22
Feb
2017

February 1, 2017 Minutes

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CTAC   – Monthly Meeting Minutes – February 1, 2017
Meeting called to order @ 6:04 PM.

Members in attendance:
Tad Weinstein (West Haven), Chair
Peaches Quinn (New Haven), Vice Chair
George Alexander (Hamden), Treasurer
Johnes Ruta, (New Haven), Advisor

Sharon Codeanne (Comcast representative)
Steve Gimmel   (Frontier representative)

1. COMCAST report — Sharon Codeanne.

  1. Comcast made a $36,000 donation to Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven to support their work to create neighborhood revitalization in some of the most challenging neighborhoods in New Haven.
  2. Comcast held a sneak-preview of the animated family film “Sing” at the Bow Tie Criterion
    Cinema in New Haven in December and donated 100 tickets to local children’s non-profits:
    New Haven Boys & Girls Club, Arte Inc, United Way, and the Urban League of Southern CT.
    c.   The Comcast Cares Day will be held on Saturday, April 22nd.
    d.   The YES Network and Comcast have reached an agreement regarding carriage of the YES
    Channel, which will be returning to the Comcast lineup.
  3. The Annual $2,000 support check has been delivered to CTAC. Tad forwarded it to George.
  4. No technology or rate changes to be reported.
    g.   Mobile and cellular businesses are possible future business ventures.

    2. Introduction of Merissa Hammie – West Haven resident, awaiting WH Mayoral appointment.

    3. Frontier report – Steve Gimmel.
    Steve mentions the Frontier has undergone some organizational restructuring, including that his job
    responsibilities have been assigned to a different vicinity. He asks about the required representation of
    Frontier to CTAC meetings. Tad replies: “Frontier has a state-wide license so that their representation at
    CTAC is required, but not required to attend every monthly meeting, but to attend at least four times a year.
    Tad mentions previous delegates, also that technically Frontier is not a cable company, therefore not under
    CTAC jurisdiction.
    George Alexander raises an issue with Frontier, as a subscriber with “No More Robo” system, that robo-calls were automatically transferred to the Washington D.C. agency, and that these calls ran over his 200 subscriber minutes, and he was being charged 3 cents per minute on his bill. This was a Frontier billing problem that was corrected.
    Peaches Quinn asks if Comcast offers this kind of service. Johnes explains the way to block calls on Comcast VOIP using the *60 dialing sequence.

    4.   Review of January Minutes: Tad makes request Johnes correct a typo indicating $1,000 showing as $1,00 –.
    5. Tad presented the 2017 Budget Proposal.
    Peaches recommended that the Budget line for “Community Outreach” show an identifier as website
    development rather than “Other.” Tad and George stipulate that the Budget format is supplied by PURA,
    and not itemized. Johnes asks what is the amount that is being paid for the website development to include
    the Video Contest, will the estimate provided by Alexander Associates be held to?
    George confirms that the website cost will not exceed $1,200, and kept within the budget allotted.
    Peaches makes Motion to accept the 2017 Budget, Johnes seconds the motion. Vote carried.

    6. Website:
    a. Statement of work: Enhancement of the CTAC website cableadvisory.org is completed except for the         Video Contest form entry section.

b. Joomla conversion to WordPress website was done by Johnes, Enhancement of the WordPress site done by Alexander Associates.
c. Contest entry on the website via the hosting server failed as GoDaddy indicated a message “Excessive Backup Files” and deleted some of the test entries, as GoDaddy storage for this subscription was exceeded. Fortunately, the last 7 days of backups were preserved. The rate for additional 200 GB of storage on GoDaddy is $200 per year.

  1. Video Contest Webpage:
    a. Issue #1: Contest format. George Alexander did research on other video contest programs and found two
    similar ones, one in Pennsylvania PSA for driving in flooded areas, and another called “World of 7 Billion.”
    with entry topics of Climate Change, Ocean Healt, and Rapid Urbanization.   These use a procedure for
    entries with directions to contestants to upload their video entry to YouTube, and for the contestant to
    provide their YouTube video address to the contest managers.
    b. George questions the length of the video that Comcast and Frontier will accept.
    George makes a Motion to change the Video Contest Rules to change the video length to 60 seconds.
    Johnes seconds this motion. All are agreed. Vote carries the motion. Adina Alexander will make these
    changes to the entry program.
    c. Issue #2: Underage Contestants.   What will be Rules and Regulations ?   Does CTAC need legal
    advice on this matter? Is a Parental Release needed for each contestant?   Yes, we should initiate
    this: need Release Form for those creating and appearing in a video, and a Permission Form for winners.
    We should consult with Joe Schofield regarding these forms. Need Content Guidelines.
    d. Issue #3: Video Judging Guidelines – The PA criteria uses a quality points system of 1 to 4, CTAC should
    use the PA system for examples.

    8. Video Contest procedures, finalization of Rules and Regulations, and procedures needed:
    a.   Students may work together. No adult participation. One lead producer.
    b.   Titles
    c.   All crew credits to be cited.
    d.   No externally copyrighted material.
    e.   No professional assistance.
    f.   Script must be entrant devised.   No illicit behavior to be depicted.
    g.   Intellectual property will have a delegation of retainer. No compensation other than Award.

    9. Video Contest distribution:
    a. submit Contest to schools in CTAC unit jurisdiction to be publicized by them.
    b. 6 weeks for entry approval.

  2. CTAC organization – discussion of the delegation of the tasks of the video contest.
    a.   Who will Chair the contest ?
    b. Johnes will edit the Rules document, to have ready by next meeting. Also documents for Overview, FAQs,
    Tips for Video Entry, Judging Rubric, Application, Parental Permission, and Actor Release Forms.
    c. Determine entries deadline.
    d. Pre-Application – 1 month, by end of May, include Parental Approval.
    e. CTAC Contest review, approval, and notification response by June 30.
    f. Video submissions by October 31, 2017.
    g. CTAC judging and prizes announcement by December 31, 2017.

    CTAC February Meeting adjourned at 7:55 PM.
    Submitted by Johnes Ruta, CTAC New Haven Rep #2