Annual Meeting and Volunteer Recognition
Access Tucson's annual meeting is Thursday, May 13th at 7pm in Studio A. The results of the Board of Directors election will be announced at this meeting.
Our many dedicated volunteers will also be recognized at this meeting and the annual Frankie McDemmons Inspirational Service Award will be presented to the volunteer whose service to Access Tucson exemplifies the courage, hope and optimism
inherent in our commitment to foster First Amendment free speech expression for
all.
The last six months have been very rough with the City's 100% cut in funding and the layoff of five treasured employees. However, Access Tucson survives and perseveres due to the support of the Tucson community, our members, board, non-profit partners and viewers. Those who organized petitions, sent emails and made phone calls to the Mayor and Council will also be recognized at this meeting.
In lieu of our annual Building Free Speech panel, staff and board members will conduct a committee of the whole brainstorming session. Ideas and suggestions for the survival and growth of Access Tucson are welcome.
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Programming Highlights
 TUSD School Board Meeting: April 27 (45:00)
A $30-Million budget deficit is projected for next year so the governing board is forced to make massive cuts. Producer Eric Heithaus decided to start recording so no one is left out of the loop. More public hearings are scheduled by the TUSD governing board. Check the TUSD website for the dates and to make comments. Participate in the decision making. Your opinion counts! Saturday 5/8 at 12am (Friday at midnight) Sunday 5/9 at 12am (Saturday at midnight) and again at 9pm Monday 5/10 at 3pm Access Tucson channel 73* (Comcast) / 98 (Cox) and Saturday 5/8 at 9am Monday 5/10 at 11am Tuesday 5/11, 5/18 and 5/25 at 8am Access Tucson channel 74 (Comcast) / 99 (Cox) 
Desert Voices Presents (1:35:00) Arizona's premier gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight chorus under the artistic direction of Chris Tackett presents their latest performance, Sound in Bloom. Watch the show and then check out the Desert Voices website. They always welcome anyone who is supportive of the LGBT community to come sing with them.
Mondays 5/10 through 5/31 at 8pm Access Tucson channel 73* (Comcast) / 98 (Cox) and Fridays 5/14 through 6/4 at 1pm Access Tucson channel 74 (Comcast) / 99 (Cox)  The Future of Food (1:30:00) This documentarydistills the complex technology and key regulatory, legal, ethical,
environmental and consumer issues surrounding the troubling changes
happening in the food system today--genetically engineered foods,
patenting, and the corporatization of food--into terms the average
person can easily understand. It empowers consumers to understand the
consequences of their food choices on our future. Saturday 5/8 and 5/15 at 6pm Access Tucson channel 74 (Comcast) / 99 (Cox)
*not all channels are available in all areas - FAQ
all programming is simultaneously streamed on our website - watch online
now playing
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PARITY SCHMARITY
What was it that the City Manager did not understand about the
vote by the Mayor and Council to work toward funding parity between Access
Tucson and Tucson 12? His budget out this week proposes
FY 2011 funding for Access Tucson of:
$303,500. That is even less than what we are operating on now after severe cuts
the last two years. For comparison and to see how far that "parity" thing went,
Tucson 12's budget stays the same at between $800,000 and $900,000.
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People for Access Tucson on the Move
At our most recent meeting, People for Access Tucson Fdtn, Inc. (PFAT)
implemented a plan and a timeline for fundraising between now and December 1st. Our focus will be on direct asks to the corporate community, creating a
fundraising campaign through Twitter, and using the Access Tucson channels to ask for
support. Talking points will of course address our very deep budget cuts and
the impact those cuts have had on our operation, but will also stress the very
many ways that Access Tucson is so important to our community -- through our
support of local non-profits, our training program for youth, and our channels
that both give a voice to people in this community as well as bring Free Speech
TV programs and documentaries that are seen on no mainstream media. If any of you
have any suggestions for or connections with businesses in Tucson that we may
approach for support, please email Cynthia Dickstein, PFAT Founder at cdickstein@aol.com. Access Tucson needs your support,
business support, and community support to pull through these difficult times
and to continue offering the services that make us an integral and indispensable
part of the Tucson community. 
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New in the Gallery
 Local photographer Therese Perreault presents her collection of roadside memorials. The exhibition continues through May 29th.
"I am confounded by this universal act of remembrance, at
the place of death a life celebrated." --Therese Perreault In addition to being a community artist, Therese is the founder and executive director of Arts Marketplace Tucson. Arts Marketplace is a non-profit membership-based program for
individual artists and creative entrepreneurs providing training and
tools for professional development, mentoring, networking and money
management.
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Tweet Tweet
 Stay in touch with Access Tucson through Twitter. Use Twitter to promote your show, research possible guests and discover potential underwriters. Open a Twitter account at www.twitter.com from your computer or your
cell phone. (Blackberry has an excellent interface with Twitter.) You will be
asked for a little bit of basic information. You can use your real name or a screen name. You can post a photo or graphic of yourself or any other
image. You can "tweet" but you don't have to tweet in order to get value
from twitter. A tweet can be up to 140 characters. Tweets can be about your
activities, thoughts, interests, questions to talk shows like NPR's
Science Friday, comments to articles, etc. Your tweets will be sent
to people/organizations that "follow" you. Your tweets will be archived (along with billions
of others) by the US Library of Congress for use by historians, scientists, etc.
So, here is your chance for a sliver of immortality. Depending upon who is
following you, your tweets can also be like brief press releases. Tweets
can include photographs, videos and links to articles,
books, etc. "Follow" people, TV or radio programs, businesses and/or organizations. When you follow someone,
you receive their tweets. "Retweet" forwards a tweet you received from
someone else to all of your followers. There are hundreds of
interesting uses of Twitter: marketing, networking, fundraising, research--explore the possibilities. You will grow to love the 140 character limit.
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Stay Connected with Us
 Find us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Tweets by Access Tucson board member Gerald Harwood.  to our eNewsletter. Missed an issue? Go to our archive.  to make a difference by keeping community TV alive in Tucson.
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Celebrating
25 years, Access Tucson strives to provide the highest level of public
media access service to the community. We facilitate the expression of
ideas, opinions, and perspectives through electronic media. By tuning
in to public access, viewers are discovering their own communities,
alternative news and information not influenced by corporate or
government interests.
All Tucson public access channels are operated and controlled by Access Tucson. Access Tucson is an independent, nonprofit corporation and is not an agent or affiliate of Cox Communications, Comcast or the City of Tucson.
Cox Communications, Comcast, the City of Tucson and Access Tucson are prohibited by law from controlling the content of programs on public access channels. They are not responsible in any way for the content of public access programs, and are not liable for any material cablecast on pubic access channels. Public access users and producers are solely responsible for and have complete control of the content of their programs.
You can produce your own program and use this channel to share your message with the community. Go to accesstucson.org or call (520) 624-9833 to find out how.
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