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September 2008
Well another beach season has come and gone - now we move into fall
and the best time of the year; at least in my opinion. Not that
we’ll be able to slow down at all…just nicer scenery, cooler
weather, and fall sports. Time marches on as they say.
I’ll need to keep this month’s comments brief, we’re very busy these
days. Pretty obvious when I note that I just realized today is
September 9th – and I’m over a week late posting the
newsletter.
Many of you may have seen us at a recent City Council meeting, or
read about us in the paper. If you did not get the gist of the
conversation here are the highlights…PAC 14 is 10 years old this
fall, PAC 14 desperately needs capital funds to establish our own
facility (a Community Media Center), and we hope to celebrate our
‘10th year’ of success and service to the community –
with a major step forward, and to accomplish this we need
help! That’s an over-simplification of the big picture - the actual
things going on these days - but sort of the top of the priority
list.
With gratitude’s duly offered to all who have helped us over
the past decade (all our citizen producers, partners, friends,
supporters, members) I think the most honest way I can describe our
situation today is – desperate. That may sound a bit ominous, but in
the operational sense it is true. Anyone who has visited our
operation certainly understands. It’s a simple matter of business,
non-profit business in our case, if you succeed – you grow. More
people, more need, more requests, more opportunities, all the needs
that bring pressure to staff and resources. And if you mix on top of
this growing need, near zero structural and technical growth, you
are operationally spinning your wheels and sinking slowly into the
sand. I really believe that - seeing is believing - our doors are
certainly open to the public so we invite you to see for
yourself...and to also take advantage of everything we do have.
What we seek to do is simply level the playing field for our
community TV station. As we look at examples of Community Media
centers in Maryland and across the nation, we see both how Public,
Educational and Governmental Access stations are funded and equipped
to meet their communities needs. The most glaring example, and
easiest for locals to see firsthand or understand, is in the square
footage in which we operate. PAC 14 exists within approximately
1,000 square feet, while a similar operation in Carroll County MD
operates in nearly 9,000 square feet. Needless to say that is just
an oversimplification of the problem, and the true need is much more
significant than this.
While the challenges we face are significant, we take great pride in
our success to date. We take even greater pride in the friendships
we’ve made. We are appreciated by those who use our service, we are
appreciated by the viewers at home, we are constantly thanked by
those who have benefited by our service, and our local elected
officials’ continually offer praise for our service to community.
Our membership numbers continue to grow at a strong rate - every new
person who adds their name helps to make our case – and support our
need to grow now. PAC 14 has certainly done its job and is
positioned to make a major step forward…with the help of this
community we’ll do just that very soon.
Closing note; please check the D.D.H.T. (Delmarva Heritage and
Traditions)
website, which can also be found on the pac14 website. D.D.H.T.
is an ‘amazing’ project and will become a major service of
historical importance to our local community. The project is growing
slowly but already we are placing finished projects on the website
for all locals to enjoy – and the entire world to appreciate. In the
next few weeks the finished videos will also be available at the
Wicomico Public Library and at the Nabb Research Center on the
Salisbury University campus.
Like PAC 14 – D.D.H.T. is a tremendous service and yet another
shinning example of what can come from a strong, successful and
vibrant Public Access service.
Please support
D.D.H.T. - and please support
PAC 14.
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