Membership Information

Residents of Leominster, as well as organizations and institutions affiliated with the city and those affiliated with such organizations are welcomed and encouraged to use these resources. In order to gain access to production resources and training a person must become a member by:

1. Showing proof of Leominster residency; working or attending any school in Leominster; affiliation with an organization serving Leominster. (All members must be directly affiliated with the Leominster branch/chapter in the case of regional, state or national organizations.)
2. Complete a membership application.
3. Pay the current membership fee. The fee is waived for educational and governmental organizations when programming involves those organizations.

Members age 18 and younger must be accompanied by a parent or guardian while using the facilities of Leominster Access Television.

Orientation and training program must be completed and fees paid before members are allowed access to Leominster.TV facilities and equipment. Memberships run on a calendar year basis. The annual membership application and fees for continuing members are due on or no later than January 1st of the calendar year to remain in good standing. New memberships will not be prorated by date of membership.

For those with no affiliation with Leominster, but wishing to become a member of Leominster.TV for broadcast purposes, the membership fee is $50.00 per year. Please note, Leominster affiliated members have priority in receiving broadcast slot availability, scheduling times and numbering of showings, which are scheduled and decided by Leominster.TV staff.

Leominster.TV Training

We are proud to offer the Leominster community a variety of topics to teach you about television. Whether you want to create your own television program, help somebody with theirs, or just learn how television is produced, we can show you how it's done!

Training is FREE with your annual membership!

If you're new to Leominster.TV, then we require you to take the Basic Production Workshop before you may take out equipment, then you may take any or all of the other training at your own pace! Leominster.TV’s training program is now geared toward helping people develop specific projects. When a member asks for training, we ask what they want to do. We then arrange for training on a one-to-one basis if possible, in those specific areas that are currently most important to their project development. We want them to be developing a project or training to help another producer with a production.

We believe that people will be more successful if they receive training that is relevant to something they are committed to doing. To that end, we won’t schedule folks into a training session unless it is something they really need to complete a project they’ve started or to train as a crew member for another producer. In other words, we won’t register you for that edit training if what you really need is training in the studio.

For more information, please call Robert at (978) 537-7760 ext. 6 or email training@leominster.tv

Equipment Reservations/Pickup

Leominster.TV maintains a collection of professional and semi-professional equipment that is available to be checked out by qualified members. Members must obey the following rules:

1. Equipment must be reserved at least one day in advance and is given out on a first-come first-served basis. We strongly encourage calling us 24 hours in advance, if it’s an emergency 12 hours notice, but not more than 3 weeks in advance.
2. You must complete and sign an "Leominster.TV Portable Equipment Checkout" form.
3. Equipment can only be checked out for 2 days each week. There are dozens of people using our equipment so you must only check it out for the time you actually need it.
4. When reserving equipment, you must provide a day and time for pickup as well as a day and time for return. Remember, other people are counting on using this equipment so it is very important that you stick to your pickup and drop-off times.
   Failure to pick up the equipment on time may result in your losing your reservation. Also, failure to return equipment on time may result in temporary loss of privileges.
5. Leominster.TV staff will determine the amount of equipment necessary for your production so we may better serve all of our members.
6. Before you leave, make sure everything is there because you will be responsible for it all when you return.

Equipment Use

Now that you have the equipment, you must use it responsibly! Members must obey the following rules:

1. Never leave equipment unattended!
2. When using a tripod, always make sure someone is standing next to it.
3. Never leave equipment in your car! If you do and it is stolen our insurance will not cover it and you will be responsible for replacement.
4. Never use equipment outdoors unprotected in the rain or snow.
5. If equipment is stolen, report it to the police in the city or town you are in immediately. You must get a police report and give us a copy. If we have a police report we can file a claim with our insurance company and you will only be responsible for the deductible (a few hundred dollars.) Without the Police report, you will be responsible for the entire cost of replacing the equipment (possibly several thousand dollars!)
6. Above all, treat is as if it were your own equipment!
7. Any videotape stock needed for productions can be purchased from Leominster.TV, but it must be paid for at the point of sale. No IOU's.
8. Equipment can only be used to produce programming that will be broadcast on Leominster.TV. For instance, equipment can not be used to videotape your cousin's wedding or your sister's speech class project for school. That is, of course, unless those are a part of a program that you are producing with the intention of broadcasting on Leominster.TV.

Equipment Return

1. Equipment must be returned on time! If you expect to be more than 20 minutes late, call us immediately to let us know.
2. When returning equipment, only give it to an Leominster.TV staff member. Do not leave the equipment in the hallway, a room, or with someone you do not believe to be a staff member. Remember, you are responsible for the equipment until it is safely returned to us and the "Leominster.TV Portable Equipment Checkout" form is checked and signed by a staff member.
3. If you do not get approval to keep equipment longer than the original reservation, you will be fined $5 for each day you are late.
4. If any equipment is broken or does not function property, you must tell Leominster.TV staff immediately so that we can make notes as to specific problems for repair.
5. You cannot borrow more equipment until previously checked out equipment is returned.
6. Remember, you are responsible for ALL equipment loaned to you!

Broken Equipment

1. Notify Leominster.TV staff immediately if you suspect any equipment is not working properly.
2. Fill out an "Equipment Repair Form" and give it to a staff member.
3. You will not be charged for repair of equipment as long as it was not broken because of improper use or reckless handling.
4. If equipment appears broken or about to break at the time of checkout, tell the staff member and ask that they make a note of it on the checkout form. This will make sure you are not held responsible when you bring it back.
5. Normal wear and tear on equipment is expected and you will not be held responsible.

Edit Suites

1. Reservation of edit suites must be made in the same way as with equipment.
2. Non-Linear Edit Suites may be reserved for no more than 3 hour blocks at a time. You may extend your session block time into the next with the permission of LTV staff if there are no reservations for that room after your scheduled time.
3. You may not use more than 48 hours to edit a single program. If more time is needed, you will be billed $10 for each additional hour you use.
4. Food and Drink are not allowed in edit rooms.
5. Making copies of copyrighted tapes (professional movies, etc.) is not allowed.
6. Changing any wiring is not allowed.
7. You must clean up after yourself.
8. Any videotape, CD or DVD stock needed for edit sessions must be purchased and paid for at the point of sale. No IOU's.
9. Members can only use the edit suites to work on projects to be broadcast on Leominster.TV. (see "equipment use" #8)
10. Member project files that sit unused/inactive on an edit suite computer for longer than 3 weeks will be automatically erased without notification.

Computers

1. Leominster.TV computers are to be used for television production and graphics only.
2. Members are not allowed to install or uninstall any programs or utilities on Leominster.TV computers.
3. Leominster.TV Staff/Office computers are off-limits.
4. Members are not allowed to access the internet through any Leominster.TV computers.
5. Computers must be turned off in the appropriate manner.
6. Computers may not be used to store, download, view or create obscene material.
7. Members are not allowed to use any e-mail messaging on Leominster.TV computers.

Studio & Control Room

1. Reservation of studio and control room time must be made in the same way as with equipment.
2. Any / All studio productions must be approved by Leominster.TV staff by submitting a written proposal at least two weeks prior, outlining the proposed production. This proposal must include your plans for providing a full studio crew. (a full crew includes camera people, director / switcher, audio board operator, graphics operator)
3. Live studio programming is not allowed!
4. You are responsible for finding a full crew before you will be allowed to reserve time in the studio. A list of trained volunteer crew members is available from the Executive Director. If you know someone who wants to crew your show but needs training, contact the Executive Director. On duty Leominster.TV staff can not be used as part of your crew!
5. A Leominster.TV staff member will be available at all studio productions for technical assistance if needed, but not as a dedicated crew member.
6. You must book studio time during the normal Leominster.TV hours of operation. The Leominster.TV studio facility is available to members after Leominster.TV business hours at the rate of $50.00 per hour. Special arrangements must be made for this with the executive director at least 3 weeks prior to use.
7. Producers are allotted up to a 2 hour block of studio time (based on availability and including set-up and clean-up time ), not to exceed 4 hours per week. If you go over your 2 hour block of time, you will be charged a $50 fee.
8. Food and Drink are not allowed in Studio and Control Rooms.
9. You must clean up after yourself and make sure all studio gear is put away before leaving.

Membership & Training FAQ