Brian Beaton and Susan O’Donnell, members of the FMCC Board of Directors travelled to Halifax on May 17 to participate in the Indigenous Radio Workshop at Dalhousie University. The presentations and notes about the day long workshop will be posted on their web site at http://www.indigenousradio.ca/Halifax.php
Brian delivered his presentation entitled, “e-Centres: Community-based production/broadcast facilities”. His abstract for the presentation was:
The development of a multi-purpose production-broadcast facility in each community is an essential component for community development planning. Too often community broadcast facilities consist of an office space in an existing facility or an abandoned or older building. If Indigenous language protection and broadcasting is to be properly supported in communities, then local priorities, facilities and staffing must reflect the urgency of this issue. An e-center properly supporting a local broadcast and language might include design and space for a community library for researching and properly archiving print and digital resources; a production centre for video and audio materials; a broadcasting studio; meeting and office space; equipment lending and storage; a properly ventilated / heated server / community network hub; access to a tower for local broadcasts; technical support for phone-in broadcasts of local and regional news and information; etc. Potential local and regional employment and economic impacts are enormous.
The powerpoint slides of his presentation can be found at http://firstmile.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017-IndigenousRadio.pdf