Live from Town Hall, it's the commission

Longboat Key Mayor Jim Brown struck his gavel, called the Oct. 3 regular Town Commission meeting to order and asked those in attendance to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

If you’re one of the 349 viewers who, as of Monday, Oct. 10, clicked on the meeting video at ustream.tv, Brown’s call to order probably wasn’t the first thing you saw or heard when you clicked “play.”

You probably saw a commercial that reminded you that you can “now print from virtually anywhere” with HP ePrint.

As the meeting continued, you probably saw banner advertisements at the bottom of the screen.

“It was a little surprising,” said Maggie Brenner, wife of Vice Mayor David Brenner, who watched the meeting online. “You’re watching this official meeting and then you keep seeing a ‘Sesame Street’ ad.”

Former Commissioner Gene Jaleski expressed disapproval of the advertisements in an Oct. 4 email exchange with Commissioner Jack Duncan.

“What is a wealthy community doing with adds (sic) on our website?” Jaleski wrote. “I hope this ends as of last night. Also, I have checked with a few neighbors and we all had difficulty getting the video to run and had to play the various controls to start the video with all the ads.”

According to Ryan Bodie, whose company, Studio 26 Productions, produces the live-stream video, removing the ads would come at a cost. The website that his company uses to stream the meetings charges a fee of $100 to $250 per meeting to remove commercials; the fee would be passed along to the town. A commercial-free subscription is also available to users for $3.99 per month.

Bodie’s company agreed to offer the live-stream service at no additional cost to the town during budget negotiations. The commission considered removing videotaped meetings from its budget but reconsidered after Bodie offered to add live-stream video to its services at no cost to the town. At a Sept. 12 budget workshop, the commission directed former Town Manager Bruce St. Denis to add $10,000 to continue its contract with Bodie’s company on a six-month trial basis. The town will evaluate the service, including the number of viewers the videos receive, after six months.

Of the 349 viewers the first live-stream video received, 41 were live viewers, 15 of whom watched the entire broadcast.

Bodie said he that he is pleased so far with the results of the inaugural broadcast and wants to work toward generating viewers.

“It’s something that needs to grow as we tell citizens that there’s this tool that you can use and invite them alongside to take part in it,” he said.

Instant access
All regular Longboat Key Town Commission meetings and workshops will be broadcast on a live-stream basis for the next six months. To access videos, go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/town-of-longboat-key-commission-meetings-live. The link is also available at the town’s website, longboatkey.org, under the “Meetings & Minutes” tab.