ConcordTV built its annual Arts Telefest into something of a signature event during a five-year run that ended in 2009. But when Doris Ballard, ConcordTV's executive director, decided the station needed to revive the yearly celebration, she wanted to broaden the scope.
And the city will be able to see that vision come to fruition – live.
ConcordTV will unveil “Concord On Air” on April 15, a six-hour program highlighting many facets of the Concord community. The event will feature pre-recorded segments, but those segments will be introduced live by various city personalities and leaders during the broadcast from noon to 6 p.m. on channels 6, 17 and 22 and online at yourconcordtv.org.
“We missed having a big event every year, and we thought this would be a way to say, 'Hello, this is Concord TV, we are here for you, our community,' ” Ballard said. “Instead of only having it be for the arts, we decided to have a broader approach to the entire city. For me, it's bringing people together, that's the big deal. It's using community television to show the public what we can do using your community TV station to celebrate what we have going on in our capital, our city. That's very exciting for me.”
The content range promises to be broad, Ballard said. For the past few months, a team led by Steve Shannon has scoured the city, shooting segments on local schools, non-profits, Main Street businesses and culturally-perse neighborhoods.
Other features include footage of the winter's Black Ice Pond Hockey tournament and segments on the police and fire departments, the Merrimack County SPCA, the Friendly Kitchen, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and more.
The segments will be introduced by numerous hosts, including Mayor Jim Bouley, various city councilors and members of the local schools and police and fire departments.
The experience will be interactive, tapping into the world of social media to attract – and reward – viewers. Ballard said viewers can like the channel on Facebook and make comments throughout the event to qualify for hourly drawings. At the end of the day, a $100 cash prize will go to “some lucky person” chosen from the pool of people who have left comments during the afternoon.
“Because it's on all three channels live and streaming live on our website, anything could go wrong. You can tune in just to see if anything does,” Ballard joked. “But we are going to have some prizes throughout the day. We're just trying to stimulate some folks to tune in.”
Ballard said she hopes the event morphs into something even bigger going forward. Because the project didn't become a reality until late in the fall, there is no footage this year of summer events like the recreation department's summer camps. Next year, Ballard said she hopes to include an entire year of footage.
The station also plans to air the short recorded segments off and on throughout the year so those that can't view the live event can still get a taste of the project.
“Everything is on-location shooting, and that takes a lot of time. But I think the payoff will be great for the community,” Ballard said. “We're hoping to show a lot of the clips in the months following the event, so people can enjoy it.”
Only a handful of people have been out doing the shooting, but the live event will feature contributions from many, including people behind the cameras, in-studio crew and volunteers bringing food and other refreshments to the set.
But to Ballard the cast involved in making the event a success include those on the other side of the screen, as well.
“I like to look at it as more than those taping. It's those that are part of it, the ones that will be featured,” Ballard said. “If you add up all the people that are part of every single one of these segments, you're talking thousands that are part of it, that believe in it, that support it. That's really heartwarming.”
