadcasters at every level, and we had the advantage of learning from all those who were on the bleeding edge of adoption.
Editing to me brings any story to life; the music, the pacing, the selection of shots…everything helps the viewer connect to the subject on a visceral level.
When I was asked by Rich Desimone to present at the conference this year, I was both excited and honored. Since the last time I presented a few years ago, I had the opportunity to expand my knowledge of the craft in producing longer form features for ESPN (my employer) that truly challenged me. The topic I would be discussing in the panel would be ‘Editing Techniques in Story Telling’. I could not think of a more important and appropriate topic for the two main features included in the panel – El Paso Strong and 17 Hours: The Chris Nikic Story.
I hate to admit it, but I’ve been in this business for almost 50 years. During that time, I have attended numerous trade show and conferences as both a potential client and as an exhibitor. Because of my experience at trade shows, I was genuinely concerned when JAG decided to stage this year’s Eastern Video Expo virtually. Of course, during the pandemic, I attended other virtual trades shows and numerous workshops on a variety of topics, but, in the few years I have been associated with JAG, I have come to really look forward to meeting with all my colleagues at the show. That said, I must confess, I was pleasantly surprised at how informative, and in some cases entertaining this year’s virtual conference proved to be.
by Doug Seidel, Social Media Manager, External Relations Committee
3..2..1..Launch. The brand new JAGonline.org is live! You should notice some changes right away when you visit the website. If you were familiar with the site before you should have no trouble finding what you need, the main navigation has stayed the same. A huge difference is that things are a bit more organized. Since the site has been around for a while we had a good amount of information and now it is just archived so it looks cleaner. We also were able to add some plug ins that make the site look more modern, notice the difference in the old and new directions pages.
Here’s my big confession: I do not like technology. I don’t trust it, I don’t enjoy it, and I generally believe that things work better without it. But I am running a PEG organization…..so I naturally deal with it.
Things were going just swimmingly at C-NET prior to March of 2020. Our tiny staff and crew of Penn State interns were traveling around the County with cameras, microphones and an array of other equipment to cover the meetings of sixteen different entities — Seven municipalities, two school districts, the County government, a regional Council of Governments, three regional Authorities, the local Library and Penn State. We produced over 500 programs in 2019.
by Ken Fellman, Of Council, Helmer, Conley and Kasselman, PA
Ken Fellman
As Americans have spent a significant amount of time on the internet during the pandemic, the federal government has created several programs addressing broadband deployment. Here, we address two major Congressional initiatives that provide significant funding to expand broadband networks. On March 11th, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which allocates funding to state, county, and municipal governments, and establishes that state and local governments receiving this funding may use it “to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.” As of this writing (August 12, 2021), the House will be considering the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by the Senate, which establishes a $42,450,000,000 grant program to states who in turn award subgrants to local governments and other entities for broadband and other infrastructure projects.
I am sure you all might have memories of this during some point in your life when you asked the Magic 8-Ball, “What Does The Future Hold?”. Did you get the answer? Did it leave you with “Ask Again Later”? Well, I am here to tell you it doesn’t take the Magic 8-Ball to get a glimpse into the future of access television, it just takes JAG along with some of our guest panelists from our conference sessions. In this article I am going to explore briefly with you some of the topics we discussed at our conference, allow you to watch these again (or for the first time) and see what valuable information you can gather from it
by Dustin Dumas, Station Manager, South Orange Maplewood Television
Dustin Dumas
The 2021 Eastern Video Expo conference was designed to bring the media community together to learn and share and this year it was virtual. As the station manager for South Orange Maplewood Television, I was looking forward to attending to learn and share ideas of best practices as well as see what the vendors offered for our small station and, of course, attend the JAG Awards!
by Doug Seidel, Social Media Manager, External Relations Committee
Doug Seidel
I have been busy updating our JAGonline.org website, this is going to be a big improvement. I won’t spoil all of the surprises but you will notice the change when you see it. This update will fix some issues like the slideshow on the homepage, and improve the formatting of things like the logos for our organizational members. Things will fit better on the pages and links to other pages will be easier to find. I am pretty excited about this update (especially because it will make my life easier to update the site) and hope to share the site with you all sometime in September! In the meantime if there is anything you want to see improved on the website, or if you have updated information about your content on the website (i.e. station address, contact e-mail) send that information to dseidel@piscatawaynj.org so we can make this site even better.
Posted: September 15, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Independent Producers Corner: Keep Your Virtual Toolbox Updated
by Dustin Dumas, Station Manager, SOMAtv, South Orange/Maplewood, NJ
In this column I regularly cover topics helpful to independent producers. Today’s column will cover some of the lessons I learned during the 2021 Eastern Video Expo that I will be placing in my virtual toolbox. I will focus on interviewing techniques, lighting and editing techniques.
Posted: September 15, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Fair Lawn Spotlight: Transition from Analog to Digital
by Dimitry Mikhaylov, Vice President, Fair Lawn Television
We in Fair Lawn were just dreaming to switch our old analog plant to digital. In fact, the digital upgrade didn’t begin until 2019 when our old Leightronix server was suddenly dead, and we got a chance to replace all our outdated equipment at once. As late as 2019 seems, there are some surprising advantages to coming late to a new technology. Digital workflow was a mature, robust system that was adopted by broadcasters at every level, and we had the advantage of learning from all those who were on the bleeding edge of adoption.
Posted: September 15, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Editing Techniques in Story Telling: A look into the presentation at the 2021 Eastern Video Expo
by Joshua Vorensky, Associate Producer with ESPN
Editing to me brings any story to life; the music, the pacing, the selection of shots…everything helps the viewer connect to the subject on a visceral level.
When I was asked by Rich Desimone to present at the conference this year, I was both excited and honored. Since the last time I presented a few years ago, I had the opportunity to expand my knowledge of the craft in producing longer form features for ESPN (my employer) that truly challenged me. The topic I would be discussing in the panel would be ‘Editing Techniques in Story Telling’. I could not think of a more important and appropriate topic for the two main features included in the panel – El Paso Strong and 17 Hours: The Chris Nikic Story.
Posted: September 15, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Conference Review: You Never Stop Learning in This Business The Eastern Video Expo: A Personal Reflection
by Geoffrey Bellefonte, Cable Committee, Summit TV
I hate to admit it, but I’ve been in this business for almost 50 years. During that time, I have attended numerous trade show and conferences as both a potential client and as an exhibitor. Because of my experience at trade shows, I was genuinely concerned when JAG decided to stage this year’s Eastern Video Expo virtually. Of course, during the pandemic, I attended other virtual trades shows and numerous workshops on a variety of topics, but, in the few years I have been associated with JAG, I have come to really look forward to meeting with all my colleagues at the show. That said, I must confess, I was pleasantly surprised at how informative, and in some cases entertaining this year’s virtual conference proved to be.
Posted: September 15, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Social Media Stats: September 2021 Based on Last 30 Days
by Doug Seidel, Social Media Manager, External Relations Committee
3..2..1..Launch. The brand new JAGonline.org is live! You should notice some changes right away when you visit the website. If you were familiar with the site before you should have no trouble finding what you need, the main navigation has stayed the same. A huge difference is that things are a bit more organized. Since the site has been around for a while we had a good amount of information and now it is just archived so it looks cleaner. We also were able to add some plug ins that make the site look more modern, notice the difference in the old and new directions pages.
Posted: August 31, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Member Spotlight: The New Post-Pandemic Normal Or You Want Us to Do What??
by Cindy Hahn, Executive Director, C-NET
Here’s my big confession: I do not like technology. I don’t trust it, I don’t enjoy it, and I generally believe that things work better without it. But I am running a PEG organization…..so I naturally deal with it.
Things were going just swimmingly at C-NET prior to March of 2020. Our tiny staff and crew of Penn State interns were traveling around the County with cameras, microphones and an array of other equipment to cover the meetings of sixteen different entities — Seven municipalities, two school districts, the County government, a regional Council of Governments, three regional Authorities, the local Library and Penn State. We produced over 500 programs in 2019.
Posted: August 31, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Understanding Broadband Grants
by Ken Fellman, Of Council, Helmer, Conley and Kasselman, PA
As Americans have spent a significant amount of time on the internet during the pandemic, the federal government has created several programs addressing broadband deployment. Here, we address two major Congressional initiatives that provide significant funding to expand broadband networks. On March 11th, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which allocates funding to state, county, and municipal governments, and establishes that state and local governments receiving this funding may use it “to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.” As of this writing (August 12, 2021), the House will be considering the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by the Senate, which establishes a $42,450,000,000 grant program to states who in turn award subgrants to local governments and other entities for broadband and other infrastructure projects.
Posted: August 26, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Conference Review: 2021
by Dustin Dumas, Station Manager, South Orange Maplewood Television
The 2021 Eastern Video Expo conference was designed to bring the media community together to learn and share and this year it was virtual. As the station manager for South Orange Maplewood Television, I was looking forward to attending to learn and share ideas of best practices as well as see what the vendors offered for our small station and, of course, attend the JAG Awards!
Posted: August 23, 2021 by Doug Seidel
Social Media Stats – August, 2021
by Doug Seidel, Social Media Manager, External Relations Committee
I have been busy updating our JAGonline.org website, this is going to be a big improvement. I won’t spoil all of the surprises but you will notice the change when you see it. This update will fix some issues like the slideshow on the homepage, and improve the formatting of things like the logos for our organizational members. Things will fit better on the pages and links to other pages will be easier to find. I am pretty excited about this update (especially because it will make my life easier to update the site) and hope to share the site with you all sometime in September! In the meantime if there is anything you want to see improved on the website, or if you have updated information about your content on the website (i.e. station address, contact e-mail) send that information to dseidel@piscatawaynj.org so we can make this site even better.