Thursday, April 30, 2009

Radio For the People Party!

SATURDAY MAY 9TH
1 PM -MIDNIGHT
Afternoon presentation and workshops,
dinner, music and dancing.
Independent media is a crucial tool for community self-reliance.
Come celebrate Spring by supporting community radio locally and afar!
Donation $ 5 – 25 sliding scale

This party is a benefit for two community radio projects:

WGXC is our new local community radio station for Columbia and Greene counties. WGXC will be a community-run media project, re-envisioning radio as an innovative platform for local participation. WGXC will begin live web streaming on the day of the benefit, and will be broadcasting live in 2010. WGXC is opening studios in Hudson, Catskill and Cairo. www.wgxc.org

MADRE TIERRA radio will be the station for an indigenous farmworkers coalition in Chiapas, Mexico. The radio at Madre Tierra will serve as conduit for community members to communicate with one another in a region where there is little means for communication and no independent media. Educational programs for children and adults, agricultural forums, language classes, and music shows are just a few of the many programs planned for the air.

*** Both of these radio projects are just getting launched and need support from you! We are still looking for donations for the Silent Auction as well as matching donors for the auction and the whole event. We are looking for matching donors that can pledge to match a specific portion of the event up to a certain amount or the whole event so that the money raised actually doubles for these radio projects! Silent Auction donation item ideas: Artwork, gift certificates to businesses, bike tools, homemade products, a weekend in a vacation home.……… The Silent Auction portion will be a benefit just for WGXC and donations are tax deductible ***

Event Schedule
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 Community Radio Presentation
2:30 - 4:30 Workshops
Food Security Roundtable and
Making Community Radio
5:30 Dinner
food will be donated and prepared by chef Eamon Furlong
7:00 Silent Auction
7:30 Performances begin:
Grandma Shakes
Lady Moon (Ngonda Badila) and ensemble
10:00 DJ Dance Party
* child care will be provided throughout the day



*Making Community Radio: Tools for Participation*

with Kaya Weidman from WGXC and Germantown Community Farm, Maka Muňoz from Palabra Radio Project, and Cory Fischer-Hoffman from Prometheus Radio Project (and more!)
Come learn about what community radio is, how radio can be a tool for social change, community building, and creativity. We'll be talking about how to get involved with WGXC, our new local community radio station, as well as how to get involved in community radio if you live in a different area.
We'll brainstorm some ideas for programs people might want to make or hear on the radio before breaking into groups to make our own! We will learn some basics of how to record audio using handheld digital recorders and groups will come up with audio projects to work on during the event. Some of the groups may do some live interviews "on the air" that will be broadcasting on a microtransmitter at the farm to radios placed about the property. Some of the audio will be live streaming on wgxc.org. Recorded pieces will be uploaded for future use. The hope is to train a group of people to be roving documenters of the event and to become radio makers!

*Community Food Security Roundtable*

Come talk about how food and farmland can be available to everyone! Conversations about local food production and resource sharing have been emerging in the Hudson Valley and the Northeast organized by farmers, gardeners and friends. This workshop will be an opportunity for people to share experience and resources, to offer their ideas for collaboration, to hear about some of the developing local projects. Let’s build a cooperative network to work toward self-reliance for all!