December News From the Open Media Foundation

What if our media was a place where new ideas are encouraged and where the diversity of our community was truly reflected in the voices we hear on TV.

What if this conversation of the media helped bring us together, not through squashing dissension, but through an authentic embrace of our differences?

What if our media system wasn't designed to deliver passive consumers to advertisers, but to encourage everyone to participate in shaping the values we share and form through our communication?

This time of year, a lot of people are making donations to support the organizations and causes in which they believe. It's never an easy task to explain why an organization like the Open Media Foundation might be as important to support as a charity dealing with a more tangible or immediate social ill. Perhaps Robert McChesney said it best when he wrote: "Whatever your first issue of concern, media had better be your second, because without change in the media, progress in your primary area is far less likely".

Many people don't recognize our media as the hurdle it really is for preventing meaningful social change. At OMF, we're not just making videos and websites for nonprofits; we're not just teaching youth the emerging forms of communications, and we're certainly not just a Public Access TV station.

The Open Media Foundation is working to shift the conversation of our community. It's a lofty goal, and its reasonable to doubt that an organization our size could even make a blip on the media landscape. That is precisely why our focus at OMF is not on any particular cause or message, and not on shifting that conversation ourselves, but on changing the way our media is made and distributed.

Like Wikipedia, a nonprofit that helped transform the on-line conversation despite an initial budget and staff even smaller than ours, OMF has an opportunity to make a real difference... but it depends on your involvement. Even if you don't make videos yourself, it's your votes on our website that determine which shows get played on our TV channels. It's your donations that determine how many scholarships, video, and web development grants we can offer.

This next week is your chance to support this root cause of inequity and help shift the conversation in our community. With two matching opportunities (one from the Gay & Lesbian Fund on Dec 2, and another from Community First Foundation on December 6th), your gift of support to OMF can be stretched further than ever before. If you can't afford to make a donation, please consider giving an OMF class or membership to a loved-one this holiday season. Together, we can start a whole new conversation, and every change begins with a new conversation.

First Friday at Denver Open Media: 5th Anniversary Bash!

On the first Friday of most months, DOM hosts 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.

Next event: Friday, December 2

Doors at 7:30p,
Event starts at 8p

December's event will include awards for this year's top rated DOM shows, performances by German pop sensation Total Ghost, a silent auction, and the chance to star in your own green screen video greeting card!

Come and join DOM in honoring the top-rated show in each of Denver Open Media's 10 theme blocks. Many of the shows are only separated by a few votes - yours could make the difference, so vote now!

This event will be broadcast live on Channel 57, with performances inside Denver Open Media's Studio A. This event is free and open to the public; see you there!

New Website for Grant Winner Now Online

The Colorado Participation Project was the first website grant

awarded by the Open Media Foundation in Spring 2011.

Visit the Colorado Participation Project's website to see the custom-designed site donated by our web team, and find out what this nonprofit is all about. Grant applications for web design are being accepted now until March 15, 2012.

For more information about all the OMF grants available, including Production Services, Web Services and Denver Open Media Tool grants click here.

OMF Receives Knight Foundation Toolkit Grant

This year, OMF was awarded a grant from the Knight Foundation to participate in their Community Information Toolkit Project; a project that will allow us to assess the flow of local news and information, understand its connection to improving our community and take action to improve it.

"The Open Media Foundation Board is very excited about this wonderful opportunity provided by Knight to help OMF fulfill its mission", says Dave Marshall, OMF Board Member. "We are confident this project will benefit the people of La Alma/Lincoln Park, as we partner with them to assess the quality of information and media flow that impact their lives. This "media literacy" exercise will clearly position our neighbors to be better able to represent their own voice in the media conversation. OMF anxiously awaits seeing the action plan that will be recommended by the community as the result of this grant."

You can email us for more information about our work on this project or if you are interested in joining the team that will accomplish this work - we can always use extra volunteers!

Spotlight of the Month: Steve Toth, Denver Open Media Member

For this month's Spotlight of the Month, we talked with Steve Toth, one of Denver Open Media's members and producer of "Living Consciously-TV", his television show.

How did you begin producing videos?

In April of 2004, I created Real Coaching Radio-TV Network. The purpose of the network was to assist myself and others with self-expression in the personal development industry. I had just ended a 3-year carrier in commercial radio as a host and felt that just audio by itself is not a strong enough medium to get any important message across, so I have embraced and implemented live video on my network.

What is the message of your show?

To bring a higher level of personal consciousness into the world by discussing and demonstrating what consciousness looks like and feels like when people show up aligned with their Truth (what they see and feel) and express it in their moments of truth. Our show is designed to experientially demonstrate what is possible when a team of consciously oriented professionals from various areas of life are connected to their truth AND then to each other in a dance of consciousness and personal power.

What do you do outside of producing videos?

I am the founder and CEO of Real Coaching Radio-TV Network. I am the executive producer of our network and with my team produce dozens of Internet TV shows weekly. In 2008 I founded Real Technology Group to address the gap that exists for coaches, professionals and small business in the personal development industry to become more effective in marketing their passion and/or niche on the Internet.

How do you prepare for your show?

I meet with every guest of the show to create clarity about what the show is and what it is not. I create the "theme" with the guest, then I have a "Mastermind Meeting" every Friday afternoon with my cast to share the "theme" for the show and get feedback for improvements from the previous show including sharing new idea's. I complete a 14 item check list to prepare for the show.

What is your advice to aspiring producers?

Listen to your "Own Voice and Intuition" not other's opinions. When you come across an obstacle find the solution and/or jump over it, go under it, go around it-do not quit.

Why is public access television important?

The cost of hardware, software, facility, personnel are enormous and I could not possible afford to produce my show without Public Access Television. I also enjoy the education and working with like-minded members.

If your show airs regularly, please let us know the title, day, time and channel of broadcast.

Living Consciously-TV, Saturdays, 3:00 PM, Channel 56

Open Media Foundation Welcomes Two New Team Members

Joe Meersman is joining us to work on the Open Media Project. He feels like it's a really a great project for him, because at its heart, the Open Media Project is a way to give voice to a community that usually does not get heard. Joe studied Communication and Culture in college almost a decade ago, and back then, the Internet just didn't open doors for people the way it does now with sites like YouTube and Facebook. But we still need to remember that there are whole communities out there that simply don't have the access to the equipment and knowledge needed to put ideas on the web. The Open Media Project's entire goal is to put the power of creation into those communities' hands.

Joe became involved in web and software development because he was fascinated with creating virtual worlds. He's spent way too much time playing video games, and the thing that always amazes him about games is that these artists and programmers are able to create and bring to life such wonderfully rich and vibrant realities. He sees the Internet as an extension of people's minds in the same way that the games we play, the movies we watch, and the books we read are extensions of the authors imagination. He enjoys bringing people's ideas to life.

Joe began as an intern at the Open Media Foundation. He was making websites and games in his free time while going to school and waiting tables. From the first day he walked into the OMF office, he loved that everyone just seemed so genuinely excited to be at work, doing what they do.

Adam Mordecai manages the Open Media Project's development and provides ongoing internet strategy to the web team. Prior to joining OMF, he spent six years as a Co-Founder and Director of Business Development at Advomatic, a leading Drupal Development firm, working with some of the biggest names in the non-profit sector, such as the ACLU, Alternet, and Mozilla.

Adam fell into web development accidentally after working for Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004, getting hired due to being the only person in the New York office who knew how to turn on a computer. He later went on to manage the Iowa web development team and helped organize a 3000 volunteer force using Drupal as a logistics system.

Adam graduated from the University of Evansville with a BFA in Theatre Performance. He can be seen occasionally using that degree for it's original purpose at the Bovine Metropolis Theatre where he performs occasionally in On The Spot.

Denver Open Media's Youth Production Group: Open Media Generation

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!

The Open Media Generation Youth Group meets weekly! Anyone between the ages of 11-24 can stop by any Wednesday from 3:30-6pm to join the fun...and did we mention it is free?

Participants will learn field, studio and editing techniques. Students will learn how to produce youth-related content and will help solicit new youth-related programs. Please check out our website for more information or email ann@openmediafoundation.org

Also, we are always looking for food donations to help keep our youth fed and alert during trainings/productions. Please let us know if you have suggestions or information about youth group sponsorships.

OMF now offers classes in the Adobe CS5.5 Suite! Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro and Adobe Video Media, a workshop on editing within the suite. See our Upcoming Events section below for dates and registration links. For more information, please email or call 720.222.0159 x 208.

Recently, PBS Media Shifts published this article, Open Media Explores New Paradigms in Community Media, written by Tony Shawcross. "The new paradigm...requires putting the 'community' in 'community media' on a whole new level." Read the full article here.

OMF now offers classes in the Adobe CS5.5 Suite! Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro and Adobe Video Media, a workshop on editing within the suite.

See our Upcoming Events section below for dates and registration links.

For more information, please email or call 720.222.0159 x 208.

Recently, PBS Media Shifts published this article, Open Media Explores New Paradigms in Community Media, written by Tony Shawcross.

"The new paradigm...requires putting the 'community' in 'community media' on a whole new level."

Read the full article here.