Saturday, February 6, 2010

Media Center Turns 20! Vision Accomplished and Still Going Strong!

Media Center Turns Twenty from Midpeninsula Media Center on Vimeo.

On February 5, 1990, the Midpeninsula Public Access Corporation (MPAC) opened its doors to the public in a tiny suite of offices on Park Boulevard in Palo Alto. MPAC had one full time employee, director Elliot Margolies. Annie Niehaus (now Folger) was a contractor who came on board full time as Associate Director on June 17 of that same year. A Board member by the name of Andrew Mellows oversaw the construction of a very rough studio and helped stock it with mostly used or donated equipment.

This past Friday, February 5, 2010, MPAC now the Midpeninsula Community Media Center turned 20. An impromptu party was held in the conference area in mid-afternoon. Andrew (still on the Board), Annie now our Executive Director and Elliot now a staff consultant were there as well as current staff members. Doug Devore, a former production manager who joined MPAC over 18 years ago, dropped by with little Penelope Devore.

A lot of changes have hit the Cable Access industry over the years. We even had to send Annie to Washington to testify before Congress on behalf of PEG preservation! To be able to have a 20 year birthday party when many access stations have had to shutter their doors is a reminder of how fortunate our community has been in the dedicated, constant and selfless leadership of people like Annie, Elliot and Andrew. They make the party possible! Thank you Annie, Elliot, Andrew and to all the board members, volunteers, employees and fans who over the years who got us to 20!

2 comments:

  1. What a sweet party! Thanks so very much to staff for the gathering, the celebratory bubbly, the delicious tiramisu, and the lovely flowers! And thanks to ALL the many community members who participated in the development of MPAC (Mid-Peninsula Access Corp.), that started out with four hours of programming per week on Channel 6 and has successfully merged into the Midpeninsula Community Media Center (thanks to the legacy support of Cable Co-op) with our own fantastic facility that operates Channels 26 through 30 with programming 24 hours per day!

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEDIA CENTER!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on a great milestone! Happy Birthday to MPAC. Thanks for sharing the video so those who don't live in the area can enjoy it as well.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete

Upcoming Events