March, 2008 Minutes

Minutes

Windham Cable Advisory Board Meeting

March 13, 2008

Present: Chairperson Margaret Case; Vice Chair Leo Hart; Alan Shoemaker, Secretary; J. Gross; Dave Unger; Roger Hohenberger, Selectman; Greg Cappiello, alternate sitting for Mary Griffin; and Stacey Sofronas, Cable Coordinator.

Excused: Mary Griffin

Chairperson Margaret Case called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

Minutes of the previous meeting (1-10-2008) were read. A motion to approve was made by J. Gross; second by Leo Hart. Approved unanimously.

The Financial Report was examined and approved.

Correspondence:

Margaret Case received an e-mail from Barbara Coish requesting Comcast to run cable to the new High School. Comcast cannot do this at present, but will in the future.

Studio Coordinator’s Report:

TV Production -- It’s been really busy since the start of the year. We’re continuing with "BookBeat," "Rockingham Round Table," and "America’s Future." And, we’ve conducted interviews with the Windham Fire Department and Mike Nikitos from NECN. Also, there are two new episodes of "Time For Animals." We continue to tape all Town meetings, including deliberative sessions, and covered Candidates’ Night and Ballot Information Night.

Upcoming Town events -- We’ll be covering the Annual Easter Egg Hunt and the Medieval Festival.

Volunteers -- We have three new volunteers as a result of advertising.

Programming – There will be a new schedule in the Windham Independent each week. We have a variety of shows, including cooking, political and Town events during the evenings, as well as public service announcements. Also, there are new shows: "All Things Growing," a National Gallery of Art Series, Kearsarge Valley Magazine, and "Seasons" from a local poet. We’re also considering ways to get the NASA Channel.

Equipment: We purchased a DVD Carousel; it’s proved to be a helpful way of storing them. We would like to purchase another Cannon GL-2 portable camera in the foreseeable future. Stacey Sofronas will get quotes, and also look at HD camera options. Stacey mentioned that she was impressed with the Princeton Server. It’s similar to Nexus, but more advanced. Also, Nexus customer service has been less than satisfactory. After discussion, Leo Hart moved, Alan Shoemaker seconded, and the board approved Margaret to oversee the installation of a cable modem to interface Nexus with the Internet.

The board was shown a post card that could give favorable exposure to the station. It can be made available for distribution in public places. We will have a sample available for the next meeting.

Stacey reported that she has been improving the sets, and has started a monthly newsletter to be published in the Windham Independent. Also, she will be attending the Northeast Region Spring Conference of the Alliance of Community Media during May 9-10, in Providence.

Other Business:

J. Gross remarked on the length of the loop on the Bulletin Board, including the number of pages devoted to the Transfer Station. A two week limitation was recommended and approved, and the Nexus bulletin board capability will be examined.

The subject of the WCTV Web Site updating and enhancement was discussed. Stacey will look into it.

J. Gross recommended a working session among a subset of the WCAB to explore studio improvements. J Gross, Dave Unger, Gregg Cappiello, Leo Hart and Stacey Sofronas volunteered, and anyone else is invited who would like to attend. Mr. Gross asked if Tom Case, the Technical coordinator, could attend. Meeting will be Thursday, 3 April at 7:00 p.m. at the Studio.

There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Leo Hart, seconded by Dave Unger and unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m..

Respectfully Submitted,

Alan Shoemaker

Recording Secretary