Discussion of all things related to Public Domain

[tom poe <tompoe AT amihost.com>]

Hello, Mayor Thomas M. Menino:  I skimmed over your column this week, as
it was a report of sorts on what the HUD budget means to Boston. 
Missing was mention of 59 Neighborhood Networks Centers, of which, 13
are listed in the Boston proper area, alone.  As you know, HUD sponsors
the Neighborhood Network Program for low-income housing residents, as
well as those who live in the area.  It is designed to bring affordable
services to the recipients.  Every one of these centers is at risk for
elimination in the months to come.  It will be up to you, to decide what
will happen to those services.

Open Studios is a 501(c)(3) organization located in Reno, Nevada.  We
act as a global Help Desk for communities wishing to explore the
possibility of building and operating community-based recording studios.

If you had a low-end PC-based computer setup with Free/Open Source
Software (FOSS) which is state-of-the-art audio and video applications,
you would be able to make CDs/DVDs that are as good as, or better, than
anything done in a traditional analog recording studio that might cost
millions of dollars to build. 

What we want to see happen, is for every Neighborhood Network Learning
Center to have at least one community-based recording studio that can
serve the low-income, senior citizens, children from poor families.  All
it takes, is a donated computer, some FOSS software, some training,
technical support, and lots of enthusiasm.  Money, of course, makes
everything easier, but we assume there's no money.  :) 

Let's roll some numbers, and see what economic impact these humble
community-based recording studios have on your city:
Let's imagine a homeless person uses one of the community-based
recording studios to create a CD and sells 100 CDs to sympathetic souls:
1CD x $10 x 100 sales = $1,000
Now, Let's use a nonprofit organization that uses a community-based
recording studio to create a fund-raiser CD, and sells 100 CDs to
supporters:
same thing = $1,000
Expanding that to include all 13 community-based recording studios in
the city of Boston:
13 x 1CD x $10 x 100 sales = $13,000
Finally, imagine that each community-based recording studio puts out 1CD
per week.  Over the course of one year:
13 x 52CDs x $10 x 100 sales = $676,000 a year 
generated by these humble community-based recording studios.  This
number, is obviously, very conservative.  Yet, it demonstrates the
economic power brought to each Neighborhood Network Learning Center that
integrates a community-based recording studio into their program.

Digital recording tools provide users the opportunity to create CDs,
DVDs, public service announcements (PSA), tv shows, radio shows, even
full-featured films.  They provide nonprofits with the tools to create
world class multi-media fund-raising campaigns, small businesses with
the tools to create world class multi-media marketing campaigns, city
agencies to create extremely affordable multi-media community
presentations.

If you'd like to explore the idea, and want to enter into a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) with Open Studios, please let us know.  All our
services are free, so just ask away. As we like to say, we may be free,
but we are the best.

Thanks, 
Tom Poe 
Open Studios 
Reno, NV, USA 
www.ibiblio.org/studioforrecording/