 Notes from Virginia
Greetings!
Hey! I think you might be missing something really cool in our newsletter. Be sure to check out the One Second Survey link on the side and the special savings coupon at the very bottom of VA News & Views. I'd hate to have you miss out on a great deal!
Until next time... Wishing
You All The Best!
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What's new? 
In case you haven't heard yet, VA Productions Inc. is now
housed in its own building at 113A Sugarloaf
Lane in Reading
Pennsylvania. We are located just south of Reading
in Cumru Township on eight acres of wooded
hillside, which is shared with Craig and Virginia's home. Yes, VA Productions finally has its own dedicated space; and what a space it is.
The building is a 40' x 60' steel structure which was
erected by Kistler Buildings. The interior was finished by our talented friend
and artisan Eric Weyandt of Cross Keys Millworks. The building includes 17 vinyl
windows manufactured by Rozzi Window Mfg here in Reading. We have over 4000 sq. feet of space
in our new facility. The building is situated with one side built
into the hill so the second floor has walk out access on the uphill side. A driveway encircles the building aiding in traffic flow and
giving us ample parking. The ground
(lower) level has a 12' x 12' roll-up access door for loading trucks and
equipment. We warehouse all of our
production equipment in the lower level, along with an actual fireproof media vault, and
wood shop. The upper floor is home to our
video production facilities and offices for our staff. It features a 26' x 15' conference space
which we also use as a studio. Our high def Avid edit suite is down the hall from our multimedia duplication
room.
Tours are available upon request, 9 -5 pm M -
F; call for reservations.
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TechSpot 
A couple of years ago, we decided we needed a good sturdy
CD/DVD duplicator. It had to be one we
could rely on to handle big and small jobs with ease. And so the Disc Makers ReflexAuto 3 came to
be a part of our family.
This handy little (well, maybe not so little) "robot" has a 100 disc
capacity. It performs at high speed so
we are able to duplicate discs faster than ever before. The auto-loader picks the discs up using
vacuum technology and drops them into the burner tray. When the discs are done burning it puts them
onto the output spindle and continues on until there are no discs left. But even beyond that, the auto-loader can automatically compare the copies from the content of your original master to ensure 100% reliable copies.
We love our duplicator but...if it could only learn to make the coffee, we'd be all set!
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Tips & Tricks - PowerPoint Shortcuts
Just a few little keyboard shortcuts to help you along the way:
F5 - Starts slideshow from beginning
In slideshow mode...
N, ENTER, PAGE DOWN, RIGHT ARROW, DOWN ARROW, or SPACEBAR - Advances to next slide or animation
P, PAGE UP, LEFT ARROW, UP ARROW, or BACKSPACE - Performs previous animation or slide
Any Number + ENTER - Jumps right to that slide number
B or PERIOD - Displays blank black slide or toggles back to presentation from blank black slide
W or COMMA - Displays blank white slide or toggles back to presentation from blank white slide
S - Pauses, or toggles to unpause, timed automatic presentation
ESC or HYPHEN - Takes presentation out of slideshow mode
H - Goes to next hidden slide
T - Records new or recalculates timings in "rehearse timings" mode
CTRL + P - Displays pen
CTRL + A - Displays pointer
CTRL + H - Hides pen or pointer and navigation button
SHIFT + F10 - Displays the shortcut menu
TAB - Goes to the first or next hyperlink on slide
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Staff Stats - Troy 
Heeerre's Troy.
Troy was born right here in our own Reading Hospital (that's
right the only REAL Berks County native on the VA staff) and attended Wilson
School District where he got the video production bug at an early age. It all started in Jr. High with Mr. Manhart's
TV club. Troy continued on the media
path in high school and ultimately to Kutztown University where he received his
degree in Telecommunications.
Troy worked all of his professional life in the "biz"
landing his first job after graduation at BerksCable's
video production department producing local commercials, corporate video and
sports programming. He later went on to work
in Allentown for First Generation Productions where he really honed his skills. After that Troy landed back in his native
Berks County at VA Productions where he has been making "the magic" for over
nine years. (OMG has it been that long!)
Troy lives with his wife, Melissa, and their two children, Kaleb
and Gabriel, in Ontelaunee Township where he enjoys home improvement DIY
projects, camping, and spending time with his family. |
Meet...Alvernia University 
Alvernia University, located in Reading, PA, has been a
friend of VA Productions for many years.
VA is a preferred vendor to Alvernia's Event Management staff, professionally handling a wide range of jobs. From providing a dressed stage and panel
table combination for our annual Lecture Series to more extensive setups
including floor to ceiling panels with up lighting, specialized pin spots
highlighting works of art showcased by local artists, stage dressing and
on-site multi-media support for numerous recent 50th Anniversary
events including Founders Day, President's Dinner and a Gala. VA Productions also assists Alvernia with
events scheduled on our campus by area non-profit organizations such as the
Olivet Boys & Girls Club Steak and Burger Fundraiser and the Legends of
Tennis event for the Red Cross, Berks County Chapter.
Alvernia University Event Management and VA Productions is a
good match when it comes to planning events.
Contact Suzanne Miller, at suzanne.miller@alvernia.edu, to see if AU has the right location for your
next corporate event.
(submitted by S. Miller, Alvernia University)
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Stories from the Trenches
It was the rehearsal night before a big show and there was a large crew
on this particular job including one guy who was, well let's say "young". The director, who hired VA as part of their production crew, was a tough guy to work for and
not the kind of guy you would talk back to, which is what makes this story
particularly interesting. We were
working through some technical issues and everyone had their intercom mics open
to talk about the problem, when from out of nowhere the new guy says, "Um, is
this gonna take much longer because I have to leave at 5 to catch my bus
home." Needless to say you could have
heard a pin drop and everyone turned to see the reaction of the annoyed
director. "Says who?!" he scowled in a
condescending tone. "My mom," responded
the young man in all seriousness. You
could hear the clickclickclick of everyone
on the intercom system scrambling to turn off their mics and stifle their laughter. Everyone except the director, who was so
dumbfounded his only response was, "We'll talk about this later."
Sometimes you can't predict what you're going
to hear when you're "in the trenches!"
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September "One Second" Survey
CLICK HERE
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Did You Know?
Did you ever wonder what those multi-colored bars are that appear in the middle of your favorite TV show by mistake? The Society of Motion Picture Television Engineers (SMPTE) color bars is
a type of television test pattern, and is most commonly used in countries where
the NTSC video standard is dominant, such as those in North America.
Typically, a television network, TV station, or other originator of
video programming transmits SMPTE color bars together with a continuous 1000 Hz
audio tone before sending program material, so that receiving stations and intermediary
telecommunications providers may adjust their equipment. Likewise, producers of
television programs typically record "bars and tone" at the beginning
of a videotape or other recording medium so that the playback equipment can be calibrated.
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A Helping Hand
Berks Visiting Nurse Association has been continuously serving its area's home and
community health care needs since 1909. For 100 years, Berks VNA has
provided the area with the skills of professional health care
staff who demonstrate highly trained skills and great compassion
to ensure the optimal wellness of their clients.
VA Productions has been proud to help Berks VNA with A/V for several events over the course of the year as they celebrate their 100th anniversary.
Please visit their website for information on how you can help by clicking HERE
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What's Happening...
A few events to note for this month:
9/5 - The Children's Home of Reading Carnival Fundraiser
9/10 - Goodwill Runway Show '09
9/12 - Berks Visiting Nurse Association Century Gala
9/17 - Miller Keystone
Flight for Life
9/23 - Rotary Club of Reading Fundraiser, Friendly's Lancaster Ave., 5-8pm
9/25 - Reading Civic Theatre VIP Gala
As a member of the following organizations, we recommend you visit their websites for events and happenings in our area.
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