8/24/08

WMCB-LP: A Work in Progress!!

Although this Blog may not reflect it, WMCB-LP is still alive and kicking!

We are up and running, airing our share of locally produced live programming and one of the best automated playlists of local music in the Pioneer Valley, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Through the incredible efforts of a small handful of volunteers--and the hard work of GCTV's Technical Director, Scott MacPherson-- we've managed to meet the FCC's deadline for getting on the air, to train the first group of "live" broadcasters, and create a beginning schedule of programs produced live from downtown Greenfield.

Now, here's the rub. It is obvious that the work to be done to reach our goal of providing a real broadcast alternative to the mainstream media is much more than can be done by the efforts of just a few people. It can only be done with a larger group of folks dedicated to making a difference.

A couple of months ago, we posted links to the WMCB-LP Handbook and Training Manuals on this Blog site in the FAQ page. At that point, the Ad Hoc Steering Commitee had envisioned WMCB as a membership organization fueled, in part, by the membership fees and volunteer commitment of its members. We are now at the point where this needs to become a reality.

In the near future, we will be generating a general emailing to all the folks on our list with an attached membership form. At this point, we hope that folks will step up to plate and officially become members of WMCB-LP by filling out the form and returning it to us with the appropriate membership fees. ($25/year for iindividuals, $40/year for households/groups)--and an indication of what skills and abilities they can bring to us in fulfilling their volunteer commitment (2 hours a month).If you're reading this, and aren't on our cuurent list, please email us at wmcbfm@gmail.comJust Put ADD in the subject window--and we'll take it from there!

So, if you're someone who is interested in more than listening to the radio, if you want to help make it happen, now's the time.

As the say in the Radio World, "Stay tuned! There's more to follow."

6/28/08

meeting place changed for July 3rd

The steering committee for WMCB will hold our meeting at 6:30pm at Greenfields Market on July 3rd. The public is invited to attend.

6/27/08

Lance Smith named operations coordinator

Steering committee member Lance Smith has been named "operations coordinator" by Chairperson Drew Hutchison. Lance has experience in community radio and TV, and has volunteered to take on an increased role in daily operations.

6/23/08

Meeting location changed

Many members were unable to attend the WMCB meeting on 6-19-08 because the door to the building at 393 Main St was inadvertently locked shortly after 6:30pm. To avoid this issue for the time being, the next meeting will be held on July 3 6:30pm at the Winterland Club on Hope St.

Fortunately, we were able to hold a productive meeting, especially in regards to fund raising. Tom Roulston has joined Penny Ricketts as co-chair of the fund raising subcommittee. He has a wealth of experience in operating a non-profit theater company in the Boston area for more years than I have fingers and toes.

It was decided that we needed to create a membership form which would allow us to streamline our data collection, and communication with members. Members already in our data base should expect to receive an email in the future regarding this issue.

Training is proceeding in the studio, though we are experiencing a bottle neck in preproduction. Lance Smith is working on this problem.

Jim Hannigan has been unable to work on sound proofing the studio recently due to health issues, but he reports that he is much improved, and will be moving full steam ahead.

As expected, some members are dropping out due to time constraints, while we continue to pickup new recruits every week. Members have not yet been asked to pay their yearly dues, and we are still working on a system to tabulate volunteer hours and activities.

In essence, we are still finding our way, and I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who have been working to make community radio a vibrant reality in Greenfield.

Drew

6/11/08

Steering Committee Meeting June 19

The steering committee of WMCB will hold a meeting at 6:30pm in the GCTV main studio at 393 Main St Greenfield MA on Thursday, June 19th. As always, the public is encouraged to attend. The agenda will include reports from each subcommittee.

6/6/08

General Meeting News

WMCB convened a general meeting at 6:30 on Thursday June 5 2008 at GCTV

We discussed training in different areas:

Preproduced shows require a training session with Scott MacPherson. Scott plans to train a number of members who in turn will train other members.

Opeyemi Parham volunteered to help coordinate with members interested in preproduced talk shows. Her email address: opeyemi57@gmail.com.

Michael Pollitt is responsible for training on use of the board for live shows. Daria Fisk will also be available for training after working with Michael. Michael's address: pollitt.m@gmail.com.

Tom Roulston is going to produce radio theater productions with an emphasis on comedy and Shakespeare. Tom can be reached at: troulston@yahoo.com.

Tom Roulston, Beth Adams and Trystan Dean have joined the fund raising subcommittee co-chaired by Oscar Arce and Penny Ricketts.

Michael Sliva is going to work with our designer Thomas Dudley on creating fliers.

Lucy Barnes is going to handle communications for members who don't use email.

Jim Hannigan (the voice of WMCB) is going to help with sound proofing the studio, and he is also interested in working with Tom Roulston on radio theater.

Chris Belskis, Membership coordinator is going to take on more duties, as Drew Hutchison is going to be unavailable for the next few months due to his training with Northwestern Mutual.
Anyone who is interested in assisting Chris is encouraged to email him at: shiatsu_chris@comcast.net.

6/2/08

General Meeting

Prospective members of WMCB are encouraged to attend a meeting on Thursday, June 5 at 6:30pm. The location is the main studio of GCTV at 393 Main St. in Greenfield.

Subcommittee members will give their reports, plus our operating guidelines and policies will be distributed and discussed.

We also plan to schedule training sessions, answer questions, brainstorm and network.

5/19/08

Now Broadcasting

WMCB lpfm 107.9 is broadcasting noon to midnight from our studio at 393 Main St. Greenfield Massachusetts. As a brand spanking new radio station, much content is being provided automatically from our data base of local and eclectic music. Producer DJs are being trained, and all our forms and manuals are being reviewed before posting them on the web.
This Thursday, May 22 the ad hoc committee which has been organizing WMCB will hold a meeting at GCTV at 6pm.
We have well over a hundred people who have expressed interest in getting involved. After the May 22 meeting, a schedule for training will be announced.

4/20/08

Variety Show

Drew Hutchison is looking for actors and writers to help with a variety show.
One segment will be a parody of reality TV.
The premise: Two teams of writers are given a set of circumstances to work with, and have to write and perform two three minute pieces with the first being a cliff hanger. The winning team gets to perform the second piece. The losing team must chose which character to "bump off" in the next show.
Some of the characters are as follows: Joe Smoke, a private investigator, and former drummer in the "Sacred Cows". Mrs. Manicheveski , Joe Smokes' Jewish Mother. Tony Rigatoni, the local mob boss.
We need someone to provide sound effects.
We also need musicians to play between acts.
Other segments can include parody of commercials, or talk shows.... etc. if you're interested, please get in touch with me at wmcbfm@gmail.com

4/18/08

WMCB fund raiser

Mark Tuesday May 6th on your calendar.
Penny Ricketts will be the celebrity bartender at Taylor's Tavern 5:30 to 7:30.
All tips collected will be donated to WMCB.
Come mingle with other supporters and members of WMCB.

Drew

3/25/08

Welcome

Welcome to the WMCB LPFM webpage. There is a Steering Committee meeting this Thursday at 6:00pm at the GCTV Studio, 393 Main St in downtown Greenfield MA.

Do you have technical or fundraising experience? Are you willing to volunteer some time to community-run radio? We need you help! Please contact us at wmcb (at) gmail (dot) com.

Drew and Travis have been working diligently to have the web applications take form in time for the Thursday . Geek time: We're hoping to build a collaborative web presence using the Google applications for e-mail, calendar, static webpage publishing, blogging, online photo gallery, and web-based document editors. I know, it sounds like an ad for Google -- what can we say? These guys have all the pieces in place (it's getting them all to flow between each other that has been the challenge). We looked at the more powerful CMS (content management system), metadot.com freehosting, but thought that metadot's steep initial learning-curve negated it's flexibility and robustness.

Whe're we at? Drew and the carpenters have been working hard building the foundation of the studio. Scott MacPherson has put in volunteer time to spec and order gear (it's on it's way!), Terri Cappucci has donated a LOT of extra time in getting this entire project possible in the first place.

Please visit our FAQ for more information. Thanks and stay tuned!