Don't Touch That Dial

Well it seemed like we were just getting ready for the Memorial Day Parade and now we are trying to prepare the studio for the High School students Fall Semester.  Why is it every year, when the sun shines the longest, time goes by so fast.  Well I think the obvious answer is, we are busier.  We take on more because the weather allows it, we rise earlier and retire later, and there is nothing on TV.  Except for Cable Access that is.  As mentioned in our last post, we had an extremely busy July 2nd and 3rd.  Just to review all went well and all 3 programs were on the air for the weekend (Concert in the Park, High School Baseball and July 4th Parade.)  There was one hitch in that the boys baseball game was a thriller and after the Falls nine scored 5 runs in the last 2 innings to tie the game, it went a couple of extra innings.  We were behind schedule to get over to the parade route so our largest crew ever for a sporting event, grabbed all the cables, camera and equipment that was not being used for the parade and literally threw it into my van.  Needless to say I spent all of the morning of the Fourth, cleaning and wrapping cables, separating camera and tripods and getting everything back into it's cases.  I finished just in time for the company to arrive.  All in all, it was three very good programs made possible by the remote trailer and some great volunteers.

As summer winds down we still have much to do and much to plan for.  We are trying to get all the Thursday concerts in the park taped and that is weather dependent.  So far a little shower on the Community Band was the only delay. 

We also have a cooking show in the works, a much awaited return of I Remember...Menomonee Falls, a soccer game, Focus on Our Children has already taped a show to start the school year early with another in the works on the Scholarship Foundation Incredible Trivia Contest.  Village Voices is also going to cover the Trivia contest and give a glimpse into the cable studio itself.  The Reel Movie Talk guys have a camera checked out so I assume they will have a new show to kick off September and I understand Gordon Kirchoff of The Show has all his footage ready for a new installment.  So we will turn the corner into the new TV season at full speed.

If you happened to catch the Police and Fire Softball game taped at Village Park during Falls Fest, you may have noticed one of the most exciting editions to our mobile trailer.  The company that makes our switcher devised a new controller that allows for Slo-mo Instant Replays.  We didn't get a chance to test it before the game so it started out a little chaotic.  but as the game went on we did manage to catch a few good plays and play them back for the commentators to dissect.  It should make the football games much better.  Time Warner as inquired about renting our trailer for sports coverage, and did rent it for a parade, but they needed slo-mo replays for sports.  Well now it's available.  Of course the fee just went up.

Now would be a good time to start talking about the "IT".  as people found out during the parade and now on the community bulletin board and high school electronic sign, "IT" stands for Incredible Trivia Contest.

The contest is going to be similar to the UW - Stevens Point Radio Stations, "Worlds Largest Trivia Contest".  I have competed in that contest for 25 of the 40 years it has been run and thought it would be a great fund raiser for the scholarship foundation.  The foundation jumped at the opportunity to sponsor it and away we go.

Here is the basics of the event.  On Saturday September 19th, Channel 14 will start broadcasting "live" at 3:00 with the rules and format of the contest.  Teams will will play from a home, bar, bowling alley, athletic club, church or anywhere they can tune in Channel 14 on Time Warner in the Falls.  It is suggested that you have INTERNET available at your location or you will be at an extreme disadvantage.  If you don't need the INTERNET then call me and you can join my team for the Stevens Point contest. (Our team of teachers actually finished 20th one year when there were 530 teams and 15,000 players.)  Let's move on.

Pre-registered teams will pay a fee of $75, that will be $100 after the September 12th deadline.  It doesn't matter how many are on your team. The more the merrier.  Actually some of the questions will seem very tough but with a lot of minds working at once, it is amazing to see the process of one thought stimulating another until you have a direction and then goal where you find the answer.

Teams will be given a handout the week before which will contain important information, pictures that will be a question, rules for the game and a team number.  Each team must submit a name for the points tally, and it should reflect who they are although there are no restrictions. (Let's use common decency as our guideline).  There will also be a phone number provided to call in the team number and answer.

At exactly 4:00 PM we will ask on-air our first question.  The questions and hour long segments will be hosted by our local producers such as Gordon Kirchoff, Karen Nelson and KC Thomson.  After a question is asked we will either do a 2 minute interview with a local celebrity, run an old clip from the archives, a lip sync video, a performance from local talent, a music video or whatever.  After approximately 2 minutes we will ask the question again and then run another 2 or 3 minute segment.  During this time a team will call the number provided and give their answer and only their answer.  Operators will not carry on conversations or answer questions.  A team will only be allowed to call in once.  If a team calls twice they will be awarded 0 points.  At the end of the 2nd segment the host will declare "phones down". Only teams that have given their number to the operator will be allowed to continue.  The host will then give the answer to the question and  immediately ask the next question.  This process will continue so that 8 to 10 questions are asked per hour.  At about 5 minutes before the hour there will be break for an update of scores ( we will read the top 5 or 10). Some mentions of sponsors, and general housekeeping items.  Points will be awarded for correct answers.  There will be 1000 points available for each question. The actual amount awarded will be determined by the number of teams that got the answer correct.  For example: 20 teams get the question right.  1000 divided by 20 will be a 50 point question.  If it's an easy question and 75 teams get the answer right the question would be worth 15 points.  If more than 100 teams get the answer right the minimum award of 10 points will be given.  If only 1, 2 or 3 teams get the answer right they will be awarded a max of 300 points.  If one team was given 1000 points on a lucky answer the contest would be over, so that is why the 300 max.  There will be music hours and themes through out.  There will also be a road rally of sorts that will be laid out in the handout.

The contest will end with a final question at 9 PM that evening for a total of five hours of competition. ( just enough time for a cookout and cocktail party). The Stevens Point contest by the way is for 54, yes I said 54 straight hours.  My first year I played the entire 54 and was never able to do it again.  The winner and top 5 finishers will be invited to the studio to accept the trophy and acknowledge their teams.  The studio will be open at all times till 11 pm for anyone wishing to come in and join the fun.

Here is the important part...ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE MENOMONEE FALLS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION.  The foundation provides scholarships to graduating seniors for help with their continuing college or technical school education.

This is a great opportunity for your neighborhood or your community group to put together a team and show your stuff for a good cause.  Teams from the service groups (Optimist, Rotary, Kiwanis) would be a natural.  Scout teams and athletic teams could enter a team.  There are already a couple of teachers and student teams forming. How about your church forming a team.  There is no limit to the basis for a team.  How about Village staff or even better...a School Board Team

So as of now we are setting a goal of 100 teams and are looking for advertising sponsors, food sponsors, phone bank sponsors, volunteers to man the phones, people to handle the score keeping.  For more information call 262-255-4636 or call the high school during their summer hours 8 - 2:30 to register.

This contest will be the pilot for an annual contest that will take place each Spring around the end of March or April.  We will use this first contest as a way of getting people to plan ahead and tweak the format for Menomonee Falls.  The potential for a great community event is here and we need to spread the word.  Many people asked at Falls Fest if the contest would be on AT&T's U-verse. Unfortunately not at this time.  They are struggling with some access issues and quality issues in other communities so they have not contacted us recently.  We will eventually be on the system by state law but as far as the contest goes, a team playing on the U-Verse system may have a disadvantage involving latency over the network putting them possibly a minute behind teams playing on the Time Warner system.

So there "IT" is.  There will be more info coming soon and both the FOCUS and VILLAGE VOICES will do shows on the contest in the near future so be sure to watch for them.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on OUR CHILDREN... T The Menomonee Falls Boys Soccer team and Steinhaffels have teamed up again for a fundraiser on Breast Cancer Awareness and the Beth's guest will fill us in.

Concert in the Park....The Mary Davis Trio performed last week and put on a great show.  They are hoping to be an annual performance in the park and we agree.

The Show...Producer Gordon Kirchoff celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the first lunar landing with an all-in-the-air show featuring my favorite guest of all time, my daughter.

AS ALWAYS...STAY TUNED!