FPAC-9 name changes to reflect new perspective

Fairfield Public Access Channel, the TV channel that broadcasts city council meetings among other events, changed its name to Fairfield Media Center.

?We are making the public access channel more relevant,? said Dick DeAngelis, member of the FMC board. ?Shooting videos has become huge.?

Fairfield Media Center is positioned to accept community videos, support those who want to learn more about making, editing and creating videos and sharing those videos.

?We?re continuing our great relationship with the city; think of us as another city department,? said DeAngelis. ?We decided it was time to broaden the scope. People in the community are well served through the public access channel. And our community is blessed with some very talented people.

?We?ve upgraded and improved our services. Our sound quality is better; the whole quality is consistently better. The Fairfield Media Center invites video submissions by anyone about events, interviews, short films and activities around Fairfield.?

The media center airs those videos on FPAC-9 TV and in the near future, will upload videos to its website so those without cable or TV can view the public access videos.

The Fairfield Media Center has an office at 123 N. Main St., Suite 3, with an entrance on Briggs Avenue, across from the courthouse. It is open in the afternoons; phone 469-3225 for more information.

?We have a nice video studio equipped with high-level, good quality cameras and sound,? said DeAngelis. ?The studio can be used by residents for interviewing someone or telling about something that can be broadcast. Anyone can use this studio. We also rent out cameras for people to take around the community. We even have helmet cams, if someone wants to wear one while skateboarding, rock climbing, kayaking or doing other activities, to make a video.

?We can teach people about taking videos and editing, using our equipment. We have an editing suite and the expertise. We can teach people for a fee or teach them and have them turn around and use our equipment to bring back videos.?

Jason Strong was hired as coordinator for Fairfield Media Center. He has 10 years of multimedia experience and two years of volunteer experience with FPAC. Strong also owns a video and editing company.

?When we get our own Internet channel up and running, we?ll have categories, such as civic, artistic and shows ? such as interviews with musicians and playing some of their music,? said DeAngelis. ?We?re talking with the chamber about possibilities of highlighting local businesses. And all this will be videoed by Fairfielders.

?The media center will still connect residents with what?s going on in the community; we?ll still stream city council meetings on TV. Those using only the Internet won?t get streaming, but in 24 hours they will be able to view the meetings.

?The website will be for the community as well as those outside Fairfield,? he said. ?Someone living in Montana or New Jersey can click on our videos and get a good idea what our community is about. It can be a good promotional tool for the city.

?I?m so proud that the Fairfield City Council is supporting our vision, and our volunteer board members are very active in making this transition.

?People who are up on current technology are going to love using our equipment and those who may feel left behind by technology also will love it because we can teach them about it.

?We have so many different people in Fairfield from so many different backgrounds, it?s going to be a very rich experience to have videos made by them on various topics.?