Tech Corner 2.0 #1

  
This is your friendly neighborhood Facility and Production Coordinator, Paul, with some exciting BATV technical upgrades and productions on the horizon that I’d like to share with you all. But first, a little backstory…

Many moons ago, BATV staff would each contribute articles to a multi-page, tangible, (honest to goodness) physically mailed out newsletter that would be delivered to each member’s mailbox by a real-life mail person. I know, that sounds crazy right? Well, it was true. Some of you may even have (gasp!) read them- before tossing them in the recycling bin. During those simpler times (albeit not for the trees) or, rather, those more tactile times, I would have some fun each month sharing BATV’s upcoming technical improvements, productions, events and workshops. It was called the Technical Corner and at long last…it has risen from the proverbial pulpy goo of thousands of recycled paper pages to be re-born into the terabytin’ techno-world of a digital newsletter- delivered in an instant through the wonders of the internet and email…just in time to save us all, am I right!? Well, that was a rhetorical question that you, the digital reader, having found this article floating down the ether of the techno universe, need not answer. It’s back, regardless. So without further delay, may I present to you: Technical Corner 2 point-oh! Or 2.0 for my techie fans out there.

But what’s that? Oh, no! It seems I’ve cybernated too many ones and zeroes south of the confines of this newfangled digital dispersal of the BATV newsletter and I’ll kindly ask you, gentle reader, to forgive my high-tech naiveté and follow the link below. It should lead you across cyberspace, as I’ve been assured, to Technical Corner 2.0 with the latest in BATV news regarding technical enhancements to our Community Room for live events, our kitchen production space and another great musical event we have planned - and so without further ado, here are a few of the exciting enhancements and a special event I’m pleased to announce…

    First up: Community Room Upgrades! As you probably know, BATV is now located at the newly renovated Howe School.  After being open for a full two years plus, we’ve noticed there are indeed some areas where we could improve our beloved new home for the better.  One of the areas in need is in The Howe Community Room.  The Community Room has been utilized immensely in the time it has been open to the Billerica Community and with great success.  Most of its use has come in the form of a gathering/meeting space and to a lesser extent, as a live performance space. As a part of our mission, BATV staff and board members are consistently looking for news ways to build new pathways of media access and connectivity for our members and the overall Billerica community.  We have determined there is a need to step up the live event production ability of the Community Room to provide new and exciting ways to bring the Billerica community media and community events.  In this sense, we are trying to take the next logical step in the evolution of the Community Room and feel with a few new bells and whistles we can make it even more functional, especially where live music or other types of performances are concerned.
    With this in mind, yours truly has really been surfin’ and scrollin’ the furthest depths of the inter webs to find the right mix of form, function, budget and brains when it comes to a mix of new equipment and refurbishments in order to enhance live events in the Community Room space.  Moreover, some of these upgrades will most likely be modular and able to be used in other ares of the Howe building as well as in other parts of the Billerica community, adding additional “bang for the buck”, as they say.
    Although not completely ready to announce every specific change coming as of this writing, I can reveal what we are looking to accomplish. In order to make the Community Room more functional as a performance space we will be acquiring a new Public Address (PA) System, audio mixer and wireless performance microphones. In addition, we are looking into adding a modular stage, along with moveable lighting trusses with both wired and wireless performance lighting fixture options.  In regards to the moveable truss (or grid), we will also be looking forward to using that in the kitchen production space as well. We are looking into acquiring an overhead camera and hanging it directly over the cooking area for even better cooking productions.  I am also currently researching other options for more permanent, built in options in both spaces as well. All of this is in the hope to offer more flexibility and function in order to bring more professional live venue production events like live bands/music, open mic nights, comedy nights, poetry readings, karaoke and more. Stay tuned for more updates on these new improvements in the weeks and months to come!
    Lastly, I’d like to take a quick moment to announce that Jon Waterman will be bringing another installment of his Live Music and History series to us on the evening of June 18th.  This time Jon will be sharing his "History and Legends through Song” program with us. If you didn’t catch Jon’s last program “ Popular Music and Veterans” last May, here’s a link to see what a truly wonderful musical experience he provides for free with the help of grants from the Mass Cultural Council and the Billerica Cultural Council: https://bit.ly/PopMusicandVets
    Welp, that will do it for this first digital installment of Technical Corner 2.0.  I hope you enjoyed the read as much as I had sharing my musings and updates. As always, if you have any questions about anything I mentioned here, whether out of genuine interest, complete disdain or anything in between- feel free to “hit me up” at [email protected] and I’ll be happy to discuss it all with you, gentle reader, here in The Technical Corner.
- Paul Abrego