April News from
Denver Open Media
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April 2009
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First Fridays Live at Denver Open Media
 On the first Friday of each month, DOM holds a free community event
that spotlights local performance groups, musical acts, and nonprofit
organizations. These events are broadcast live on Comcast channel 57 and re-broadcast
on channels 56, 57 and 219. They are also available online.
April 3, 2009 8-10PM
Open Source Party!
This month Denver Open Media will be celebrating all things open source! This party will feature musical performances by BDRMPPL, Initials BR and video mixing by Jason Bosch. We will also broadcast an interview with Larry Lessig on the Creative Commons movement, shot during our recent trip to SXSW. Come join the party; everyone is invited!
Know of a band or a local
non-profit organization that you think should be highlighted during our
next First Friday event? Encourage them to apply here.
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DOM Returns From Austin
Second Implementation of the Open Media Project Complete
Ten members of the Deproduction team traveled to Austin this month to implement the Open Media tools at the second of 6 Beta sites, ChannelAustin. We traveled down in two RV's and scheduled the visit to coincide with SXSW, where we hosted a core conversation as part of the interactive festival.
Austin is the first of the large Access Stations that we've worked
with in this Knight News Challenge project, and it presented a whole
new slate of challenges in comparison with the comparatively simpler
implementation at Urbana Public TV. The entire process was documented, and the new ChannelAustin dev site was launched this week. Text documentation is being developed and posted online, with video to follow.
ChannelAustin is poised to be a strong partner in the development of
the Open Media System, which is designed to empower community members
to have more control over their community media organizations. With a
new Statewide Franchise system to phase-in across Texas by 2011,
operational funding for Public Access TV stations is not guaranteed. In
Denver, the Open Media tools have proven to give the community
members greater participation in the workflow of the station, much needed with reduced staffing. In Denver, where there are no operating funds provided for
Public Access TV, community members register and pay for classes and memberships,
reserve equipment, submit TV shows remotely and in the station, create
accounts, profiles, and projects, produce and edit videos in the field
and in our studios, and even programming schedule will be almost fully user-automated for our
3 TV channels.
Besides increasing community ownership and support, the vision of
the Open Media Project is to establish a new user-driven network of
community media organizations, sharing best-practices, cooperating in
systems development, and sharing the best noncommercial media across
the globe, with all content published using Creative Commons.
Click here to watch an interview that was conducted with our own Tony Shawcross in Austin on how public access stations can bring local communities together.
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Denver Open Media's Channels
How do they get scheduled?
General Overview: Denver Open Media is a unique, user-driven public-access TV station that operates 3 Comcast cable channels in Denver: 56, 57 & 219. Each of our channels are divided into categories or theme blocks
which range from "Arts & Entertainment" to "GLBTQ" or
"International Issues". Like many public access stations, our
community is entirely responsible for producing our content. Unlike
other stations however, community producers and viewers also determine the programming schedule of the channels.
Every show submitted is guaranteed to air once, and our system
increasingly allows producers to determine the timing of that initial
broadcast (well, cablecast actually). Additionally, viewers vote or
rate the shows via the website, SMS/text or email. These votes drive a smart scheduling algorithm
that translates the votes, together with other community-determined
factors, into a broadcast schedule. Over 250 community producers are
then leveraged into a self-managed marketing/PR street-team, telling their friends and family to log-in and vote.
The Specifics: Channel 56 is reserved for the most recent shows submitted to Denver Open Media. Everything submitted to DOM is guaranteed to play on channel 56 at least once. While the show is airing, viewers have the opportunity to vote via their cell phone or by email on shows they like/dislike.
Their votes and comments are then displayed in real-time along the
bottom of the screen. Viewers also have the opportunity to vote and
comment on shows at anytime by searching for them via the DOM website.
The shows that get the most (and highest) votes get the best time slot (in the appropriate theme block) on channel 57.
On channel 57, you will only see the shows that the community has
chosen as thier favorites. As more shows and votes continue to
come-in, Channel 57 is becoming the "Best of D.O.M." channel.
Furthermore, we are collaborating with other Public Access TV stations
across the nation in the hope that we can use the website and our "Best
of" channel to feature the best of Public Access TV from across the nation.
Digital channel 219 plays other alternative programs such as Free Speech TV and Link TV, and gives viewers another opportunity to watch and vote on other, local programming that hasn't quite made it onto channel 57.
To search for a particular show, visit our show archive and search for the program using a key word, show title or producer's name.
To watch a short video about Denver Open Media's three Comcast cable channels, please click here.
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 Denver Open Media Youth Production Group
Next meetings:
April 8th 3:30 - 6:30pm -
(LIVE SHOW at 5pm - Featuring Metro Organizing for People and 2 Youth Poets)
April 22nd 3:30 - 6:30pm -
Training and prep for May show
Do
you know a student who dreams of being on TV? How about working behind
the scenes? If so, they should join Denver Open Media's FREE Youth Production Group!
Participants will alternate between learning field, studio and editing
techniques. Students will learn how to produce youth-related content
and will help solicit new youth-related programs. Anyone between the
ages of 12-19 can drop by. Please email ann@deproduction.org for more
information.
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Increased Educational Opportunities at DOM
Log in and start learning!
Beginning last month, individuals who hold at least a Programming Membership are able to access hundreds of online tutorials in Denver Open
Media's computer lab. Interested in learning more about Compressor?
DVD Studio Pro? Color? Motion? Drupal? After Effects? These are
just some of the programs that you can now start learning on your own.
There will be one station (System #3) designated for this online
training. Please click here to learn how you can start accessing these additional educational resources today.
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Upcoming Classes & Events at DOM:
Intro to Studio ProductionApril 1 & 2, Wednesday & Thursday, 6-9pm Field Production WorkshopApril 8 & 9, Wednesday & Thursday, 6-9pm Intro to After EffectsApril 14, Tuesday, 6-9pm Final Cut Pro WorkshopApril 15 & 16, Wednesday & Thursday, 6-9pm Basic Digital Storytelling WorkshopApril 16 - April 18, Thursday - Saturday, 9am-5pm Intro to Studio ProductionApril 25, Saturday, 11-6pm Field Production WorkshopMay 9, Saturday, 11-5:30pm |
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