12/10/2009
Dear Mediatech friends–
We had a wonderful end-of-year meeting last night — thanks to all that came. We managed to eat all the pizza and gave away all the prizes. Suzanne took the leftovers to a toy bank. For those who didn’t make it, here’s a review of the points I covered —
THE BOARD WILL STAY IN CURRENT POSITIONS FOR 2010
Nobody resigned; all officer positions will stay the same for next year. Thanks to everyone for your service.
THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. We are still limping. Our old computers need to be replace with state-of-the-art, energy smart equipment and more game consoles. We also need a webcam, a media conversion center, and some decorations (that the library trustees love) yet say “high tech” and “this is an amazing place to learn and visit.” It is time to start some creative fundraising, accept donations for services the community values, to take us to our next goal. That means ….
HELP WANTED. If you know of a special individual who can help with things like organizing a photography contest, getting my 2 year old mailing out, putting together a flyer, setting up a 5K run or a car wash, please get them in touch with me. We need someone who is community minded, understands the role and mission of Mediatech, and is highly regarded in general (great people skills). We propose that this will be a paid position, with income linked to fundraising ability. Note — to board members — hiring such an individual would obviously mean library approval and a vote by the board. We did not have a quorum last night. But if you know of good candidate, please let me know and I’ll get the process started.
STATE OF MEDIATECH — POOR BUT STABLE
In brief, this has been an important fifth year for Mediatech. It has established itself as busy community access point for social media, and has remained true on its mission to provide FREE, PUBLIC, access to POWERFUL technology. Carol Wachter and the staff of the FFPL deserve special recognition for organizing the materials and providing stable supervision; giving our town the service it deserves. To quote Sam “Can you imagine 60 kids running around Flemington, unsupervised.” But we only have about $4,000 in our checking account, have limited hours, and are using donated, unreliable computers.
NOT JUST FOR KIDS
Because of the economic downturn, our library has become increasingly busy, for all ages. Increasingly, traffic up the stairs has increased as parents come, with kids, to pick up or drop off games; stopping to check email, a FaceBook page, send some tweets or complete an online class. Mediatech has helped with this needed access.
TIME TO BRAG: THE LARGEST FREE, PUBLIC CIRCULATING VIDEO GAME COLLECTION IN THE WORLD
How do you build new media literacy without access? Mediatech has over 600 titles, all cataloged and ready for public access. It also provides the hardware to play them; and a social setting where you can share ideas and learn from others. It’s time to tell people about the resource we have in our town.
STOP IN FOR A VISIT
If its been a while since you’ve seen Mediatech, make a point to drop in and say hello to the staff. It means a lot to them, and it is a good place to learn a bit about the life of a kid who is growing up in our town.
FEEDBACK WELCOME! I’ll put together set of dates and times for next year’s meeting. In general I try to synch with the library, so if you have ideas let me know.
Submitted by WB on 12/10/2009
–
Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Mediatech Foundation
118 Main Street, 2nd Floor
Flemington, NJ 08822
http://www.mediatech.org
908-284-2006
- Members of the community join the Lindbergh pilots in their attempt to cross the Atlantic this summer.
