News releases and media advisories

For immediate release:
6/8/2009

Mike Porter
VCU Communications and Public Relations
(804) 828-7037
mrporter@vcu.edu

VCU TV/HD Wins Two Regional Emmy Awards for Excellence

Virginia Commonwealth University’s VCU TV/HD won two regional Emmy Awards at the 51st Emmy Awards held on June 6 in Washington, D.C. The ceremony was sponsored by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

VCU TV-HD received an Emmy in the category of “Documentary-Cultural” for “VCU Qatar.“ Lisa Figueroa was senior producer and Jordan Rodericks was producer for the program. In the category of “Public/Current/Community Affairs – Program/Special,” VCU TV/HD received an Emmy for “Chop Suey,” which was produced by Alexander Germanotta.

Another VCU TV/HD program was nominated in the “Public/Current/Community Affairs – Program/Special” category. “VCU Inside Out: Gary Sange” was produced by Michael Bell.

“We are really excited about winning these awards,” said Dan Brazda, VCU TV/HD executive producer. “Being awarded the Emmys is especially gratifying because we are a college operation that is essentially competing against broadcast stations and production facilities.”

VCU TV/HD is one of the first student-run operations in the country to produce programming in a high-definition format.

A partnership with Community Idea Stations, owned by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting, allows the programs to run on WCVW Richmond PBS channel 57 (cable channel 24 in the Richmond area.)

The programs can be downloaded and a complete schedule of broadcasts is available at http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/schedule.html. The programs can also be downloaded for free in iTunes in both the iPod and HD versions.

The Emmy Award submissions, which totaled 645 this year, were broadcast between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2008, and judged by panels assembled by the Heartland, Mid-America, Mid-Atlantic, San Francisco/Northern California, Ohio Valley and Suncoast chapters.

The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was established in 1958-59 and is an organization composed of more than 700 television broadcast professionals dedicated to fostering and recognizing outstanding achievements in television production throughout the National Capital Chesapeake Bay region.

Dear Friends!

You all are familiar with Books on Wheels and our buses and, for the most part, how we operate in terms of providing free books and free bicycle repair as a mobile operation. In the last few months, Ward and I have decided that in order to expand and offer more to the Richmond community we would like to offer a grounded version of Books on Wheels called.. This Community Space will provide a great deal of interesting opportunities for Books on Wheels and the community:

1.       Storage space for more books and more bicycles/bicycle donations to be distributed back to the community

2.       A second donation location for those in the community making a donation

3.       A free book store! FREE BOOKS!

4.       A free workshop space that will provide FREE BICYCLE REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE CLASSES! FREE LEARNING!

5.       A community minding space in order for volunteers to have an opportunity to work within the Richmond community in helping others who may not have the means to educational and transportation resources that are important to empowering people in their lives

Currently, we are trying to get the word out about our quest for a location. If anyone is aware of any spaces available for rent in the Richmond, Virginia area, please let us know! We are also more than happy to work on negotiating a shared space or a donated space for trade of fixing up a building. And, as always, as a 501 ( c) 3 non-profit organization, all donations, including the use of a space, are tax-deductible. Thanks for your support!