Selected Key Events / Assignments 
  
1992  Open Channel devised a 'Euroform' training programme for Television production skills in association with three European partners: Foyle Film (Derry), Jungle Trommen (Copenhagen) and Kanal X (Leipzig). 
 
1993 Open Channel became a founder member of the Community Video Network (now renamed Community Media Network), a not for profit organisation whose aim is to promote the use of video for community and local development.  Legal advice was also sought from Open Channel on its incorporation as a company limited by guarantee in 1994. 

-  Open Channel were the organisers of the first ever National  Conference on Community Television in Ireland.  This took place in the Irish Film Centre and the keynote address was given by Mr Laurence Cassidy of the Arts Council. 

1994  With the support of FAS, a permanent Community Television Base was established within Open Channel. This Community  Employment project has a full-time co-ordinator and fifteen participants who continue to strive towards the ideals of Open Channel and is also committed to equipping its workers with the  necessary training and skills to secure full time employment. 
 
 1995  Open Channel with the assistance of FAS and the Dublin local authorities, organised the second National Conference on Community  Television, at which Community Television and special interest groups throughout the country initiated development of a strategy for the introduction of a Community Television Service. 

-        The third National Conference on Community Television was co-ordinated by Open Channel and was attended by a wide range of interested organisations. An ad-hoc committee was established to draw up a submission to the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in response to the Green Paper on Broadcasting. A statement of principles was presented to the Minister in September 1995. 
 
Open Channel organised and led the Irish delegation to the Flic Flac Young People's Media Festival in Caernarfon, Wales. 

Open Channel initiated and organised Irish representation at the European Youth Media Summer School   in Holland. A group of Open Channel trainees, led by a facilitator, spent two weeks in Hilversum working with young people from nine other European countries. They produced two half hour TV programmes which were broadcast in several countries. 

A submission was made to the Department of Arts, Culture and the  Gaeltacht in response to the Green Paper on Broadcasting. This outlined a detailed plan / strategy for Community Television in Ireland. 

1996 Open Channel in association with Teilif’s na Gaeilge and the National Youth Council of Ireland hosted a three-day training workshop in video production for young people called Teic Eile, which covered all aspects of video production. Each participant produced their own short video. This is now an annual event. 

1997 Open Channel established an Internet Web Site.This site is currently being replaced by a much more complex site which will be available as resource to local community groups. 

In June of this year, through the efforts of Open Channel and its European partners in the Move Network, Irish trainees took part in training workshops in Berlin, Dublin, Edinburgh and Líege as part of an intensive course designed to introduce them to state-of-the-art digital audio/visual technology.  Four specific areas were covered: digital audio, digital camera, non-linear digital editing and 3D computer animation. The courses formed part of the Move It project, supported by EU funding from the Leonardo da Vinci programme. 
 
Open Channel held Teic Eile '97, its annual audio visual workshop, in Kilcar, Co. Donegal.  It was organised in conjunction with the National Youth Council of Ireland and part-funded by Co-operation North's Peace and Reconciliation Programme.  Panasonic also lent their support with some superb equipment.This year the time-span was extended to one week, participants were aged 18 - 22 yrs, from all over Ireland, and it was fully residential. Teic Eile '97 again offered deserving participants the opportunity to get valuable hands-on training in audio-visual production. They gained firsthand experience in scriptwriting, storyboarding, camera and lighting, editing, post production and directing. We had a closing session where their five completed programmes were screened to an invited audience and the local community.

 

Open Channel participated in the The Big Picture - a National Conference on the Challenges and Opportunities in the Film, TV and Multimedia Industries, which took place in the Corrib Great Southern Hotel, Galway Nov 20  - 21 1997.  This event was sponsored by Forbairt and òdar‡s na Gaeltachta. 
 

Delegates from Open Channel attended a Reference Group  Discussion on Audiovisual Techniques in Youth Work, in Belfast hosted by YouthNet, on 5 December 1997. The purpose was to promote the use of Audiovisual techniques in youth work by providing networking opportunities for participants in a market place layout where their project showcases could be displayed.  Organisations represented include: the Nerve Centre, Derry; the National Youth Council of Ireland, Dublin; the Play Resource Warehouse, Belfast and Derry and Voluntary Services International, Dublin. 


 

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