Open Stage Media

The Open Media Globe
Submitted by Open Stage Media on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 20:47
Contact Information
Organization Name: 
Open Stage Media
Applicant Name: 
Joseph Piazzo
Address: 
Proctors Theatre 432 State Street Schenectady, NY 12305
Phone: 
518-346-3181
E-mail: 
jpiazzo@proctors.org
Website URL: 
www.openstagemedia.com
Why is your organization interested in increased broadband usage among your members and community: 
Open Stage Media is a brand new PEGtv / Community Access Center being established in Schenectady, New York. Building on the nearly 30 years of experience running public access television in upstate New York, OSM has taken over the management P.E.G. from SaccTV and plans to grow into a premiere, regional community media center for the 21st century. Located on the campus of historic Proctors Theater Arts Complex, http://www.proctors.org/about, OSM shares the excitment being part of the economic and cultural renasance of downtown Schenectady New York. Our mission is to provide a platform for the community to excercise its 1st amendment rights, regardless of the access limits to commercial media imposed by the economic means and media literacy of our diverse population.
Demographic Information
Service Area Congressional Districts: 
New York 21st district
Does your organization serve a federally recognized tribal entities? If yes, please identify: 
Mohawk
Does your organization serve vulnerable population groups? If so, please identify: 
Black/African-American
Native American or Native Alaskan
Disabled
Low Income
Unemployed
Number of hosehold subscribers: 
80000
Estimated population size of your service area: 
150000
Please provide demogrphic information for the population you serve: 
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 146,555 people, 59,684 households, and 38,018 families residing in the county. The population density was 275/km² (711/sq mi). There were 65,032 housing units at an average density of 122/km² (316/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 87.77% White, 6.79% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.97% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.21% from other races, and 2.00% from two or more races. 3.17% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.3% were of Italian, 13.7% Irish, 10.7% German, 8.4% Polish and 7.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000 [1]. 90.6% spoke English, 2.7% Spanish and 2.1% Italian as their first language. There were 59,684 households out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.50% were married couples living together, 12.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.30% were non-families. 30.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county the population was spread out with 24.30% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 16.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $41,739, and the median income for a family was $53,670. Males had a median income of $38,840 versus $27,339 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,992. About 7.80% of families and 10.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 6.50% of those age 65 or over.
Supporting Vulnerable Populations
Please describe the specific affirmative steps that your program will take to engage and serve the groups identified: 
We have an extensive Education Department that delivers programming to school age youth and adult members of our community. Through our programming, we have made significant commitments to both rural and city school districts in order to provide opportunities for students that otherwise would not take place, including both in-school, after-school, and summer training programs. These programs provide access to, and training in several areas of media, including film making and media literacy. By establishing effective partnerships with regional school districts, Proctors is able to offer reduced and free programming at a time when such programs are being eliminated by school districts. Media and web technology is the way of the future and the most logical response to at-risk and underserved populations across the country. Unprecedented changes in the ways we learn and communicate with the world make media literacy as basic as reading, which is critical in providing unique and new opportunities for students and adults.
Please describe the ways your center will be accessible to people with disabilities and technologies will be used: 
OSM and Proctors accommodates mobility, hearing and visually challenged patrons to the best of our ability. 

 

Certain performances at the theatre are interpreted for the convenience of guests who are hearing impaired. OSM is exploring Closed Captioning technologies for use on its public access programming - particularly for our Government / Educational Channels.
Do you offer, or plan to offer, multilingual training and outreach? If so, please describe and identify languages it will be in: 
VideoWorks Media English Program with Schenectady High School is an interdisciplinary curriculum for grade 9 students built specifically to teach English curriculum through the media arts. A videographer works in team with English teachers to meet NYS Learning Standards in the Visual Arts and English Language Arts with a special focus on problem solving, civic engagement, teamwork & media literacy. The teacher/teaching artist team design thoughtfully integrated lessons that will teach students about media literacy, integrate current events, journalism, story structure, screenwriting, digital video cameras, shooting, and editing, with the goal of making their own meaningful movies, documentaries, interviews, poetry videos and news features. Through Proctor’s partnership with the public access television station, Open Stage Media, students will also have the opportunity to broadcast their work. This partnership also allows for a significant opportunity to connect students to community issues and grow the capacity of the community to make more programming
Local Drupal Development Commitement
In addition to what the OMF will provide through this grant, we estimate that a successful implementation will require a minimum of 80 hours of local drupal support (through trained staff, contractors, or volunteers).
How many hours of professional drupal development support can you commit to securing between Oct 2010 and Oct 2012: 
100
What is the estimated Cost (or value, if volunteer) of this commitment: 
3500
Current Capitial Equipment Commitment
If your organization already has some or all of the equipment required to implement the Open Media Project, or the capital budget necessary to acquire it, that value will be included as part of your match. If not, grant funds will be used to acquire the equipment you require.
What is the value of current equipment you could dedicate to your local implementation of the Open Media Project? (if equipment is not owned, or available to dedicate to the OMP, enter $0)
Current Webserver: 
2000
Current Digital Broadcast Server(s): 
17000
Current Dedicated RAID Storage: 
14000
Other Current Equipment Value: 
110000
If other, please explain: 
OSM is building a brand new broadcast head end (3 channels), Video Recording and Editing Studios, along with a community media / education center. OSM and Proctors Theater internet and Intranet is already Drupal based and we have an existing group of developers and staff already working on the platform
Future Capital Equipment Commitment
If your organization already has some or all of the equipment required to implement the Open Media Project, or the capital budget necessary to acquire it, that value will be included as part of your match. If not, grant funds will be used to acquire the equipment you require. How much Capital Equipment budget could you devote towards the acquisition of the following equipment:
If other, please explain: 
We have been formed as the result of a new, 10 year 120,000 per year cable franchise agreement between Time Warner Cable and the City of Schenectady. OSM will be able to obtain additional operating funds by leveraging Proctors Arts Centers extensive Fundraising abilities which are exemplified by the recent 30 million dollar complex expansion.
Technical and Administrative Support
We estimate that a successful implementation of the OMP will require a minimum of 80 hours of technical and administrative support (through involvement of your ED, bookkeeper, engineer and other staff). Any time contributed will count towards your in-kind match.
How many hours can you commit to securing between Oct 2010 and Oct 2012: 
1000
List each staff member, position, number of hours committed, and hourly wage (or equivalent, if salary): 
OSM has 2 Full Time employees, a Program Manager and a Technical Manager. Each will be significantly involved and impacted by the many aspects of the Open Media Project. Our entire operation is planed to be administered via the web - built upon the Drupal framework.
Video Content Commitment
Partners will be supporting Sustainable Broadband Adoption by addressing the primary hurdle identified by non-adopters: a perception that broadband is not relevant to life, especially in low-income and minority communities. What is the value of the staff time and resources you are willing to devote to supporting the production of video content that will address 'broadband relevance' from the perspective of members from disconnected communities"?
Staff Time: 
10000
Resources/Equipment: 
20000
If other, please explain: 
We believe that the future of community media contained in the mission, techniques, workflow, and goals of the open media project. We believe, by its very nature, open media encourages media literacy and broadband adoption through its use. The social media networking aspects are key providing support and self promotion and advocacy.
Broadband Training Program
If you intend to provide training or education, how many people in total will your program(s) reach: 
400
How many hours of training do you expect to provide per person on average for your program(s), through completion of training: 
60
How many Full Time Employee (FTEs) will you employ for broadband and digital literacy training purposes: 
3
Describe the qualifications and training of full time employee instructors of broadband and digital literacy training: 
We have three full time instructors and two-part time instructors, plus support from a minimum of 6 facilitators for these programs within administration. Each instructor has a minimum of 10 years experience in film and media, has teaching experience with youth and other audiences, are assessed/reviewed twice a year by Education Director or full committee. In some cases staff will have to become certified by New York State and undergo fingerprinting and participate in student training workshops.
Job Creation
How many indirect jobs will be created from this project: 
10
How many direct jobs will be created from this project: 
1