NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS
CONVENTION 2007
"An absolute must for the progressive high school library media specialist"
- Variety of Reports from a First Time Attendee, David Di Gregorio, Supervisor
Library Media Services - Tenafly High School -
Why, might you ask, would a high school library media specialist attend a
convention for broadcasters? Why not just attend conventions concerning
themselves with libraries? Although library conventions are important, they
cater to the traditional functions of a school library. Attending conventions
that represent potential functions of an expanding and more dynamic school
library media center are valuable to further empower the library media
specialist / supervisor, and their library media centers. A close view of what
broadcasters do and use to communicate can provide for new ideas and knowledge
and a growing, as opposed to shrinking role for the school library media center
within the school. New ideas and information, from technical equipment choices,
to the dramatic changes presently taking place in the way we obtain news and
information are are all at NAB. Learning about this can make our function within
the school more effective and serve to renew and expand our functions and
facilities. I can say without reservation that this convention is an absolute
must to widen the circle of the high school library media specialist /
supervisor wishing to maximize the function of the library media center within
their own school. You will find below written reports along with video that will
hopefully convey just a fraction of what goes on at NAB and how it proves to be
useful in education. (Links in green will play in video player) below. EMAIL
QUESTIONS & FEEDBACK TO ddigregorio@tenafly.k12.nj.us
A
seminar conducted by Douglas Spotted Eagle included many tips and
tricks regarding gathering video. He went through a variety or relatively low cost items from a
rubber band to “belly cams” to a “Bone head” helmet that a camera can
be mounted on. He emphasized the importance of the “point of view” shot
and how just a few seconds of POV video can make for much more
interesting and engaging media. The Bone Head helmet
can provide that effectively – it even included a laser pointer for
helping to line up the shot. He also demonstrated a battery powered LED
light that can hang from the tripod mount of a camera with an “Israeli
Arm “. This setup not only acted to light up the subject but made for
an effective “steady cam” attachment. This was an extremely useful
seminar for enhancing the school library media specialist’s knowledge in
the area of video production. Now, what was the rubber band for? Well,
Mr. Spotted Eagle explained that if looped around your finger and one of the tripod sticks and pulled across, it makes for a very smooth pan!
Wow! A pod casting studio is just
the thing for school libraries of all kinds. Establish one with a
reservation book and let faculty and students reserve time to create
their own material for uploading and downloading. The capabilities
here are worth a serious look. The presentation by Michael W.
Geoghegan is a fantastic resource for deciding on just what kind of
equipment to purchase. On Mr. Geoghegan's site,
GigeVox.com
you can even download free software that will help you
"compress" audio (even
out the loud and soft) within your digital audio recording.
As the
seminars were going on Saturday and Sunday, 1,500 individual exhibitors
were preparing for a Monday morning opening. There is no other show that includes such a wide range of electronics
for media. From the camera lens
to the flat panel television and everything in between, it was
all there! My exhibitor visits included many of those
manufacturers we already possess equipment from, as well as equipment
and software that we will be interested in acquiring in the future. Ikegami, Avid, Apple, Leightronix, Zaxcom, Vinten, Manfrotto, Sure, Masterclock, Belden,
Chyron and Ross were just a few on my list.
Speaking at the Washington Policy and Politics Breakfast, the senator
explained just how important broadcasters were during the devastating
Hurricane Katrina. As a result of this, she is filing legislation
that will designate broadcasters as first responders. Her bill
would also include grant monies for broadcasters for the purposes of
purchasing equipment that can help them stay on the air during
emergencies. This certainly would have been handy for many cable
access stations in the Northeast that went down (including ours) due to
power outages!
CHRIS MATTHEWS,
HARD BALL
Upload,
Download and Overload: 2008 Election Media Strategy Super Session
(1)
(2)
(3)
Chris
Matthews launched the session by making a comparison between the citizen
journalists and pamphleteers of the 18th Century with the bloggers of
today. He posited this question: how would the local TV stations in
Philadelphia have reported on the American Revolution in a time of
U-tube, bloggers, My Space, and telephone cameras? He
proceeded to show the George Allen video which reportedly cost him the
election. The discussion opened up to a panel that included Steve
Capus, President NBC News and Joe Trippy of the Dean campaign. An
interesting discussion ensued. Towards the end, I had the
opportunity to ask a question concerning the matter of profits /
ratings as opposed to providing a public service (3) 32:22). Steve
Capus of NBC responded. I think this question effects the public,
our students, and our schools deeply.
It
seems like an interesting time to be in broadcast television and radio.
Just like school libraries, there is a huge transition going on.
Mr. Rehr pointed the important use of language to accurately
convey meaning. He faults the industry for using 20th Century
language in a 21 Century world and encourages the audience to think
about language that works. He pointed to the
simple and successful use of term "HD Radio" replacing out the original
term IBOC or "In Band On Chanel" radio. Could library media
specialists learn a lesson here? We use the term "Databases" for
our archived magazines and newspapers. How dull and non-poetic can
we be? I think there are large lessons to be learned in education,
and in library media centers in particular from Mr. Rehr's remarks. We use an archaic
jargon and we must rethink our own terms for the 21st Century!
Meet the Press is the
longest running television broadcast and in itself provides a library of
information. Mr. Russert commented that he sees cable television,
talk radio, and bloggers as a complement to Meet the Press, not
competition. He sees, however an extremely important role in Meet
the Press because as the moderator strives to ask the very best
questions of the guest, a very important video
record that can be looked back upon has been created. Our students can learn and be
inspired by such a model as they research their subjects using our
library's resources.
Michael Figgis,
director/producer/writer developed something called the "Fig Rig"
especially designed for the smaller camcorder. As you will see in the video, add a wireless video link and Tenafly High
School sports broadcasts will not only be easier to set uo, they will
provide more interesting video and a more pleasurable experience for the
student camera person.
NOTES ABOUT THIS PAGE AND THE USE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR SCHOOLS
During this convention,
I carried a Sony HVR-Z1U camera and a Dell Laptop computer connected
with Fire-wire. This not only allowed me to record and edit, but
also enabled a live, shared broadcast of the events I attended through
wireless connection. Then pushing the video stream back to a server in
the Tenafly High School TV Control Room, the stream was in turn pushed
out worldwide and shared through this web page with about a 20 second
delay from live. It could have easily been carried on our
community local access channel through scan converting a Windows Media
Player in the control room. This kind of technology can
assist in further enhancing a vibrant learning community at a low cost,
in a school, town, or even an entire country.
Many thanks to Ban Kozuch, President of Future Media Concepts (and
happens to be in Tenafly) for permission to upload some of the video
accessed through this page.
