PNB Technology Committee Minutes 5/21/2004<br />
<br />
An organizational meeting of the Pacifica National Board Technology Committee was held via teleconference on Friday, May<br />
21, 2004, at 10:00 am PST, 1pm EST, using the facilities of freeconference.com. The meeting was convened by PNB Director<br />
Dave Adelson.  This being the first meeting of the Committee, there were no minutes to approve.<br />
<br />
Eleven Members present, constituting a quorum: Dave Adelson, Steve Conley, Terry Goodman, Patty Heffley, Mark Hernandez<br />
(left early), Tracey Lewis, Roger Manning, Sarv Randhawa (left early) , Curt Schroell, Wendy Schroell, Cleveland Spears<br />
(late)<br />
<br />
Four Members absent: Al Delaney, Nile El Wardani, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Zarinah Shakir<br />
<br />
Guests: Cidrac Franklin, Otis Hardy Maclay, Ursula Ruedenberg (briefly)<br />
<br />
Convener: Dave Adelson<br />
<br />
Authority and Notice: This meeting was called at the request of the PNB Chair on May 10, 2004 (see APPENDIX A).  Notice<br />
was distributed on May 17, 2004 (see APPENDIX B).  A draft agenda was distributed to Committee Members (APPENDIX C).  <br />
<br />
The meeting was webcast live on http://kpftx.org.  Meeting audio is currently archived online at<br />
http://www.kpftx.org/archive.htm#pnb040521tech.  Times indicated in brackets may be useful as an index to the audio<br />
files pnb040521a.mp3, pnb040521b.mp3, and pnb040521a.mp3. Other than invited guests, there was no provision for public<br />
participation.<br />
<br />
The meeting was called to order by covener Dave Adelson at approximately 10:18 am PST.<br />
<br />
Without objection, Patty Heffley was appointed Notetaker and Steve Conley was appointed Timekeeper.<br />
<br />
There was discussion of the proposed agenda.  Items were resequenced for the convenience of Members planning to leave<br />
early and the revised agenda was adopted by unanimous consent.<br />
<br />
The Members present introduced themselves with brief statements of backgrounds and qualifications.<br />
<br />
Maclay gave a brief report concerning the NFCB Tech Committee [10:51]<br />
 <br />
There was discussion of technical issues related to the digital conversion of FM broadcasting.  Hernandez referred<br />
Members to the links http://www.ibiquity.com and http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/digital and agreed to write something up<br />
for inclusion in the Committee Report.  Later in the meeting, C. Scroell offered to make available an edited version of<br />
a radio program about digital conversion.  It can be found at http://acksisofevil.org/digitalconversion.html<br />
<br />
Manning announced plans to have a place on http://www.pnb.org for committee reports and minutes.  This is at<br />
http://www.pacifica.org/about/board/index.html.  C. Schroell agreed to make Tech Committee Minutes available with the<br />
meeting audio at http://www.kpftx.org/archive.htm#pnb040521tech.<br />
<br />
There was discussion of technical issues related to content distribution among broadcasters [11:19].  Maclay agreed to<br />
write something up for inclusion in the Committee Report.<br />
<br />
There was discussion of technical issues related to distribution of content to listeners.  In the discussion of WiFi<br />
LANs, mention was made of Tim Pozar's website http://www.lns.com<br />
<br />
Adelson moved to postpone to the next meeting discussion of technical issues related to network infrastructure [11:39]. <br />
This was approved without objection.<br />
<br />
C. Schroell referred Members to http://www.radio4all.net as an example of effective content distribution and suggested<br />
that Pacifica assist the A-Infos Radio Project financially to increase bandwidth and storage space for Pacifica<br />
programs.<br />
<br />
Motion by Lewis (as amended) [11:48]<br />
<br />
Resolved:<br />
That the PNB Technology Committee requests that Pacifica Executive Director Dan Coughlin arrange for a written report on<br />
who is doing what for Pacifica's web streaming and archiving projects and what their technical approach is. <br />
<br />
Further Resolved:<br />
That the PNB Technology Committee requests that this status report include the costs so far and projected.<br />
<br />
Motion passed by unanimous consent.<br />
<br />
Ruedenberg joined the meeting and reported on content distribution methods in use by Pacifica affiliates.  This included<br />
a brief report on the status of the Audioport Project, which was approved by the iPNB as the MP3 Warehouse Server.  Work<br />
on the Audioport is pretty much complete, awaiting final attorney review of  user agreements.  Details of the MP3<br />
Warehouse proposal are in the PACE report at http://www.pacifica.org/documents/pdf/PACE.pdf <br />
<br />
There was general agreement that the Committee should divide itself into four initial workgroups to study and report on<br />
areas of emerging technology, that Pacifica members with interest and expertise in these areas should be encouraged to<br />
assist, and that attempts should be made to include participation in each workgroup from all Pacifica signal areas. <br />
Committee members will be polled via email to identify their areas of interest.  The initial workgroups will focus<br />
upon:<br />
<br />
  1) Technical issues related to broadcasting<br />
  2) Technical issues related to content distribution from producers <br />
     to broadcasters<br />
  3) Technical issues related to content delivery to listeners<br />
  4) Technical issues related to Foundation infrastructure and information<br />
     technology<br />
<br />
There was discussion about the election of a Committee Chair [12:20].  C. Schroell, Adelson, and Hernandez were<br />
nominated and accepted nomination.  There was agreement that the election of Chair should be conducted via email.<br />
<br />
Motion by W. Schroell [12:25]<br />
<br />
Resolved:<br />
That Dave Adelson shall serve as Chair Pro-Tem (Continuing)<br />
<br />
Approved without objection by unanimous consent.<br />
<br />
Sarv Randhawa and Mark Hernandez left the meeting [12:31]<br />
<br />
Motion by T. Goodman<br />
<br />
Resolved:<br />
That Terry Goodman shall serve as Secretary Pro-Tem (Continuing), that the Secretary Pro-Tem shall coordinate a survey<br />
of Committee Members on the election of a Chair, that the Chair Pro-Tem shall coordinate a survey of Committee Members<br />
on the election of a Secretary, that there shall be a call for nominations and candidate statements to be distributed by<br />
email followed by emailed ballots, and that Member preferences shall be tabulated by IRV.<br />
<br />
Approved without objection by unanimous consent.<br />
<br />
Spears joined the meeting [12:39].<br />
<br />
There was discussion about meeting minutes, the Maclay and Hernandez contributions to the Committee Report, and the<br />
possibility of a Technology Committee meeting at the upcoming PNB meeting in Houston.<br />
<br />
Manning will ask the PNB Chair if there is time for a Technology Committee report at the Houston meeting. <br />
<br />
The next Committee meeting will be at the call of the Chair Pro-Tem (Continuing).<br />
<br />
Maclay will phone Pete Korakis regarding the Audioport project.<br />
<br />
Adelson will contact the Executive Director to ask if there is material relevant to the Technology Committee already<br />
planned for the ED's Report. <br />
<br />
All reports and the minutes of this meeting should be sent to PNB Secretary Roger Manning and copied to Lailoni and<br />
Maclay.<br />
<br />
These minutes will be recrafted into the form of a Committee Report and a draft distributed by the Secretary Pro-Tem,<br />
with reference to the Maclay and Hernandez contributions which will be appended prior to the PNB meeting.<br />
<br />
There was a motion to adjourn [12:52].<br />
<br />
Without objection, the meeting was adjourned at 12:53 pm PST.<br />
<br />
<br />
Terry L. Goodman<br />
PNB Technology Committee Secretary Pro-Tem (Continuing)<br />
(These minutes were approved on 9/27/04.)<br />
<br />
-----<br />
APPENDIX A - CALL OF PNB COMMITTEE MEETING<br />
<br />
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 12:52:27 -0700<br />
To: PNB Technology Committee Members<br />
From: David Adelson <dadelson@ucla.edu><br />
Subject: 1st National Tech Committee Meeting<br />
<br />
dear all,<br />
if you're getting this note, it means that pacifica national board <br />
secretary roger manning believes you to be a member of the National <br />
Technology Committee, and i for one am inclined to trust him...<br />
<br />
i've been asked by marty durlin to convene the first committee meeting, <br />
which will be via telephone conference call, with web-streaming to provide <br />
public access to the meeting.<br />
<br />
i would like to convene the meeting on Friday, May 21 at 10 am PST, 1 pm <br />
EST.  is this acceptable to a majority of the members of the <br />
committee?  please email me directly to let me know if this works for you, <br />
and if not, what other times would be good for you...my own preference <br />
failing Fri. the 21st would be Sat. the 22nd.  we must have 10 days advance <br />
notice i believe, so i would like get the meeting noticed by tomorrow <br />
(tues) afternoon.<br />
<br />
among the agenda items for the first meeting will be election of a chair <br />
for the body...plz let me know other issues you'd like considered...there <br />
are a number of them, incl. for example a report back from the preliminary <br />
tech discussion at NFCB, and the planned tech retreat at GRC in late <br />
june.  other issues might include: wireless internet technologies and how <br />
they'll affect pacifica, pacifica's uses of the web (current and planned), <br />
best ways to connect stations that want to broadcast large chunks of <br />
pacifica station programming but can't afford hours and hours of ISDN calls <br />
(e.g. the recent station started in columbus, oh that wants to broadcast <br />
large expanses of KPFK programming), linux at pacifica, remote studios, <br />
mobile studios, station infrastructure, issues of digital conversion (which <br />
was raised by our KPFK GM, eva georgia, at our last LSB meeting), etc etc.<br />
<br />
also, might we want to ask to have a couple of guests on the call to give <br />
some brief reports or be there to offer some advice?  i'm thinking jim <br />
bennett and otis maclay might be able to offer a lot...anyone else?<br />
<br />
looking forward to hearing from you and working with you...<br />
best regards,<br />
dave adelson<br />
<br />
-----<br />
APPENDIX B - NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING<br />
<br />
From: Roger Manning<br />
To: Pacifica National Board<br />
Cc: LSB Secretaries and Others<br />
Subject: NOTICE of PNB Technology Committee meeting<br />
Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 12:53:14 -0400<br />
<br />
PLEASE PUBLISH WIDELY<br />
<br />
In addition to the 3 PNB committee meetings just announced for this week <br />
there is also the previously announced Pacifica National Board Technology Committee <br />
meeting.<br />
<br />
Fri., May 21, 10:00am Pacific, 11:00am Mountain, 12:00pm Central, 1:00pm Eastern<br />
PNB Technology Committee Regular meeting<br />
<br />
To be webcast on http://kpftx.org<br />
<br />
Roger Manning, PNB Secretary<br />
212-219-1873<br />
http://wbai.org<br />
http://wbai.net<br />
rogermanning@yahoo.com<br />
http://web.wt.net/~rogerm<br />
<br />
-----<br />
APPENDIX C - PROPOSED AGENDA<br />
<br />
Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 22:32:30 -0700<br />
To: PNB Technology Committee<br />
From: David Adelson <dadelson@ucla.edu><br />
Subject: agenda for 1st pnb tech committee meeting<br />
Cc: Dan Coughlin, Marty Durlin, and Others<br />
<br />
dear all,<br />
i'd like to recommend the following agenda for our conference call set for <br />
friday May 20 at 10 am PST, 1 PM EST<br />
(the call can be accessed directly at Dial-in Number: [Access Number and Code Redacted -TLG]<br />
<br />
Proposed Agenda (total time: 2.75 hrs)<br />
         note: while i know 2.75 hrs is awhile, i think the time will race <br />
by, and we need to spend the time to get off to an effective start...if <br />
we're disciplined about the administriva, we may be able to get it done <br />
more quickly. however, my experience in the newly formed democratic <br />
republic of pacifica is that nothing goes quickly, and the substantive <br />
parts keep suffering because not enough time is allotted.<br />
<br />
(0) Call to order & appoint note-taker aka secretary pro-tem (if someone - <br />
not roger manning - would be prepared to volunteer for this it would be <br />
much appreciated...) and time-keeper (5 min)<br />
         - note: the job of the secretary pro tem is crucial for this <br />
meeting since a report on the meeting will be due asap (see below for more <br />
details)<br />
(1) Approval of agenda (10 min)<br />
<br />
(2) Introductions (90 sec each) (25 min)<br />
<br />
(3) Report back from NFCB tech presentation/meeting and initial discussion <br />
of plans for GRC tech retreat (30 min)<br />
(i've asked otie, who was at the NFCB meeting, to give a brief report on it <br />
to frame the discussion) - i've also taken the liberty of inviting jim <br />
bennett of kpfa and nate scott, operations director at kpfk, to join us...i <br />
apologize for not inviting the operations folks from wbai and wpfw, since i <br />
don't know them, but if anyone from those signal areas would like to <br />
forward this message to them so they can join us, i'd appreciate it.  if <br />
there are any committee members who object to this invitation, please say <br />
so at the beginning of the call and we can take a vote on it...<br />
<br />
(4) Developing a work plan<br />
         (a) how will we split up the work to accomplish it most <br />
effectively (15 min)<br />
         (b) what are the priorites of the group (40 min)<br />
         (c) splitting up the work as agreed upon in (a) to begin to move <br />
forward on (b) (10 min)<br />
<br />
(5) Elect Committee Chair (10 min)<br />
         - note: i placed this here so that we've all had a chance to <br />
interact a little bit before deciding on it...<br />
<br />
(6) Assign responsibilities for assembling Tech Committee Report for <br />
upcoming PNB meeting (the report should be submitted by the end of the day <br />
Friday if possible, if not, then within the following day or two) (15 min)<br />
<br />
(7) Set date of next meeting (5 min)<br />
         - note: i recommend that the next meeting be Fri. June 18th at 10 <br />
am PST, 1 pm EST...this is in part to give sufficient time before GRC 9 <br />
(June 24-27 in Santa Barbara - see http://grc.kcsb.org/ for more info) to <br />
discuss our progress and plan for the meeting<br />
<br />
<br />
btw, i'll be making the following suggestions for 4(a) and 4(b)<br />
for 4(a)<br />
         i think we should set up caucuses, either organized by signal area <br />
or by subject area, to do the work between committee meetings to organize <br />
specific agenda items for meetings, incl. doing whatever research is <br />
necessary, compiling and distributing relevant info, and making <br />
recommendations.<br />
<br />
for 4(b)<br />
         based on the feedback i've seen from my initial call for subjects, <br />
i think it might make sense to split topics up into the following 4 areas, <br />
and i thought maybe we could spend 10 min on each<br />
                 tech issues related to broadcasting (e.g. digital <br />
conversion, antennae&transmitters)<br />
                 tech issues related to distribution of content between <br />
broadcasters and from programmers to broadcasters (e.g. if other stations <br />
want to carry our content or vice-versa what ways are available - ISDN, KU, <br />
web, etc etc - ways of doing remote programming, etc)<br />
                 tech issues related to distribution of content to <br />
listeners (webcasting, the impact of new technologies in wireless internet, <br />
etc.)<br />
                 tech issues related to network infrastructure (e.g. IT <br />
issues incl. the potential for using linux, archiving, phone systems, good <br />
ways to do conference calling, issues related to interaction with and <br />
getting feedback from listeners incl. surveying mechanisms, how to <br />
streamline tallying votes conducted using STV or IRV, etc.)<br />
<br />
these are just my suggestions and i post them here so you've had the chance <br />
to see them...again, my apologies for not having sent this around sooner<br />
<br />
see you soon,<br />
best,<br />
dave adelson<br />
convener, pnb tech committee<br />
<br />
<br />