We Are Still At It!

3MC Meeting, October 11, 2014 Notes

The meeting, this morning, involved James Clacher, Walt Heber and myself. The focus of the meeting was on the “Specialized Secondary Program Grant that Walt is working on for the High School Multi-Media program. As usual, keeping on point was like herding ants. As a result, however, I learned a great deal and was able to clarify some concepts about where we are going with this Community Multi-Media program, our 3MC group and how all the disparate parts of this technology MIGHT fit together in Mariposa.

The Grant, became a “touchstone” topic that we came back to as we discussed our work, our goals and objectives. Needless to say, the focus of my thoughts were on the Old Town Mariposa show. As a TV program, we are evolving into set pattern; we have developed a “formula” for the show and the guests that I’ve organized into a little “Guest Guide”. As the “show” involves more complex discussions and we invite more experienced and recognized people playing strong leadership roles in our community/region, there is a tendency that they “drift” the show away from it’s success formula.

While some “experimentation” (coloring outside the lines) is encouraged and healthy there are some things that we’ve found just don’t work. We don’t have to repeat KNOWN mistakes. This subject relates to one our early concerns in this process; Quality Control. We are producing “content” that is immortal in the sense that as it is posted on the Internet we need to consider how this “image” reflects on us in the future; how will future “viewers” look at us as explore and learn. We need to aware that we will be “judged” by our peers and those who follow us in this process. Yup, I think we all lose a little sleep.

The “show” in the context of the larger PROGRAM, a Community TV Channel, is also a concern. We have been in the process of developing two taping studios. We have had some set-backs; mostly as a result of there not being enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done. We have learned that James has a studio that he is setting up as well. Additionally, his equipment is portable so that he can develop video at a remote site. I feel that we have a clear vision of how all these “parts” fit together. In some respects, the original 3MC (Mariposa Multi-Media “Cooperative”) concept of a group of individuals, with shred objectives, get together regularly to build a new industry in Mariposa.

Then there is the Grant! I talk a lot, particularly when I’ve had a lot of coffee! I talked a lot at this meeting but ONLY because Walt was egging me on! What I was thinking is that this Grant project is not about Multi-Media but, rather, Communication Arts. In reality, what we have developed is a Three Legged-Stool that can be summarized as “product/content” the “broadcast platform or stage” and the “audience”. All these “legs” need to work in harmony and be coordinated for this media to be effective.

Applying this concept to the “Old Town” show we have, unknowingly, been building/strengthening our “three-legged” stool in a somewhat coordinated way. Our “content” has been building via the Fresno studio of the Central Valley Buzz. We have been consciously improving the quality of the shows from a “performance/entertainment” perspective. We have been making the shows interesting and informative and we have learned a lot about improving production/broadcast quality.

The second “leg” of the stool is the “stage” that we broadcast from. The Central Valley Buzz program has its own broadcast platform on the Internet AND “live” TV programming via KAIL, Channel 53. We have supplemented that Broadcast Platform with our own social media and Internet accessibility via the “Old Town” web pages. The third “leg”, audience, is growing because we’ve learned to focus our first “leg” towards content/subjects that have audience appeal!

These are important lessons that we’ve been able to learn from our Central Valley Buzz program and we are continuing this learning process into the foreseeable future. Where we need to go with our community TV model is to build on this experience.

We will, in coming months be looking at getting our studios on-line, up, operating and producing “content”. We need to build our network of “producers” and library of “shows/content” and this work is under way.

We need to expand our “stage”! Some of our new program content can be “broadcast” on PBS! We will look at finding “linkages” with other media sources like traditional “print media” companies that are now venturing into Internet publishing. We can develop content that becomes a “Hit” in the social media world and we can look at developing “content” that has “In-Bound” marketing value to national brands or commodities so that they promote/re-broadcast our content.

With respect to audience, we will continue to build audience as we stay “relevant”! As long as we are “doing” stuff that people want to watch, we will be watched. The media paradigm that we are working with, based on multi-media and the Internet, is the future of modern day communications, even in a little backwater place like Mariposa (pop. 17k-county wide; under 2k in the community and immediate surrounding area!) The key that makes all of this feasible, however, is that we are a visitor driven community with over 5 million visitors accessing our regional resources annually. Most small communities do not have these demographics working for them. The second key factor is that we have a rich cultural/historical and technological base to talk about. Our “content” has relevance to people outside our population.

Ahhh, the Grant, “Communication Arts” with a training program that gives OUR students training in Multi-Media, Tourism/Hospitality and Advertising and Promotion. We are building a new “industry” in our community! The key to making this industry successful is to Train/Attract people who can work in this industry. For it to be an industry, though, there has to be an economic model. How people can make money doing this is something that needs to be explored; maybe another meeting? Maybe it’s a “four-legged” stool?

3MC Meeting, October 4, 2014 Notes

This morning we were joined by James Clacher, a video Engineer who lives in Mariposa and is doing Internet TV via World-TV.com and kross-tv. James “found” us via Debbie Croft’s article on what our little 3MC group is doing that was published in the Merced Sun Star. I told Walt that if we made enough noise, we would bring some people out of the “woods”. James has been up here in Mariposa “doing his thing” for the past three or four years.

The discussion tended to focus on video ads and television advertising promotion. We wanted to talk about pricing of ads but the subject got far ranging. As the “writer of the Notes”, I guess I get to pick the subjects that I found most interesting. That was, at least for me, was the subject the “public’s” understanding of our modern media tools/resources!

I decided that this needs to be the focus of at least a couple of our “Old Town” Mariposa “shows”. It was my impression, after attending a local business meeting, that most people are pretty clue-less regarding what is happening in the advertising/promotion world as a result of the Internet. Terms like “inbound” and “outbound” marketing are not part of the general vocabulary, even among our local business people.

The concept of “media arts” is new, at least out of certain “media clusters” in L. A., San Francisco and New York. Most business people do not understand how to use these new media resources and, as a practical matter, how technology has made using these “mass marketing” resources very affordable. Traditional “print” media is still the cornerstone of most small business marketing/promotion efforts, even with “big-spenders” in the advertising/promotion world.

As a result of this conversation, I’ve decided that my Old Town show will invest some “air-time” to the subject of “Media-Arts” and how technology has impacted the “form” and approach to marketing and promotion. My guests will include Walt Hebern and James, if he’s willing, and will focus on the direction that technology is moving mass communication and advertising/promotion.

Another possibility is that we can work with the Economic Development folks to design and develop a program for business operators, and others, on how this new media works. It’s much more than having a FaceBook page and, as a rapidly evolving technology/industry, the use of multi-media in the Internet age is challenging even for people who are involved with it on a full-time basis.