Zeitgeist

http://cpcscmt.blogspot.com/

New post on analyzing media blog about the movie Zeitgeist

Recap of Thursday Evening Meeting

Note Taker: Aaron S.

Facilitator: Cisco

Announcements: Now is the time to be thinking about next semester and what you have done or need to work on. No more enrollment will be taking place in Community Media next semester.

For those in the documentary class, there will be no meeting next week due to it falling on the day before Thanksgiving..

1. Agenda: Watch video, and listen to Crystal’s outline of her project.

Add Aaron S to the tactical media email list.

Updates: N/A

Projects: Crystals Outline & Jose's Video

2. Highlights of Crystals Outline: Crystal is trying to grasp how to put good information together for the community. She wants to connect why policy is important and for those not to take things for granted and to keeping things alive.

Newsletters and fund raising's are ways to communicate with the community.

PEG Access- Public Access TV, also called cable access, community access, community tv, and peg.

Community media vs mass media= local, community building tool, engages citizens to become producers vs just consumers of media. Activism, free-or low-cost and powerful

Fred- "Digital storytelling is a practice. Almost a brand these days. Any idiot can tell a story digitally these days. Have people come in and record through mp3 and then combine onto a CD. Come up with some evaluation on what would or would not work".

Fred-"We need to check out the wiki more".

Distribution v.s. practice. Number of distribution options.

PCN-Progressive communicators network- Good source to check out.

3. Jose’s Film: Welcome to Boston Massachusetts. Allston is losing residents. More students are moving in. Rents are high. Community planning and organizing

Jose- Made the video for organizations to improve funding for housing. The benefits for the community.

Fred- "As a director, you need to have the camera close."

Fred-"Learning Exercise, Strategic piece". If he was director, he would want it shorter.

Audio is 68% communication. Read in a book, Fred stated.

Peter: 11/29-peter will be doing a podcast. Aaron B will be doing the uploading portion.

December 6^th, Jason may be doing the 2^nd section of the second life presentation.

Wanted--- community media maker profiles

Howdy,
I am in the process of researching Boston based community media makers. I have some folks in mind, but would love to hear from you. Is there anyone whom you have worked with that you would like to recognize in the primer? Thoughts?
Crystal

Crystal's Outline

Content Focus Areas
Print
Audio
Video—BNN, trainings
Resources
• PEG
• Home video

Practices
• Web streaming (vlog, video sharing, uploading, embedding)
• Participatory (use of video for onsite playback)
• Digital stories
• Low-end video conferencing




Web– Collaborative Media
Regulations & Policy
Community Media Makers
Timeline?
Volunteers
Existing resources to tap into

Meeting Minutes October 18, 2007

We had visitors from the Town of Harvard with us today along with a documentary film maker from Canada.

Keith, Jackie and Tim are from Harvard. Keith and Jackie are volunteer community media makers and Tim is an elected selectman. They do not have a physical space to house a community access center, but they were able to obtain equipment and some money through their franchise agreement. They would like to take their community media efforts to the next level and are looking for help defining what that next level is and how to get there.

Cathy Edwards worked for a community television station in Canada and is working on a documentary about community media around the world and how it helps build and strengthen community. She spoke about her travels around the world and how community media was being used in some developing countries. We saw a segment that was shot in Fiji. Because of political unrest and racial issues between the Indian and Native populations, community media has become an important tool in educating each group about the other. Its being used to build community. The call in shows are popular, where locals can call in and express an opinion on a topic. Cathy filmed some of our class and interviewed members afterwards.

Cathy aslo spoke about the Challenge for Change program in Canada, how it started and how useful it was for conflict resolution.

Aaron is soliciting help with organizing the Wiki. If you have any documents out there please make sure there is sufficient introduction to them. We are looking to make the Wiki more user friendly so any ideas about organizing it should be discussed in class next week. Jay is suggesting that we organize the links on the left into a more general yet focused table of contents. The table of contents can link to an index for that subject. The p0int is that every document out there doesn't have to link from the table of contents.

We discussed the Technology Grids again. We need to firm up the attributes we want to compare and analyze. The idea is that we can use the grids as part of primer to help non-profits understand the potential use of these technologies.

Tactical Media Minutes 10-11-2007

Tactical Media Minutes 10-11-2007
Taken By: Denae P.

Attendance:
Aaron Bagelman
Cisco
Crystal
Denae
Peter
Rene
Sam

Agenda:
Announcements
Project Discussions
Organization of the Wiki

1. Announcements

Cisco-Friday November 2nd U-Mass Boston Dinner thrown by Casa Latina 7:00 November 2nd -Campus Center Ballroom $5.00 donation, music, local bands (performers) Cisco did a video for them and they want him to do it again.

Sam-Sent out an E-mail to Tactical Media about it. Sam has a show at the Middle East tomorrow @ 10:30 PM (Friday October 12, 2007) $10.00 for 20 minutes (5 songs)

Rene-Alternative for community & Environment annual meeting 6:00 PM Dudley Sq 2181 Washington Street in Roxbury. October 24th. They also do tours around Dudley to visit sites that used to be contaminated but are not being revamped. You can E-mail Rene.

Fred-
* The documentary class will be using the camera for the next 4 Wednesdays. (They will be on hold and people will not be able to use them).

The classes are going to be camera training classes: camera, lighting, white balancing etc. The rest of the semester will be final cut pro. Anyone can attend. Wednesday nights from 7:00-9:30PM.

* Next class we are having a Canadian filmmaker Kathy Edwards. She is going to talk to us about Community Media (Show footage) She is also going to tape us working next week. We will also be talking a bit about the considerations concerning Myspace, Second Life etc. Make sure to review Jay’s grids and enter your comments etc. Our discussion might also end up in her documentary. Think about how it relates to community.

* Next Week Jason Pramus is doing an update on the current issues and trends and opportunities in community media. He is also going to talk about the social and political implications of these tools. Happening October 25th.
Aaron Stenton-Did put up a Myspace shell for Tactical Media & Sam put up one for Facebook.
#1. How to use them in class
#2. How to use them for your projects & or community building

2. Project Annoucements (Ideas) / Questions
Aaron- (Wiki Discussion) Aaron is doing the organization of the Wiki. He could use help please. Fred and Cisco will be assisting him.
These are the suggestions from last semester for the Wiki:
* Our photos to link to blog (Who are we?)
* Link to Tactical Media blog
* Introductory blurbs
* Table of contents with order changed
* Reorganize the policy stuff
Fred, Cisco, and Aaron plan to meet next Thursday during class in order to discuss these matters. Kathy could possibly tape pieces of the discussion for her documentary.

Crystal-Wants to know if we need to re-register for Benton. Fred said that we should all be getting them. Fred says that you need to Fwd him at least one E-mail that you get from Kevin Tagline in order to get the compentency for the class.

Cisco-Is in the process of working with Casa Latino to work on the Latino Studies website.

Peter-His fathers photo exhibit at the Boston Arts Academy (174 Ipswich Street 174) went very well.

Aaron is going to start to figure out what blurbs he needs to organize the sections on the Wiki.

3. Freds Agenda:
Communications Policy Project-Taping
Aaron Bagelman is going to be taping some policy people but needs help with filming. They are going to be taping Reebee talking about intellectual property. Reebee will also be doing this in our class as well. If you are interested in getting a social research compentency, this can be arranged. You could also use this in place of a presentation. If you are interested in doing this contact Aaron or Fred.

Communications Policy Project-Phone survey research
You will be making phone calls to people regarding communication policy. This is not cold calling.

Primer (Guide) on useful new organizing technology-
Jay’s grids are a start
We need to assess who is interested in helping Crystal on it. We also need to figure out if this needs to be an entire class project. It would be useful thinking for all of us to do. A guide for community leaders-activists, how to organize your newsletters, to how to write a PSA, how to write a press-release. Sam volunteered to help. Fred suggests looking at things that are already created so that you don’t re-create the wheel.

Crystal will develop an outline to see what areas people can help with. We are going to take into effect the time lines-projects that other people are doing so that not everyone would need to do the same amount of work.
Everyone will work on it.

We are looking for a collaborative media coordinator to set up two sessions on what: Possibly second life.

Digitizing things up onto the Internet. Blip TV, You Tube etc. Possibly a podcasting session.

Peter is volunteering to do it.

Crystal wants to know whats going on in the world (media wise) possibly on a weekly basis.

Discussion around the quality of youtube some programs vs. other programs. Some people get the footage directly.

Fred wants a pretty intensive session getting information back on different compression options-putting things online etc. Aaron will do the digitizing session for us. Any day besides November 8th.

The overall topic is uploading, downloading, and being strategic with online video.* What will the night look like?
* Aaron doing refreshing-helping on uploading video
Software options-Different kinds of media players, what options do we have for dong this?
* What is the politically progressive versions of YouTube, are their non-profit versions?
* Are their some that are better than others.
* What sharing site do you want to use? What are the details between all of them?
* What terms are important?
* What programs can assist us?
* What educational-technical level do you need to have? (Terminology and language).
* Cisco will explain how to get things onto podcasts.
Aaron will bring in a 30 second clip of video for us to upload.
Youtube, BlipTV has a Tactical Media Account too
November 15th is when this workshop is happening.
You HAVE to be at the December 13th class.
Scheduling Reebee for November 1st.

Notes: October 4'th

Hope to get schedule organized and straightened out.

October 25'th Jason is coming in and doing an update on social media. Current issues and debates of social media.

We need to set a date when we will make a decision about tactical media expanding into the following things :
1. Second Life
2. Myspace
3. Facebook

We need to decided what we are going to do with Second Life, Myspace, and Facebook. Contact Aaron or Sam if you are interested in helping.

Technology matrix is to help new students understand some of the basics of the group. It is up on the wiki and open to changes.

Make fred find notes on wiki for changes, and determine date to get ideas for finishing changes.

Discuss podcasting, is it possible for our group to have a podcast?

Fred wants us to set two times when we are going to get policy updates from people. There also needs to be another time when we have some discussion about what we think policy is. What are the most important policy issues this semester.

Fred thinks intellectual property is increasingly important, fred wants Reebee Garofalo to come talk about IP, (Copy right, patents) need to talk to him and set a date.

Jay wants to Audit editing sweet and is looking for input from anyone who is interested in helping.

Tactical Media Minutes 9/27/2007

Hello, I am going to post the minutes for the first time for the Fall 2007. Also, going to try to do my best that can in posting these minutes. This are the minutes for September 27, 2007.


Housekeeping

• What is the plan for the Tactical media for the Fall. Making the list for notes taking and facilitator on the wiki site.

• Fred- mentioned about different projects about collaboration media work and making sure you do your presentation. Fred talked about last semester. Talk about communication policy.

• Crystal talked about her project with the community, she wants to learn how to do a news letter. Building an e-news letter for her project and if the class should help build one and post the news latter online.

• Daniel ask what is going on with the Wi-Fi problem in the Boston. What is the City doing about the wi-fi. Fred mentioned that there is new type of wireless system that ia more powerful has longer range than Wi-Fi that is called WiMax.

• Aaron is going to work on the wiki for more improvement.

• Peter, Father has a photo gallery event on, October 10th at Newbury St the Class is going on field trip to the event. This event is a communication event for class.

Project

The tactical media class is trying to design a myspace page or facebook so we could use it for class. Also there was a discussion in how to defined what are myspace, facebook, youtube and many more social communication network that are in the web. The class is setting up a grid or matrix to define this social communication network and place this grid on the wiki space. All this is just an idea in how to make definitions for social communication network web sites. The tactical media group only has three week to come up with a brief definition for communication grid.

Tactical Media Group use of Technology

The nature of the Tactical Media Group guarantees a constant turnover of its members. My tenure in the group introduced me to a number of new concepts and technologies that I would like to share. We studied telecommunication policy and learned to blog. We learned about collaborative media and Wiki. We learned how to upload video to a web server and embed it into either our Blog or Wiki. Have you ever heard of social networking or My Space? What about Web 2.0? Free media tools on the web make it easy for any organization, no matter how small or obscure, to have a presence on the internet. The Tactical Media Group has used these tools to share information and should continue to explore these technologies and their potential use. The following are tools used for participation in the Tactical Media Group.

Blog

Definition (Wikipedia)

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) or sexual topics (Adult blog), and are part of a wider network of social media.

Tactical Media Group’s use of Blog

The tactical media group blog provides an outlet for commentary regarding media and technology policy. Its entries are chronological and usually archived monthly. The blog also provides current updates on projects and meetings. The guidelines for use are general in the hopes that members will contribute more regularly.

Current Blog Address: http://www.tacticalmedia.blogspot.com/

Wiki

Definition (Wikipedia)

A wiki is a medium which can be edited by anyone with access to it, and provides an easy method for linking from one page to another. Wikis are typically collaborative websites, though there are now also single-user offline implementations. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work". One of the best-known wikis is Wikipedia.

Tactical Media Group’s use of Wiki

The Tactical Media Group Wiki is a repository for the group’s research and collaborative work. Where the blog provides a chronological venue for current affairs and commentary, the Wiki allows the group to work collaboratively on a “database” of information that promotes awareness and understanding of media and technology policy. Although you can search the Wiki, the information here should be grouped and indexed appropriately to allow for easy browsing. The main navigation bar is always visible and should act as a table of contents. When there are multiple pieces of work that fall under a broader category, the broader category should be found in the table of contents with a link to a page that lists and links to the individual pieces of work.

Current Wiki Address: http://tacticalmedia.wikispaces.com/

Video Sharing

Definition (Wikipedia)

A video hosting service, also said a video sharing service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view that video. Because many users do not have personal web space, either as a paid service, or through an ISP offering, video hosting services are becoming increasingly popular, especially with the explosion in popularity of blogs, forums, and other interactive pages. The website, mainly used as the video hosting service, is usually said the video sharing website (see List of video sharing websites).

The mass market for camera phones has increased the supply of user-generated video. Traditional methods of personal video distribution, such as making a DVD to show to friends at home, are unsuited to the low resolution and high volume of camera phone clips. In contrast, current broadband Internet connections are well suited to serving the quality of video shot on mobile phones. Most people do not own web servers, and this has created demand for user-generated video content hosting, which the likes of YouTube are catering to.

Tactical Media Group’s use of Video Sharing

The Tactical Media Group uses video sharing servers to host its member’s video work. Members are encouraged to share their work on our blog. Although there are multiple free services to choose from, they have different attributes worth considering. Allowable video size and time are the most obvious considerations, but license to distribute and/or modify your work as defined by the terms of use is a consideration that is not as obvious to casual user.

RSS

Definition (Wikipedia)

RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel", contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.

RSS content can be read using software called a "feed reader" or an "aggregator." The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats:

· Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)

· RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)

· Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)

Tactical Media Group’s use of RSS

The Tactical Media Group has explored the use of RSS to help its members keep up to date about media and technology issues along with updates to the group blog and wiki. Each member of the group is encouraged to use RSS as an effective way to keep abreast information important to the group.

Social Bookmark

Definition (Wikipedia)

Social bookmarking is a way for Internet users to store, organize, share and search bookmarks of web pages. In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but depending on the service's features, may be saved privately, shared only with specific people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of publicness and privateness. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, via a search engine, or even randomly.

Most social bookmark services encourage users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags instead of the traditional browser-based system of folders, although some services feature categories/folders or a combination of folders and tags. They also enable viewing bookmarks associated with a chosen tag, and include information about the number of users who have bookmarked them. Some social bookmarking services also draw inferences from the relationship of tags to create clusters of tags or bookmarks.

Many social bookmarking services provide web feeds for their lists of bookmarks, including lists organized by tags. This allows subscribers to become aware of new bookmarks as they are saved, shared, and tagged by other users.

As these services have matured and grown more popular, they have added extra features such as ratings and comments on bookmarks, the ability to import and export bookmarks from browsers, emailing of bookmarks, web annotation, and groups or other social network features.^[1]

Tactical Media Group’s use of Delicious

The Tactical Media Group has explored the use of social bookmark technology to help its members seek out popular content related to the interests of the group. Members of the group are encouraged to use a Social Bookmark service like Delicious as an effective way to connect with information that is popular to other people with like interests.

ZEITGEIST, The Movie (It really makes you think)

This was such an interesting movie that really makes you think about the world as a whole and how the media comes into play (It's a full length movie so you need to set aside about 2 hours to watch it).



-Denae-

Notes from Video Storytelling Workshop (Peter's Dad)

Hey Everyone,
I just wanted to include the notes that Peter's Dad provided us with during his Video Storytelling Workshop. It was VERY informative. He entitled the notes "Thoughts for Luke" because Luke was a man that he worked with in the past and these were the suggestions that he provided him with in order to help him create a great film.

After Peter's Dad's notes I also included some of my own notes that I kept during the session. Hopefully they are helpful.
-Denae-

Thoughts for Luke
4/20/07

1. Basic themes are far more important than the embellished assumptions people place in their films
2. Look for themes that express universal, eternal meanings. Look for archetypes and Platonic forms
3. A filmmaker has to get out of his/her own way by removing clutter: stay simple
4. The most common mistake people make at the beginning of the editing process is that they stop thinking about what they are trying to say. Don’t assume anything. Make yourself examine what you are trying to say every time you approach the film
5. Take the time to sit with your footage and do absolutely nothing but absorb it
6. What characters want is the driving force in a story
7. Thinking about the meaning of the whole film is a lot harder than knowing how to use equipment or software programs
8. Know that all heroes are flawed. Look for the flaws, because that is what makes the characters interesting. That is the window through which we can see ourselves
9. Taking criticism: truly commit to listening to others. But listen to your own heart too. If someone’s criticism doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. But don’t reject criticism if you feel the slightest bit of defensiveness. If you are defensive, there’s probably something to the criticism. Positive criticism is like a fresh flower. It will only last so long. Negative criticism can help you, but it has to come with good intentions
10. If you are floundering, go back to thinking about basic themes again
11. No matter what, stay humble
12. If you don’t tell the story properly, it doesn’t matter how good the film looks or sounds
13. Always put the requirements of telling the story above all other considerations. Favorite shots and hurt feeling when scenes hit the editing room floor are the sad trials of the business

Denae's Random Notes:

Before Filming:
• Why do I want to do this film?
• What do I want to get across?
• Where is my passion in this?
• What do the characters (The people I'm filming) want? Money? Love? Truth?
• What is the theme? (A loss of fathers love etc.)
• What does this mean?

When Filming:
• Orient the viewer
• Meet the people in your film-Establish a bond between the viewer and the people
• Never have too many characters-It’s hard for the viewer and audience to follow
• Introduce the idea (What is rowing etc)
• Establish some suspense about it
• Establishing a sense of time is important
• Real time: Is connected to the emotional state of the viewer (To see the slight gestures of people etc.)
• You can’t do emotional suspense without real time
• If you want feeling you need real time.
• Fundamental hook is that the viewer is interested in the outcome
• Don’t be complex
• You never want to loose your viewer
• Keep it clear
• Keep it simple
• Give the audience what they want
• Cut out things that don’t tell the story no matter how hard that may be
• Actions often speak louder than words
• It’s less powerful to hear about things via storytelling but to see it is much stronger
• It’s not machinery that is going to make the film-don’t loose your focus

When all else fails go back to the question,"WHAT AM I TRYING TO SAY???"

Viet-Aid Occupational Health Project

Viet-Aid is an organization located in Dorchester Massachusetts whose stated mission is to build a strong Vietnamese American community and a vibrant Fields Corner neighborhood, through Community building and civic engagement, Affordable housing and commercial development, Business and job development, and High quality childcare.

In 2002, Viet-AID partnered with the Dorchester Occupational Health Initiative and researchers from UMass Lowell to begin addressing Vietnamese workers’ health in two sectors: hardwood floor refinishing and nail salons. These two sectors employ a high concentration of Vietnamese workers. Although these jobs and businesses offer lucrative sources of income, they also expose workers to indoor environmental health risks. Conventional products used on a day-to-day basis often contain high levels of dangerous chemicals and toxins. A recent community health survey conducted by UMass Lowell and Viet-AID reported preliminary results of workers in these industries who experienced a broad range of health complaints that could be traced to chemicals used at their jobs.

The Occupational Health Project addresses workers’ health issues through a comprehensive strategy that focuses on research, planning, prevention, intervention, public education, and public policy. They also include community members, workers, and owners in the planning and development process. The project is moving forward by identifying and testing alternative products that are environmentally friendly, safe, and less toxic to workers and owners. Partners in the project are developing and recommending policies and regulations to protect hardwood floor finishers as well as a community education campaign and training curriculum to increase public awareness.

In 2006 I got involved by volunteering as a videographer for the project. I have produced two on-site nail salon interviews, an interview in the home of a consumer that chose to have her floors refinished with water based products instead of oil based products and a training session for floor finishers on how to use water based products instead of oil based products.

Both of the nail salon interviews were used by the Boston Neighborhood Network Cable station as part of a Vietnamese series concerning health issues in nail salons. The series consisted of in studio interviews that integrated my on site interviews to compliment the topic of discussion.

The Natural Nail Salon Video appeared on the Boston Neighborhood Network January 31, 2007. Language was one of the most difficult challenges for me with this project. Not being able to speak or understand Vietnamese made direction and editing little difficult. The other difficulty was shooting the interview while the business was open and serving customers. There was limited room to setup and no possibility for setup that would completely be out of the way for the on going business. Because of this multiple takes were necessary which again made the language barrier more difficult during the editing process.



The Victoria's Nail Salon video appeared on the Boston Neighborhood Network on March 28, 2007. I had the same challenges in terms of language and the logistics of recording around an open business. There was also a time constraint with time for one take of the interview and little else.

Tactical Media Minutes 4/25

Aaron, Sam, and Steve presented a workshop on social media with a demonstration on how to upload a video file onto the tactical wiki which of course can be uploaded to your blog as well, hence the term, vlog.

sam started with an intro to the history of blogging and gave some examples of blog search sites
technorati
feedster
these are probably the two most popular but there are many

Steve briefly spoke about video compression which is rather complicated in theory but most of the editing programs and digital cameras have default settings that are ok, however you may want to compress larger files. go here for more info

Aaron led the hands on portion of the workshop which we all hope was useful to those of you that were there. thanks for attending!

Tactical Minutes April 18th

Sorry this is so late in going up on the blog. I'm overwhelmed with school work and my kids. Makes everything so hard to get done. Anyway here are the minutes from our meetin in which Crystal presented on Community Media models.

Housekeeping
-please sigh up for note taking and facilitation on the tactical wiki or at least volunteer to do it at the beginning of meeting.
-there will be some additional workshops thanks to peter; his brother and father will be leading workshops on Final Cut and digital storytelling. keep your eyes posted to our list for announcements.
-fill in the project grid that fred has passed around so that your projects and plans are made known
-jose's presentation is coming up. be sure to get the handout he prepared as it is quite informative

Agenda
Collaborative Media Project Update
Discussion on Virginia Tech media coverage
Crystal's presentation

Va Tech
-you all know the story so I won't repeat it here. we did have a detailed discussion on the event in terms of its relevance to interactive/collaborative media. jason led the way with lots of interesting analysis. the main points we made as a group were the lack of salient media coverage, how the student media at Va Tech did such a superior job at reporting the event
check out this website for more on this horrific episode
this website is also indicative of the community media innovation going on in blacksburg

Collaborative Media Project
Well the social media workshop already has taken place as I am getting this up on the blog late. I hope all of you that were there found it interesting. We are in the process of putting community media definition up on Wikipedia and will let everyone know when that is done. Should be in the next week! stay tuned
for more on vlogging go here

Crystal's Presentation on Community Media Models
Crystal Galvin gave a wonderful presentation on the different models of community media based on her experience as someone working in community radio in west virginia.
she used power point to present her content.I will try to get the power point file from her and get it up on the tactical wiki as it will be a much better guide to her presentation than my textual description.
some important points that came up in the course of her talk include:
-community radio in the US is typically low power radio
PEG Access is also known as cable access and is protected by first amendment editorial policy meaning that contributions cannot be censured
-a good example of PEG Access in boston is BNN
the board is appointed by Mayor Menino and as in most cased of cable access there is a interplay with city politics
-another important point about PEG Access is that it is held to standards above mainstream media and often times leads to unjustified criticism of content and censorship diatribes
the main focus of the presentation was on editorial policy and the red tape that is found in community media models which is somewhat ironic given the supposed principles. nonetheless community media in its various forms serves a critical democratic function and the possibilities have not yet been realized to their fullest extent. thank you Crystal!!

Final Cut Pro Workshop - Thursday May 3, 2007 RSVP

Hello Everyone,
Peter's brother has officially confirmed the Final Cut Pro workshop for Thursday. This will be taking place

Date: THIS Thursday May 3, 2007
Time: 7:00 PM.
Location: Taylor Center U-Mass Boston

We are trying to get as many computers with Final Cut Pro as possible, so if you happen to have a laptop that has it (Doesn't matter what version) please bring it.

We are also trying to get a head count so we are requesting that people RSVP if interested. You can RSVP to me @ Madonna19@aol.com. Thank you very much for your time. Take Care.

-Denae-

Rashomon On Steroids: Virginia Tech Massacre Shows Power of Collaborative Media

If anything shows the awesome power of collaborative media technology, it is events like today's massacre at Virginia Tech. As a gunman executed students in a dorm room and in nearby classrooms, other VT students sent out frantic email and chatroom messages to their hometown news outlets all over the world--all while locked in their rooms. Meanwhile, a campus area news blog (Planet Blacksburg) bested all the world's mainstream news media in their on-the-spot coverage of the crisis.

Like the famed movie, Rashomon, by director Akira Kurasawa, collaborative media technology allows a vast audience to see the same crime from multiple points of view--and to draw our own conclusions about what has happened. But this is "Rashomon on steroids," one could say, since we are now not just getting 4 perspectives, but hundreds and hundreds of perspectives. All at once. Higgledy-piggledy. Does this make us a more informed populace? Does it add wisdom to the policy decisions that will inevitably get made in reaction to the crime? Probably not. Does it give us more information? Definitely. Does it give us better information? Maybe, though no corpses will be revived by use of digital communications. But maybe more minds will be changed about the proper response to this kind of tragedy. Only time will tell.

This incident makes me think of many things, but one thought kept sticking in my head as I read coverage from around the world. . .this kind of thing happens in Occupied Iraq and other global hotspots every single day. Yet such incidents don't usually get the kind of rightfully outraged coverage that a similar mass killing in the U.S. is accorded. More's the pity.

Anyhow, my thoughts are with the victims and their families. And I think it's critical that the U.S. think of ways to stop this kind of senseless slaughter from happening again in the future. It's just not acceptable that one lone nut--who it will probably turn out got jilted by a girlfriend or felt picked on by other students or had parents that forced him to get As his whole life until he finally snapped--gets to extrovert his probably inevitable suicide to such an extent that he takes over 30 innocent people with him.

Update: This report features the actual sound of the gunshots in the classroom building captured on video by a student with a cellphone. Very hard to sit through.

Update 2: Virginia Tech students have created "Hokies United" groups on the social networking site, Facebook, which they can join to show their friends and loved ones that they survived the massacre. If you have a Facebook account, you can see the groups here (this group actually lists some of the name of known dead) and here.

Update 3: The instant message trail of a student trapped in a nearby classroom during the incident can be found here.

Tactical Media Class Notes
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Facilitator-Steve
Note Taker-Denae

Agenda:
• Peter-Video Editing & Digital Storytelling Workshops
• Collaborative Media
• Check in on projects
• Denae’s Presentation


• Everyone in class should make sure to SIGN UP FOR WIKI for upcoming classes (Note taker and facilitator)

• The class should also fill in Fred’s form about what projects, presentations, and planning group you are involved in.

Peter:
He’s going to talk more with the video production group because his father who is an independent filmmaker is willing to do a workshop next Thursday or Thursday (etc) on Digital Storytelling.
All his father needs is a hookup for his computer
His brother wants to teach a video-editing workshop about final cut pro
Peter is going to talk to his brother first to get more details
His brother is using the most recent version of Final Cut 5.1
His brother knows all of the Final Cut series though
The power Mac may not be able to run 5.1 anymore
It might be good if he brings in his own laptop.
They are both very excited (Peters Dad and brother).
Since the Camera Usage workshop did not cover lighting- Fred would like to get that piece in. Can be a Tuesday or a Thursday.
In terms of Peter’s family lets take advantage of them (time wise) and whatever time works for them, lets just get it on the books ASAP.

Collaborative Media:
Is there a problem?
Jay says he has been doing the background work
They normally meet at 5:30 on Thursdays
Steve and Sam not familiar with vlogging. They are not clear about how to do it.
Getting stuff up on the wiki needs to happen.
Is that vlog the only thing they have to do?
NEEDS a definition of community media up stat.
Steve has been doing it during his free time.
Someone from community media needs to put out a proposed definition
If there is no response to it consider it an approval.
In terms of presentation-the audience was clarified last week.
People need to be able to do video.
Sam didn’t know if they were necessary since a lot of people already know a lot about it.
Steve put an outline up about vlogging
Collaborative media should be collaborative!
Collaborative Media started with 7 and is now down to 3.
Fred does not care if it is boring he just needs it done.

Project Check In:
Sam has an idea but not sure if it is community media
Sam wanted to videotape himself doing a performance and then get reactions from the Boston based community.
Sam will get someone else to video tape it.
If other people want to help out that would be great.
Sam wants to knock out his project to get it over with.
Peter was hoping to get some sort of gathering of hip-hop artists and then film them as well.
Peter’s brother is building a website and they wanted to include info about community, info about open mics, community events, and build it using Photoshop.
On the April 20th there is an event called the “Legend of Style” in the South End on Tremont St. A bunch of graffiti artists are showing their work. So Sisco is filming it. It’s from 8PM-12:00 AM. $15-20 to get in. For more info go to: http://www.legendsofstyle.net/site/index.php
You can put it up on a video vlog
He did one that was 8 minutes long.
You can only put up a certain amount online usually 10 minutes.
Steve-Is thinking about going to Newton on Friday to the legislation for dummy’s conference.
And then maybe do a 10-minute presentation on it.
Anyone interested can hitch a ride with Fred,
Steve wants to do his presentation about the Lawrence Farmers Market (That his wife runs)
Fred is biased towards visual art, but please consider other forms of media. CD’s and audio projects, written etc.
Don’t let Fred’s obsession make you think that you HAVE to do video.
It’s so easy to edit audio.
You could make an audio CD
Or a website for someone.

Denae’s Presentation:
The entire thing will be posted via the Wiki online to use as a reference.
http://tacticalmedia.wikispaces.com/

VIDEO PRODUCTION MINUTES – Tuesday April 3, 2007
ATTENDANCE: Angela, Denae, Jay & Jose 5:30-7:00 PM.



CAMERA USEAGE WORKSHOP DETAILS:
During our second video production meeting we initially discussed the Camera Usage Workshop details.

Our first scheduled date was cancelled due to the availability of members of the class (This date was originally scheduled for today). The workshop WILL be taking place on Thursday April 5, 2007 from 5:30-7:30 PM.

Angela then made a poster in order to encourage attendance to the workshop. We plan to hang these up today (To get the word out before Thursday).

TALENT SURVEY DISCUSSION:

We then went on to discuss the talent survey, and found that the majority of our talented classmates are available Thursdays at 6:30 PM. We are hoping to organize our workshops as well as Video Production Meetings around this time. In particular we are hoping to rope in Peter, Aaron, and Sam for the Video Editing workshop.

Jay plans to send an E-mail to Peter, Aaron, and Sam inviting them to our next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday April 12, 2007 at 6:30 PM. Anyone else that is interested in assisting with this is also welcome!

WHAT COMES FIRST DIGITAL STORY TELLING OR EDITING?:

We then went on to have a discussion about what order we should present our workshops. Does it make more sense to present “Digital Story Telling” first or “Video Editing”? We are hoping to run this idea by Fred during class tomorrow. We also think that Peter might be helpful in this area since he showed talent in both Digital Storytelling AND Editing. Once we figure this out we will be able to proceed with planning for the next workshop.

CONCRETE TO DO LIST:

We then went over some “to do” areas that we expect we be re-occurring with all of our workshops. Because we know that we are short on time (and have two more workshops to present) we created a list of the “Usual To Do’s” which includes a timeline-due date. These areas include:

Find Workshop Instructor
Reserve Room for Workshop
Make List of Equipment
Reserve Equipments
Decide Date and Time
Promotion of Workshop
Workshop Handouts
Print Flyers
Outreach

Jose plans to create a word document of these items which we hope to use for our future meetings.

If you would like to add something or have any questions, feel free to post them via the group list serve.

REMINDER: Our next meeting is taking place on Thursday April 12, 2007 at 6:30 PM!

Here is a vlog as an example for Steve's group, and others, to view so that you can have a concept on how one person enjoyed doing their vlog. This vlog uses downloadable videos, because the creator didn't want to have all of them load on the same screen at once (YouTube style).

Read: This vlog is complete if you'd like to know more about why the files are downloadable and not YouTube style streaming files.

Cheers! -Sequoia aka. Exsosus

Collaborative Media Group Update

The Collaborative Media Group met this Thursday March 29 to regather and move ahead with our planned workshop. We discussed a workshop focusing on blogs, wikis, and social media; however, Fred has since suggested that the workshop be a demonstration on setting up a VLOG which will include digitizing a video clip and uploading on to a blog such as eblogger.
The workshop will mention in passing the social media as a whole but will be more precise in terms of allowing us to experience a tangible method of new media interactivity.
We are working on a flyer for the workshop and a tentative date has been set which we will confirm soon.
In addition to the workshop, we are in the process of finalizing our community media definition to be entered into Wikipedia. A rough draft is in the works as I write and a final draft should be up soon. We will keep you posted.

Tactical Media Minutes March 28, 2007

Notes=Steve; Facilitator=Angela

Agenda
-Video Production Update
-Collaborative Media Group Update
-Strategic Media Planning and Campaigning Presentation

Video Production Update
-Workshops are planned for April 3rd and 5th (this coming week) @ 5:30pm on both evenings.
-Prof. Johnson will be leading the workshops on Basic Camera skills
-please respond to Jay Cleary via Meeting Wizard which was sent out on the list to specify if you will be attending either workshop. You may have to first send him your e-mail so that you can be invited through Meeting Wizard.

Collaborative Media Update
-community media entry for Wikipedia is actively in the making.
-workshop on social media with emphasis on VLOG demonstration is in the works for later in April (confirmed date to come)

Strategic Media Planning and Campaigning Presentation (Angela and Jean Donohue)
-check out these two websites if you have yet to do so
Active Voice: http://activevoice.net
Media Working Group/Gender Chip: http://www.mwg.org

Major points of Strategic Planning that Angela elaborated upon
-Goals and Objectives
-Target Audience
-relevance to the community
-determines planning to a large degree
-messages, materials, and activities are important to establish here
-Communication/Distribution Partners
-outsource specialized skills
-network/disseminate product
-Coalition Partners
-funding partners
-source partners
-crucial to planning goals
-Evaluation Plans
-measure results and data
-civic engagement aspect
-Create a Timeline
-delegation of responsibility
-important to show budgetary constraints and cost efficiency
-Staffing/Management
-roles and responsibilities
-Create a Budget
-critical to commit strategic plan to paper to have a visual tool to refer to
for many reasons
-some great websites that Angela used as visuals to contextualize strategic planning

-Brave New Films: http://www.bravenewfilms.org/
from their site: "A pioneer in 21st century activism, Brave New Films are the centerpieces for guerilla campaigns designed to break through noisy news cycles. Utilizing the latest technologies, unique distribution strategies, and a growing network of dedicated volunteer field producers, we are producing entertaining and engaging films, blogs, television shows, and short videos while building the essential distribution infrastructure needed for long-term social change."

Brave New Theaters: http://bravenewtheaters.com
this sister site focuses on their interactive distribution infrastructure - find screenings, host screenings, rate and share film reviews, etc.
The films (click here and scroll down for current titles, there's a bunch) address a range of social and political issues --global warming, walmart working conditions, heroin addiction, immigrants rights movement-building, war profiteering in Iraq, black voter disenfranchisement, 9/11 journalism, Katrina relief, homelessness among young veterans, and more... and most are connected to a grassroots distribution and action campaign -- here's a list of some of the many nonprofits, churches, unions, schools and community groups who are involved.

The Ground Truth: http://www.TheGroundTruth.net
(about young vets and GIs speaking out about their experiences going to -- and coming back from -- Iraq)

Iraq for Sale -- The War Profiteers: http://IraqforSale.org/
(about US corporations and the dangers/exploitation faced by civilian contractors in Iraq)

Sir! No Sir! http://www.SirNoSir.com
(about the GI resistance movement to the Vietnam War, including a lot about the alternative media created by returning vets and GIs to connect to one another, campuses and the peace movement -- was produced last spring and has become a resource for this generation's growing movement of Iraq Veterans Against the War -- includes a nifty flash film that connects the movie's historical content with contemporary anti-war campaigns and issues around military recruitment of youth)

-terms to note
-paid media=media that you create and publish
-earned media=the buzz and reaction (positive or negative) around the media that
you created

(after Angela presented a handout was distributed entitled Developing a Media/Technology Strategy (be sure to get one)

The Gender Chip Project-Jean Donohue
-you can learn all about this project on the website listed above. Here are some other important tidbits that Jean Donohue described
-a documentary often takes on a life of its own and blazes its own path in terms
of its focus and target audience.
-distribution of a documentary is often linked to groups like Active Voice which
create a dilemma for the film maker as far as artistic independence is
concerned.
-foudations are often more inclined to fund a distribution organization
than an independent documentary film maker.
-Active Voice defines itself as a "community engagement organization but is more and more becoming like a production house getting in the middle of artist and distribution.

-check out this link
Eyes on the Prize
this documentary is the antithesis of artistic control!
Thank you Jean and Angela for a wonderful presentation of interesting material!!

VIDEO PRODUCTION MINUTES – Tuesday March 27, 2007
ATTENDANCE: Angela, Denae, Jay & Jose 5:30-7:30 PM.


During our first video production meeting we initially discussed housekeeping matters (“Note taker”, “To Do List Keeper” and “Equipment Reserver”. As the meeting went on we also realized that we would need a “Talent Survey.” The individual assignments are as follows:
Note Taker- Denae
To Do List- Jose
Equipment Reserver- Jay
Talent Survey- Angela

We went on to discuss the various video production related projects and tasks that need to be accomplished in a timely manner. These include:

WORKSHOPS:
A series of workshops that will be organized by the Video Production Group and presented by members of the Video Production Group, classmates in the Tactical Media Workshop, and outside guest speakers. Please keep in mind that if you have any skills in the categories below please let us know because we are looking for presenters AND YOU GET A CLASS PRESENTATION OUT OF THE WAY!
The specific workshops that we will be covering include:
*Camera Usage, *Editing, & *Digital Storytelling

All three of these projects are currently in the process of being developed but during this specific meeting we focused our energies into the “Camera Usage Workshop.”

THE CAMERA USEAGE WORKSHOP: will be presented twice by Professor Fred Johnson and will last approximately 2 hours.
Areas covered: Intro to Sony camera, how to frame a shot, lighting, and sound.
Tentative Dates: (Waiting for confirmation by E-mail) are: Tuesday April 3rd and Thursday April 5th.
Tentative Location: The Taylor Center (Also waiting for confirmation by E-mail)
Tentative Times: Range between 5:30 and 9:30 PM. We have a four-hour window blocked off and Jay has sent out a “Meeting Wizard Request” in order to see what times work best for people. If you have not received an invitation yet E-mail him at: Jay@cleary4.com

My advice would be to reserve Tuesday and Thursday evening (If possible) and to wait to get a confirmation from us as soon as the information becomes available.

Here is the list that has been submitted for the camera equipment
* Cameras (all 3)
* Tripods (2)
* Lighting Kit
* Hand held microphone (2)
* Cables for hand held microphones
* Lav Microphone
* Boom Microphone and pole
* Monitor and cables (camera to monitor connection)

We have three tentative dates scheduled for our next meeting (It all depends on the workshop confirmation) we will ALSO post our meeting time as it becomes available.

If you would like to add something or have any questions, feel free to post them via the group list serve.

A note on the direction of the Tactical Media Group

I've read the last couple of posts with some concern, and thought I would comment on the issue of where the TMG "class" is going.

First of all, as has been pointed out with some regularity, TMG is not a class in the classic sense. It is a "project based learning group" run by Prof. Fred Johnson with some help from me. In the parlance of the College of Public and Community Service, this means that the Community Media and Technology department uses TMG to bring together everyone that needs at least one of three or four competancies on offer in such a way that everyone gets those competancies by the end of 1-4 semesters in the group.

We do this in 3 ways: 1) people do individual projects, 2) people do collective projects, and 3) people attend weekly TMG meetings where there is a mixture of discussion, lecture and presentation on issues relevant to media and telecommunication studies in the early 21st century.

Assignments are generated for TMG in 3 ways as well: 1) individual projects are usually longer-term assignments, 2) collective projects are medium-to-long term assignments, 3) weekly TMG meetings generate some short-term assignments, too, although not every week for every person.

In TMG, we expect you to get a good feel for the state-of-the-art in media and telecommunications technology and policy by the end of your stay with us. We expect you to complete your individual and collective projects. If you are a Community Media and Technology major you will also probably complete your Capstone while with us. We also expect you to pick up some skills that you may not have had a chance to develop in the past--like the ability to run small group meetings, talk in front of a group, read/watch/listen to a wider array of media on a more regular basis, and use collaborative media technology to express your ideas on the web.

We hope that you will emerge from your experience as an engaged and informed media user. . .and producer--although there is only limited stress on production since other classes are periodically available in video and multimedia production. Media is a huge field, and it is understandable that students might feel overwhelmed or confused about where TMG is "going" from time-to-time.

But as one of the previous posters has discovered, TMG goes where each student takes it to some extent. There is an assumption that students in TMG have some interest in the media; so we try to make it possible to pursue that interest within a fairly loose framework.

I would also direct your attention to the statement of purpose on the right-hand side of this blog that was written in TMG in 2005. It says: "The Tactical Media Group was formed in Fall 2005 to promote awareness and understanding of media and technology policy. We will engage area communities through educational initiatives in that arena with an eye towards fostering social activism and using media and technology to help bridge the digital divide."

So there is also the aspiration that people in TMG will create projects and develop skills that will help improve area communities through the use of current media technology--and that you all might get actively involved in the big media policy fights that are in the process of changing the media and telecom landscape in the U.S. and beyond for the next 2 decades.

Still, if people are confused about where they fit in with TMG that's totally fine. Just set up an appointment to talk to Fred, and work out any problems with him. You can also ask me and other classmates question on our listserv--or even here on the blog as people have been doing.

Otherwise, be sure to come to group and project meetings, and try to do your assignments on time. Spend time thinking about what you'd like to do with the technology we expose you to, and how it might be useful in your community.

Everything should become clear over time. And if it doesn't keep engaging the group until it does.

That's it for now. . .

--Jason

Hey everyone, I would also like to say thank you to all of you for the conversation after class last week. i was unable to post when i got home and due to construction in the office couldn't do it there either. but anyhow I wanted to comment that i feel lost in the class i don't know what directions we are going in or what we are suppose to produce for work. OK we did the reading and some what discussed it. now we are going to create workshops based on what again? Can anyone explain this to me? I know the collaborative media is going to work on the wiki and create a workshop that i am clear on, what i am not clear is what we are going to present and how detailed or basic should the presentations be. If anyone has the answers please post it or email :D
thanks see you tomorrow.
ML

For those of you who are not in the Analyzing Media class, I added some interesting videos from the Media Education Foundation to my personal Tactical Media Blog. Make sure to check em out.
-Denae-

Thanks everyone for the convo following the video last night. It helped me put some of my anxiety about the direction of the class to rest. I've since decided that I need to become more proactive about my own involvement/participation/interest in TMG. So here I am baring my soul to you on our lovely blog. I must admit, I actually hate "blogging"...probably because I talk so damn much.

On a lighter note, I am very interested in helping design the Community Media Models presentation. I believe Jose was willing to help as well. Any other takers?

Also, if you have a minute please post your reactions to last night's video presentation. I must admit it took me awhile to get into it, but by the end it was pretty good. Thoughts?

Crystal

Hello everyone,
Apologies for the delay. Here are the notes from the Wednesday 2/28 TMG session.

Agenda
Beyond Broadcast Feedback -- Jason
Project Presentation Discussion & Overview -- Fred
Community Media --- Fred
Questions, Comments, Discussion-- ALL
Other-- ALL

Beyond Broadcast-- Jason is interested in creating oportunities for some of the presenters, including Tad Hirsch, Leo Bird, and Adam Holt to attend a TMG session or learn more about TMG.

Individual Projects
Folks were encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas about their individual projetcs.

Sequoia-- Working on an Oral History project
Sam-- Interested in working with UMB Sports and creating a Hip-Hop Forum in late April at UMB.

Danae-- Would like to develop a short video for the non-profit she works for

Peter-- Creating a web site that will feature videos on a variety of social justice topics etc.

Jose-- Working with ABCD to outreachto the Latino community regarding Home buying classes

Community Media

For Rennie's version refer to page 4 of the book.

Fred-- "Community media is non-commercial media created in communities that provides a forum for participation and it content and organization are both participatory and democratic."

Key Issues
Community-- virtual vs. geographic
Who is in the community?

Models of community media
Web based indipendent, radio, Cable Access, electronic community, newspapers

• historically community media helped build a wall between marketing & commercialism (ie. marketing decisions based on a Board of Directors social values (ch. 4 Rennie)

Goal-- To provide access

CH. 2 "Access & Free Speech" notes & Discussion

PEG Cable Access--usually have an open policy on editorial decisions
Community radio has a stronger editorial decision

3 Questions to ask regarding Community media
1. How is it governed?
2. Where is the funding coming from?
3. What are its editorial policies?

Communitiarianism vs. Liberalism (pg. 25 Rennie)
Liberal = capatilist/post 1800/ modern/ individualist
Communitarian= pre-capitalist/ pre 1800/ pre-modern/ collectivist/ fmaily, clan, viallge level (ie. "it takes a village..."

Read pgs 25-29
Reactionary communitarianism is a double edge sword

Questions, Comments, Discussion
Fred-- Make a presentation on community media models.
***Critical Q's are as important as the concepts

Most important Q's
1. How to control a media environment?
2. How are policies created?

We need a national media policy!

What's up with that

This has nothing to do with tactical media but I feel like I must bring it up anyway, why do some of the Crystal Transport drivers drive exactly 5.7 mph going to and coming from the train station. It's like they know your late and are determined to make you even more so. Would I be rude to yell from the back "It's the one on the right Grampa", or would that be over stepping my boundaries as a passenger? Just a question what do you guys think?

Notes Collaborative Media

Notes Collaborative Media

1st Collaborative Media meeting -- 3/1/07

• Set date for workshop
• Reserve space for workshop (probably Taylor Center)
• Consider audience for workshop

NOTES meeting March 1, 2007 -530-630pm

1. Meeting will be every week from 530-630pm
   Next meeting Thursday March 8 Taylor Center
2. Decided on two workshops : Dates for workshops will be
   
• Tuesday April 10, 530to ?- tentatively
• Wednesday April 11, 2:00 to 4pm tentatively
3. Aaron: will email/call/stop by Peter's office to reserve space for workshops and report back next March 8
4. Audience we are aiming for so far are students both UMB and other universities/institutions; plus faculty and staff. with little or no understanding about blogs+wiki's
   
   Fred: Thoughts about the workshop topics : What do you as students need or want?
   
   SIDE NOTE : Reminder can work on independent projects and bounce ideas off of each other in the collaberative media meetings.
   
   
   Task for next week: work on finding definitions of Collaborative Media from various sites and post on tacticalmedia.wikispaces.com/collaberative media with your name in BOLD
   
   Jason recommended to check out cmedia.xwiki.com for examples
   

Tactical Media Group Minutes 2/21/07 (taken by Jay)

Syllabus is updated with more schedule information on Fred’s blog. Please review.

http://fredjohnson.mwg.org/telecom/?page_id=25

Presentation requirements were discussed. Everyone is required to do a presentation to the group. Volunteers are needed for the list below with the tentative dates; more will be forth coming.

• Policy Summary (3/7/07?)
• Strategic Planning and Campaigning (3/14/07?)
• Policy Update (4/4/07?)
• Community Media Models; Public vs. Community (4/11/07?)
• Policy Update (4/25/07?)

Project Requirements were discussed. Everyone is required to do an individual project and participate in a collaborative project with other group members. We will continue to discuss project opportunities and people are encouraged to bring their ideas forward. Three collaborative projects that are currently being discussed are below with interested participants tentatively identified.

• Collaborative Media Project. First meeting Thursday March 1, 2007 5:00 – 7:00.

1. Aaron
2. Maria Luisa
3. Sam
4. Steve
5. Cisco

• Video Production Workshops

1. Angela
2. Maria Luisa
3. Yanno
4. Sam
5. Peter
6. Denai
7. Joseph
8. Aaron
9. Jay

• Alliance for Community Media Activist Project

Fred is looking for volunteers for this project. Phone surveys, Research and dissemination of findings to rally support. Project will attempt dispel misrepresentation competition on cable pricing. The project will advocate for community control over franchise agreements and right of way issues.

• Video Uploading and Blogging Workshops

Provide workshops for uploading video to internet services like youtube and bliptv.

We would like to schedule some screenings throughout the semester. Anyone who as video projects to share is encouraged to schedule a viewing. Videos five minutes or so can be viewed during our regular meeting time otherwise we could schedule a special viewing and optional invite the public. Looking for topics relevant to the media topics we’ll be discussing this semester.

• 2/28/07 - Turn it on, Tune it in, Take it over

FYI – There is a media conference at MIT this Saturday 2/24/07 (Beyond Broadcast). Jason is going and anyone interested should speak with him.

Remember about reading assignments. We will continue to discuss the reading in the coming weeks. Read the intro and first two chapters. Consider key concepts and any questions you have.

Class Minutes February 7, 2007

(Taken by Jay)

Housekeeping

Introductions

Everyone had an opportunity to introduce themselves. Welcome to all new Tactical Media Group Members.

Facilitator and Note Taker

Jay took notes tonight and will coordinate a signup list for future meetings.

Steve facilitated tonights meeting

Seqouia will take notes next week and Aaron will facilitate next weeks meeting.

Handout

Fred gave a handout for discussion topics

Fred’s Blog

http://fredjohnson.mwg.org/telecom/

Web2.0 and Collaborative Media

Jason led a discussion and presented information about web2.0 and collaborative media. Topics included the following.

• Efficient use of technology and online communications
• History of communication = Mass media (Movies, TV, Radio) = More ability to communicate

= Internet (Web1.0) = More people, advanced technology

= Web2.0 = More interactive, new ways for community building, new ways for social networking, advanced technology including open source

• Technology used to receive information of interest. How to configure your Firefox browser and RSS feeds (Help/customization/themes and extensions/mozilla updates).
• Technology used to organize your information on the web and connect with others that have like interests. http://del.icio.us/

Reading Assignment

Read introduction and first two chapters of assigned book. Link to book on Fred’s Blog/syllabus

Brief Discussion about Workshops and Projects

We discuss further next week and start scheduling. Fred discussed the requirements of individual projects and expectations of people getting involved outside of the Wednesday night meeting.