Final Report of the Studio C Steering Committee for the BoD Meeting 21 April 2002 Date:7 April 2002 From: Miriam Stucky, Studio C Steering Committee Chair Stemming from a proposal by Trent Radio's General Manger, John Muir, in the fall of 2001, Trent Radio's Board of Directors provided for a committee to consider the development of a third broadcast and postproduction studio, as well as a digital audio archive. This project is herein referred to as "Studio C". The group who developed the following comments and recommendations is the Studio C Steering Committee, sometimes referred to as "the committee". The Studio C Steering Committee was comprised of six members: John Muir, Miriam Stucky, Candace Shaw, Gil Wright, Michael Waterman, and Mithra Dubey (community bios and contact information listed in Appendix 2 of the application). The Committee met five times between September 2001 and February 2002. The complete minutes of these meetings will be available at http://www.trentu.ca/trentradio/trillium/ In an effort to shed light on several questions, including views on the collections policy, and current types of studio usage, the Committee conducted a survey of Trent Radio members and programmers. The complete results are available at http://www.trentu.ca/trentradio/trillium/studioc_survey_results020319.doc On 4th April 2002, Trent Radio made application to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for funds in the amount of $77,990) to help make this project a reality. A copy of this document is presented with this report, and is herein referred to as "the application". The following report highlights the major areas of the Committee's discussions and deliberations which directed the creation of the application and is intended to guide Trent Radio's institution of policies and practices in the development and operation of Studio C. Physical Plant * In thinking through the development of a third broadcast studio, the Committee considered all options, including the idea of building an addition to Trent Radio House. For now, we recommend maximising the space we have, and creating a digital audio archive is the best route. * The Committee recommends that Trent Radio make provisions for improved wheelchair access to Trent Radio House. * Physical Plant is the domain of the General Manager, who will entertain opinions and suggestions in making his decision. * In consideration of the need for communication between Studios, the Committee recommends at minimum an intercom/talkback system, and advises for the idea of a window with curtains. Staffing * For the current vision of Studio C to be fully developed, two new staff positions will need to be created and funded. The first is a one year contract project position to digitise the music CD portion of the archive. The second is a Studio Director, an on-going operational position, who would be responsible for managing the traffic of all three studios, as well as organising and delivering workshops, courses, and special projects. * Funds for a digitising clerk are provided for in the application. Funds for a Studio Director position will need to be secured. At present, we expect that Human Resources and Development Canada (HRDC) would support at least the first year of the Studio Director position, through either the Job Creation Partnership Program, or the Office of Learning Technologies. The Committee's expectation is that the position of Studio Director be a full-time post, year- round in the first year, and continued on a renewable contract basis fitting with Trent Radio's broadcast seasons thereafter. * The Studio Director will be open to, and on occasion seek out projects, which will generate revenue for Trent Radio. Though these efforts will contribute to the financial sustainability of the Studio Director's position, the primary financial responsibility for position falls primarily to Trent Radio, and not the Studio Director. * The timeframe for all aspects of hiring and evaluating both positions are included in the application. Guidelines for the usage of Studio C * The Committee recommends the following order of priority when promoting and determining usage of Studio C. In the event of a conflict between usages of equal leverage, a first come, first served policy will prevail. 1) On air talk/music/performance. 2) Production of same. 3) Production of other audio based projects 4) Teaching of radio performance and production or Trent Radio related meetings and other business or commercial usages 5) On air or show production prep 6) Post production (Studio B can also be used for this) Collections Policy * The issue of Trent Radio's collections policy was a hot topic for the Committee. While unchecked growth of Trent Radio's audio archive might not be feasible in the long term, we do not see an immediate need to suggest limiting the growth of the archive. * On the issue of adding recordings to the proposed digital archive, aside from the existing collection or items received in the usual manner, the Committee suggests allowing, thought not actively encouraging, people to bring and digitise audio materials. Preferably, this digitising will happen on their time, with the assistance of the Studio Director. * We suggest that personal additions to the archive be subject to the approval of the General Manager and the Studio Director. Financial Sustainability of the Studio C Project * This issue was considered at some length in the Committee's meetings (Item #8 in minutes of 15 Oct 12001, and # 8 of 04 Feb 4 2002), and at the time of the Board's consideration of the Application. * Aside from the current application and the two ideas mentioned under staffing (applying for funds from HRDC for initial staffing costs, and having the Studio Director take on paying projects), the Committee's suggestions for generating revenue (in no particular order) include: o Offering small fee-for service workshops o Increasing the student levy o Renting basement space (to Trent) o Seeking more brokered programming (ex: Christian Science Monitor) o Seeking out collaborative projects with institutions (Trent University, The Peterborough Public Library, The Peterborough Centennial Museum & Archives, etc). o Considering the City of Peterborough as a potential funder o Offering Sponsors the opportunity to support individual programs/programmers (performance contracts) o Fundraising o The Committee does not recommend renting Studio C to bands. This could undermine local businesses doing the same thing, and could bring hassles for Trent Radio. The Physical Artefact * It is the view of the Committee and of several programmers that there is value inherent in the physical artefact of the radio archives, including liner notes, and covers, and that something of the artefact be retained, either through a card catalogue or other mechanism. * Also, we recommend that the newer CDs (about 500 or so) be placed in Studio A so that programmers can have access to the real McCoy for a limited time. * Several respondents to the survey have expressed an interest in this matter, and will convene with the General Manager to address the issue. Digital Archive Interface * The Committee did some research in to various component and labour costs associated with the creation of an interface between the digital archive and the people using it. Our suggestion is that John Muir be charged with developing the interface by building on the HTML shell we currently have. * The interface of the system will be designed in such a way that it will be accessible from all computers at Trent Radio, and possibly beyond via the internet. The development of Studio C, in particular the project of digitising our audio archive is, to my knowledge, unparalleled in campus & community radio. The efforts of all involved with this project have been great. In particular, John Muir's devotion to the organization, and to this project, was commendable. Personally, I am thankful for having had the opportunity to work on this proposal. Sincerely, Miriam Stucky