Celebrating a senior media milestone

In Janary 2002, Channel 6, a resident/staff broadcasting venture, went live at Greenspring, an Erickson Living retirement community in Springfield, Va. Each Erickson Living campus has its own local access channel and operates as an independent station, bringing its residents taped shows, discussions and original programming.

Working side by side with staff, residents wrote, produced and broadcast Village in Motion, an informational program for residents that covers a wide range of topics—from the arts to politics to wellness—that was profiled in the March 2007 issue of Nursing Homes/Long-Term Care Management.

Still going strong, this award-winning program recently celebrated episode 2,500. Village in Motion airs live Monday through Friday from the on-campus studio at Greenspring. Today, the station staff has grown to 35 resident volunteers. From hosting to taping to audio coordination, they continue to leave their mark on this vibrant, highly regarded venture.

“Channel 6 is constantly bringing on guests who are experts in their field regardless of whether they live in the community or not,” says Executive Producer and CTV Manager Diane Gatsis Havinga. Most volunteers have no broadcast experience and they are trained in all aspects of production by the Channel 6 production team.

In its history, Channel 6 at Greenspring has received 21 Telly awards for its outstanding production work. Telly awards recognize local, regional and cable programs as well as other video, web and film productions.

Innovative programming continues to be broadcast. Recently two shows were produced on the Civil War. “Our goal,” says Gatsis Havinga, “is to be an effective source of information to the community we serve."

Photo: (L to R) Andrew Seegers, Mary Hopfner-Thomas, Diane Gatsis Havinga

Share your “Good Stuff.” Send information on your achievements, outstanding personnel, inspirational residents and more to Executive Editor Sandra Hoban at shoban@iadvanceseniorcare.com.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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