 | |
UPSTREAM ONLINE: The Year In Review (2003-2004) |
|
|
In This Issue:
|
Part II - Oct-Nov-Dec '03
|
|
|
|
•
|
THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT: Tribute to Ellison Horne
|
|
|
|
•
|
AND THE WINNER IS: The San Franciscans, Episode 2
|
|
|
|
|
•
|
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Annual Meeting, Officers & Milestones
|
|
|
|
•
|
WORLD AIDS DAY PREMIERE: 1-866-HIV-INFO
|
|
|
|
|
•
|
LOCAL TELECOM: Moving From Dial-Up to Broadband
|
|
|
|
•
|
CAPA-SF: Community Access Producers Association
|
|
|
|
In early October 2003, Access SF hosted a reception for staff and board
at the Brune-Reutlinger Mansion, a historic home located at 824 Grove
Street, to pay a fond farewell to Ellison Horne, who rotated off of the
Board of Directors following (6) years of service – (3) of those years
as President. Ellison continues to be active with Access SF as he
pursues his project CELEBRATING SOLUTIONS. Upon exit from the Board, he
went on record with the following statement:
FAREWELL CTC/ACCESS SF
By Ellison Horne - October 17, 2003
Surveying the past 6 years of my tenure on the Board, I have a deep
sense of pride in having been associated with such a committed,
talented and resourceful group of people among the Staff and Board of
the San Francisco Community Television Corporation and Access SF 29 –
San Francisco Community Media.
It has been especially rewarding to see the commitment to free
expression and media education continually increase over the years of
our management of the channel. None of this would have been possible
without the vision, perseverance and leadership of Executive Director,
Zane Blaney.
From the administrative issues of rewriting policies and
procedures, to the day to day operations providing training and
services, to enhancing public engagement by establishing a new
state-of-the-art community media center for production and broadcast,
I’m honored to have been in some small way a part of this outstanding
example of democracy in action.
As I look toward the future, I see the growing need to preserve
the public airwaves and cable spaces as issues of domestic security and
the consolidation of corporate media erode the opportunities for real
democracy to thrive. I fear the road ahead is laden with challenges of
which ordinary citizens, due to the limiting range of news and
information, are ill equipped to respond.
However, arming the public with the tools of communication and
giving them the freedom to express their ideas in useful, creative
ways, and providing the bandwidth to reach the public, gives me great
hope for the future. I see a kind of public engagement that stems from
people who have been empowered with the tools of the media in a way
that broadens and strengthens the idea of civic journalism, where
information for us is by us.
As I step down from my position on the board I feel excited and
reassured that the remaining board members are a remarkable group of
dedicated, skilled and enthusiastic team members reflecting a wonderful
cross-section of San Francisco life.
I look forward to continuing whatever support I can by serving on
the Board of Advisor for Access SF. Moving onward I ask that you all
join with me in reaffirming our commitment to democracy by advocating
when and where ever possible calling attention for the need to protect
and expand our endangered public media spaces of free speech and
creative expression long into the future.
|
|
 |
|
|
ANNUAL MEETING
The October Access SF Board meeting serves as the Board's official
ANNUAL MEETING and one of two "Designated Public Meetings" at which
members from the public are permitted to present oral testimony on
current agenda items and related Board business. The ANNUAL MEETING
also serves as a public opportunity for Access SF to present its Annual
Report, for the Board to hold election of its officers and fill vacant
seats of the at-large Directors, and for the Board President to oversee
appointments to Board Standing Committees.
BOARD OFFICERS
At the Oct. '03 Annual Meeting, the following Board members were elected to serve as Officers for the 03-04 fiscal year:
John Higgins, President - Peggy Coster, Vice President - Jordan Greene,
Vice President (Development) - Pankaj Amin, Treasurer - Lisa Lowy,
Secretary
BOARD MILESTONES
Bylaws Update - A special Ad-Hoc Committee of the Board worked
throughout much of 2003 on an overhaul to the organization's BYLAWS,
which were approved on March 25, 2004.
Strategic Planning Retreat - The entire Access SF board and senior
staff spent their Halloween 2003 hard at work with Paula Manley, a
leading nonprofit planning consultant who specializes in community
media issues. The retreat began the process of mapping a new Strategic
Plan for Access SF that will take the organization through 2007.
MONTHLY BOARD MEETINGS
Board meetings are always open to the public & generally held on
the 4th Thursday of the month at the SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market
Street, Room 300, from 6pm-8pm. Members of the community are encouraged
to attend to learn more about the station and voice their concerns
during public comment.
|
|
 |
|
|
MEDIA BRIEFING COVERAGE: MOVING FROM DIAL UP TO BROADBAND
As part of its involvement as a co-convener of San Francisco Media
Advocates, Access SF assisted Media Alliance and the Center for Digital
Democracy with procuring key resource documents that served as
background material on the cable franchise renewal process at their
Oct. 29th Media Policy Briefing - hosted by the San Francisco
Foundation. Staff members Zane Blaney, Marc Smolowitz and Bud Dillon
were involved in producing video documentation of the daylong program,
which resulted in a 3-hour television presentation on Cable Channel 29
during winter 03-04. In conjunction with the event, Access SF also
produced Episode 4 of The San Franciscans, a talk show conversation
that examined San Francisco’s future as a digital city and provided a
helpful overview of community stakeholder concerns that inform the
cable franchise renewal. Panelists included: Jeff Chester, Center for
Digital Democracy, Jeff Perlstein, Media Alliance, Brian Wilson, DTIS.
Moderator: Zane Blaney, Access SF.
- Thanks, too, to MEDIA ALLIANCE for being one of Access SF's
membership partners this past year. Access SF members receive a
complimentary standard membership to Media Alliance as part of the
collaboration. Click the Media Alliance logo at right to learn more
about discounts through the Access SF Membership Benefits program.
|
|
 |
|
|
In Fall 2003, Access SF received a 2003 WAVE Award in the category Talk
Show: Issues (Professional) for The San Franciscans - Episode 2: An
Asian Community Focus. The annual WAVE Awards are a juried competition
administered by the Alliance for Community Media, Western States
Region. In November, staff member, Jan Levine, attended the Annual
Western States Regional Conference, which was held in Denver, Colorado,
where she accepted the award for the station.
- Pictured at right, On Lok Senior Services, one of three Asian
community nonprofits that participated in Epsiode 2.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
In October, Access SF received a $5,000 grant from the Cable Positive
Tony Cox Community Fund in support of 1-866-HIV-INFO, an original,
30-second public service announcement for the National HIV/AIDS
Treatment Information Hotline - operated by Project Inform. For the
PSA, Access SF staff members Bud Dillon and Sade Huron co-directed,
Marc Smolowitz produced, and Huron edited. The time line for the grant
called for a premiere of the PSA on Cable Channel 29 in conjunction
with World AIDS Day, 12/01/2003. As part of activities around the
premiere, the station also presented (6) short video works by and about
youth on the subject of HIV discrimination, made available by
ScenariosUSA, based in New York City. Access SF also served as a
consulting partner on the marketing and distribution phase of project
and created an original supplemental materials binder that serves as a
step-by-step guide on how to effectively place a PSA on cable
television locally, regionally and nationally.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Access SF is funded, in part, through cable operator grants
administered by DTIS, the Department of Telecommunications &
Information Services of the City & County of San Francisco. We
gratefully acknowledge the Access SF membership for their support and
the following agencies for grants that contributed to our work in
'03-'04: the Cable Positive Tony Cox Community Fund; CTCNet & the
Department of Health & Human Services, through the Connections For
Tomorrow Capacity Building Award.
|
|
|
|
|
|
