Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Fall 2017 - 53

in your community

Teaching an established
organization new tricks
Incorporating digital technology to expand
the capacity and capabilities of BCTV
Heather Adams, Executive Director - BCTV

What community
media may lack in
sexiness, it makes up
in smarts.
Managing public and government
cable access channels is just one of
many ways BCTV ensures that our
community has civic engagement
platforms, government transparency,
access to a forum for the exchange of
ideas, and community driven media.
The organization archives video content
at www.bctv.org and on YouTube.
BCTV also aggregates and distributes
community information and stories
via bctv.org, email blasts, and multiple
social media platforms. Their recently
developed mobile app, So*Lo, empowers
citizens to contribute photos and
videos directly to the front page of
the BCTV website. There are more
than 120 regularly scheduled programs
that happen in (and out) of the studio,
produced and hosted by volunteers from
the Berks County community, and the
organization offers low cost production
services to companies and organizations
creating video messages, capturing events
and more.
You could say BCTV staff and
volunteers have a real passion for keeping
Berks County "informed and involved" -
just as their tagline says.
In 2016 (with the future in mind,
and increasing demands for highly
dynamic, shareable video and online
content), BCTV entered a matching
funds challenge with the Berks County
Commissioners to support an upgrade of
the studio control room and technology
as an investment in information access

storage demands, iPod Touch set-ups
to send out in the field with producers,
and an exhaustive list of things to keep
community media moving forward and
continuing to build capacity.
Next came an overhaul of the workflow
that makes community media happen,
including the incorporation of new
graphics capability, new digital storage
ability, and even the opportunity for
"green screen" which allows producers to
create a signature look for their programs
and increase visual interest of individual
shows.
The investments are also supporting
upgrades and a refreshed look to the bctv.
org website, and continued upgrades to
software and platform maintenance.

for the citizens of Berks County. The
raised funds would create an opportunity
to incorporate new "things" while also
maintaining the old standbys.
Through generous private and corporate
donations, and a supporting grant from
the PA Department of Education*, the
nonprofit community media organization
successfully matched the challenge dollars
and began a journey of renewal.
*Why the Department of Education?
BCTV works with student volunteers, interns,
and producers that are using the studio
technology regularly... these investments are
allowing them to get hands-on with more
modern equipment in addition to the cable
standards. Community media is a place not
only to share information, but to learn and
grow as well.
The "to-do" list started with items
in dire need of replacement. Wireless
microphones, a new server to support

This has been the largest investment in
your community media center technology
in quite some time. While it is going to
require a lot of work and training to get
up to speed, BCTV is up for the challenge
and is currently training producers and
hosts to employ new techniques and
technology for their programs, and
continuing to educate the public on
the opportunities that exist for them in
community media at BCTV.
While it is not exactly "out with the
old," BCTV invites citizens to stand
behind them (and beside them!) as they
come "in with the new."
"We will probably always rely on some
legacy technology and connectivity. It is
part of where we came from and what we
do... and we are ok with that... it keeps
us humble, efficient, and reliable in a lot
of cases," said Executive Director Heather
Adams.
But if you think BCTV is outdated...
It might be time to tune in again!
  53
http://www.bctv.org http://www.bctv.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Fall 2017
