News and Ideas from MassAccess.org

1. SUMMER 2012 EDITION
MASSTALK
NEWS & IDEAS FROM MASSACCESS
VISIT US ON THE WEB: Spring Conference is an
Archival Hit!
www. MassAccess,org by Amy Brough Palmerino
MassAccess held its Spring
Mini Conference on Thursday,
April 5, 2012 at The National
FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/
MASSACCESS
Archives, Northeast Region,
Frederick C. Murphy Federal
Center in Waltham. The event
was our biggest yet with over
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
seventy-five members in
PAGE 6 attendance, three sessions, a
PROGRAMMERS MEET tour of the National Archives
PAGE 12 and eight vendor
ACM NORTHEAST NEWS demonstrations.
Session One focused on
“Digital Archiving and how
UPCOMING EVENTS: centers can start transitioning their media archiving from tape to a digital
National ACM Conference format. Presenters included Diane LeBlanc, Regional Administrator, of the
July 31-August 2nd National Archives and Records Administration for the Northeast Region and
Chicago, IL Frank Vincentelli, Chief Technology Officer at Integrated IT Solutions.
Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Continued on page 9
MassAccess Conference Summ..., Summ...,
Early October, TBA Summertime
Message from the Chairman,
Media Ed. of America Bob Kelly
Fall Conference Remember the days when the end of the
October 16 school year meant we could catch our
Providence, RI collective breaths and take vacations, do
inventory, fix tired equipment and gear
NE Region ACM up for the other side of Labor Day? Yah,
Conference & Trade Show that ain’t happening anymore is it?! There
November 1 & 2 is no rest for the weary in our community media world. The business
of community media is a twelve-month operation and who knows
that better than us?
So put your punch list together and see how many things you can get
accomplished while half your crew is layering on sun block in some
place that sounds much more exciting than wherever we are.
Continued on Page 3

3. SUMMER 2012 EDITION NEWS & IDEAS FROM MASSACCESS
Message from the Chair
Continued From Page 1
But make every effort to get away and recharge
your batteries. September will be here all too
quickly and we will inevitably be asking
ourselves “where the heck did the summer go?”
Take the family away to Disney. Visit your
college buddies. Rent a place on the water. Go
tour some of the ball parks of America. DO
SOMETHING!
Our daily grind is hectic and seemingly getting
worse if that is possible. So take my advice and
make some room for a vacation. You will not
regret it I promise. By the way, if you want to
share your plans with me to give me and my
family some ideas this summer – please email
me at bobk@newtv.org. Have a blast!

6. SUMMER 2012 EDITION NEWS & IDEAS FROM MASSACCESS
Access Programmers Gather In
Somerville
By Wendy Blom
Because of all the recent changes that have developed in video distribution, access station
programmers have a lot to discuss. A group of 29 programmers and executive directors from
Eastern and Central Massachusetts gathered for a lunch meeting on April 11 in the studio of
Somerville Community Access Television. The goal was to share what works and what is
problematic for programmers in the digital age.
The free wheeling discussion, led by
SCATV Programming Coordinator
Vaughn Simkins, covered many topics,
including how the channels are
scheduled. Some program their channels
by producer request, others in blocks of
content types. They discussed the use of
file sharing through PEG Media,
CMDN, and My Mass TV, as well as
methods of scheduling to make the
channel more interesting for viewers. It
was clear that each community has a
different culture and thus a different way
of doing things. There is no one size fits
all for programming policies.
The issue of censorship came up, with a
lively discussion of community
standards for content, safe harbor hours,
and production quality standards for
cablecast.
Some programmers act as gatekeepers to
maintain a high quality look for their
channels. Others, on principle, do not
watch the shows that come in. Some
communities allow members to upload
program files directly into their servers
through FTP, while others require
DVD’s and even cablecast from tape.
One thing everyone agreed on was that
meetings like this are valuable and should happen regularly, but with a planned agenda that
focuses more on sharing technical expertise. Sean Snyder from Arlington set up a Google list for
all the participants, and plans are underway for the next meeting in Newton. For more information
and to join the group, contact Sean at Sean@acmi.tv. Another programmers meeting is being
planned at NewTV. Stay tuned for more on this.

9. SUMMER 2012 EDITION NEWS & IDEAS FROM MASSACCESS
Continued From Page 1:
Jim Lescault, Executive Director of Amherst Media and a MassAccess Board Member
moderated the session.
Session Two was a “Community Media Issues Panel” which discussed the important issues and
updates facing community media centers throughout Massachusetts. Presenters included Joseph
Wender, Legislative Director, Congressman Edward Markey's office, Michael Mael, Senior
Financial Analyst, Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications & Cable and William
August, Esq., Epstein & August, LLP with moderator Bob Kelly, Executive Director, NewTV &
MassAccess Board Chair.
Session Three was a lively discussion on “Producing a News Program” that gave insight to
members on how to bring the events and top stories of your city or town to the community
through a newscast format. Presenters included Chris Wangler, News Director, The Waltham
Channel, Florence DelSanto, Executive Director, Lexmedia and Jenn Adams, News Director,
NewTV with moderator Maria Sheehan, Executive Director, The Waltham Channel.
The vendors who attended the Spring mini conference were Access AV, Barbizon, Camera
Company, HB Communications, High Output, LiveU, Telvue, and Unique Media Systems.
The members in attendance enjoyed a behind the scenes tour of the National Archives led by
Diane LeBlanc and her staff and greatly appreciated the hospitality that LeBlanc showed to
MassAccess by hosting the event in their beautiful facility, as well as presenting the participants
with a great continental breakfast.
Special thanks to Joe Nocera and his family of the Chateau Restaurants for donating lunch for
the event that included many of their Italian specialties.
For those of you who could not make it to the conference, or for members who would love to see
it again, please look for the sessions on MyMassTV produced by Maria Sheehan and her staff of
The Waltham Channel.
Thank you to all who attended this very successful conference and look for information on the
Fall 2012 Mini Conference on our website, facebook page and in your email inbox very soon
Mini Conference
Fall 2012
coming early October

10. MassAccess wishes to thank Joe Nocera and his family for
their generous donation to the Spring Mini-Conference.
Find the Chateau Restaurant near you at:
www.ChateauRestaurant.com

12. SUMMER 2012 EDITION NEWS & IDEAS FROM MASSACCESS
ACM NORTHEAST REGION NEWS
By Keith Thibault
The Northeast Region of the ACM (ACMNE) is in the middle of its Board of Directors’
election. There are four at-large seats available on the board this year. ACM members should be
receiving a ballot soon.
In March the Board of Directors held a retreat in Ogunquit, ME. It was an opportunity for the
board to look at the organization’s strategic plan and provide much needed face-to-face interaction,
something the board does not do often very due to the distance of its members.
The ACMNE will be holding its Annual Meeting at the ACM National Conference this summer
in Chicago. If you are headed to the Windy City, look for the date and time in the conference schedule.
The organization is not holding any events this spring. It is continuing with its plans for the Fall
Conference and Trade Show. The conference will be held on November 1st and 2nd at the Radisson
Plymouth Harbor Hotel in Plymouth, MA. Registration for the conference will be available soon.
There will not be a Video Festival in 2012. The next Video Festival will take place in the spring of
2013. Check out http://acm-ne.org for more information.