In a world where 24 hours worth of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute, Concord TV is helping the community stay on top of the trend with training and opportunities to develop skills. The local access station is doing big things for residents, nonprofits and businesses and wants you to know about it.
The station was founded 10 years ago in a 950-square-foot space at Concord High School. The room housed the studio, control room, equipment and offices. The high school provided relief to the crowded station by offering office space across the hall and later, in 2005, by giving the station an additional room. At that time, the station also received a 10-year, $350,000 grant from Comcast.
The station now boasts 2,600 square feet with offices, a studio, a training room, a master control room and a welcoming reception area.
Concord TV operates three channels: Channel 6 for education programming, Channel 17 for government programming and Public Access Channel 22. Programs range from tapings of sports events and school plays to city meetings to shows produced by Concord TV and the general public.
The experts at Concord TV are eager to share their knowledge with residents of all ages through classes, camps and even by lending out equipment – once community members go through the station's training program, they are welcome to borrow video cameras.
One local couple took the classes, and is now using the station's equipment to film the area's hiking trails in hopes of inspiring others to get outside and check them out. Two others, living history actors, use the equipment to film battlefield reenactments.
Doris Ballard, community facilitator, says there's no end to what a person can do. The station even offers a free class called “Planning Your Program,” to help people match their interests with what the station can offer. She says the class helps people “flesh out ideas and then they go out and create.”
To help nonprofits in Concord make the most of video media, the station is introducing a membership program that allows groups to take classes at a discount. Members will also be able to produce one public service announcement per year with the station.
Those announcements are important not only for getting the word out to Concord residents, but to the entire state, too. Concord TV is one of many local access centers in the state that shares programming. An announcement, or an independently produced program, can get picked up by access centers in Nashua, Portsmouth, Plymouth or Berlin, to name a few.
There are other ways to utilize the station, too. Nonprofits can post free “bulletin board” posts – a still slide promoting the group or an event – on Channel 22. The station's website is a great resource for community members. Government meetings are taped and posted on the website. The archives includes meetings dating back to 2008. You can also purchase video of big events like prom, graduation, and baseball, hockey and soccer games.
In addition to great local programming, it's a real resource. “We're meeting a need,” Doris says. “It's good for us and it's good for the community.”
Ready to learn?
Concord Community TV offers classes on using the video cameras, production, editing and more. To participate, you must attend an orientation, held on the first Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. or by appointment.
Classes include:
– “Intro to Camera,” $25. Basic shot composition, camera technique and audio recording.
– “Studio Production,” $75. Operate cameras, mix audio, direct, run graphics and more.
– “Intro to Editing,” $50. Learn the basics of the software Final Cut Pro.
For a schedule, visit yourconcordtv.org and click “Training.”
Don't miss this new series!
Remember the Arts Telefest? The annual fundraiser for Concord TV featured 12 hours of continuous eight-minute segments showcasing area arts talent and nonprofits. This year, the telefest has been replaced with the program “Art in Focus.” Each show will feature four segments on different arts organizations.
The premier, which will air on April 8 at 7 p.m. on Channel 22, includes a piece on the Youth Art Exhibit at the Steeplegate Mall and an item on the Concord Community Players.
We caught a sneak preview of the Youth Art Exhibit piece and can’t recommend it highly enough! It’s like a way-more-fun version of those news broadcast shows with a video photojournalism vibe. There’s no narrator or interviewer, just the arts organization on center stage.
The goal is to make Concord a destination for the arts. There are already a lot of great things going on in town, but the show helps to focus in on various programs, people and organizations.
The program will air on the first Thursday of the month. Visit yourconcordtv.org for air times.
