Austin Public Fosters Nonprofit Collaboration Through Amplify Austin Day Livestream Initiative
For several years, Austin Public has provided invaluable support for local nonprofits on Amplify Austin Day. Through their Amplify Austin Day Mission Control event, they offer small nonprofit organizations studio space, equipment, and specialized training to take their Amplify Austin Day campaigns to the next level and raise awareness through livestreaming and PSA creation.
We sat down with Doug Gray, Austin Public Station Manager, to talk about the value of this unique and important partnership and his favorite impact stories.
I Live Here I Give Here (ILHIGH): How does Austin Public work with I Live Here I Give Here to help small, local nonprofits create compelling Amplify Austin Day campaigns?
Doug Gray (DG): We provide our annual Amplify Assembly Mixer and Open House event in January, which provides nonprofits in Austin the ability to come see our community media facility, learn about our ongoing programs and meet other nonprofit staff. During the mixer we provide organizations with information about using video and live streaming content in their marketing and fundraising strategies in their Amplify Austin Day campaigns and beyond. This is also where we present our Mission Control event for Amplify Austin Day.
Our Mission Control event is where small, local nonprofits can kick start their Amplify Austin Day campaigns. The first night of Amplify Austin (this year, March 5th) from 6-10pm we offer participating nonprofits work space, access to computers, social media live streaming from our three studios on their Facebook or Youtube site, tech support, refreshments, and community. The nonprofits attending the Mission Control event also have free access to our studios and tech support during the month of February leading up to Amplify Austin Day. These studio sessions in February can serve as a consultation for their studio slot on Amplify Austin Day, studio training or filming a PSA or shoutout to use during Amplify.
Our goal is to not only support 12-15, small, local nonprofits while they run their campaign for Amplify Austin Day but also to encourage and inspire these nonprofits to do this year round with the resources and programs we provide our community.
ILHIGH: How does this partnership advance Austin Public's mission?
DG: Austin Public is managed by The Austin Film Society. AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. Austin Public helps serve this vision by providing a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train, collaborate, and gain access to the tools to create and distribute media. Its programs empower individuals and nonprofit organizations to create film and media projects that speak to the local community, facilitate community building, and diversify the media landscape.
Our partnership with ILHIGH helps us reach the local nonprofit community and the constituents they serve.
ILHIGH: From your perspective, how can nonprofits benefit from using video to tell their stories?
DG: Aside from video content being one of the most widely used mediums on social media, it is also the most engaging way of storytelling, which plays a key role in any nonprofit’s outreach and fundraising. The combination of the visual and auditory aspects of video means it can contain all other media types (print, music, photos, etc) and the ability to demonstrate an action or convey a message in a very concise and visual way is perfect for this day and age of short attention spans distracted by flashy videos and advertisements. It helps potential donors put a face to the organization and better connect them with what they do for the community, whether it’s interviews with their staff or patrons or watching the activities of those staff and/or patrons. From our perspective, emotion visualized through video has a much larger impact than print.
ILHIGH: Do you have any favorite impact stories or key takeaways from previous years?
DG: I love seeing how creative the returning nonprofits get each year with their live streaming efforts.
My favorite memory from the past two Mission Control events was of Ellen Fuller, volunteer co-chair of Wreaths Across America, and how she went from having zero knowledge of Facebook live streaming at our event in 2018 to being the most prepared nonprofit for the live streaming in 2019. In 2018, with the encouragement and support from our staff, she went live on the WAA Austin chapter Facebook page by herself (out of our Studio 2) with nothing more than some notes on paper and her passion for WAA. When she came back in 2019 she had a complete “run of show” spreadsheet down to the minute with what she planned to do during her studio live time. She had around 10 people with her including a bike group called the Wind Therapy Freedom Riders or “WTFrs” as well as a WWII veteran who was presented a flag that flew over the state capital by a representative of Senator Donna Cambell. She also came back on the Friday of Amplify Austin Day and did a live wreath building demonstration.
Another fun experience was seeing The Austin Bat Refuge reach their fundraising goals while onsite within the first 4 hours of Amplify Austin Day after they had finished doing their Facebook live streaming session with us.
We’ve had ponies, bats and dogs in the building during these events. There’s never a dull moment at our Mission Control event!
ILHIGH: How can community members get involved with Austin Public and support Austin Film Society on Amplify Austin Day?
DG: Aside from donating to the nonprofits participating in our Mission Control event, It would be great if community members would share the live streams from Facebook as the participating nonprofits go live from our studios and also engage in the live stream by asking questions.
Keep an eye out as Austin Bat Refuge, Dance Another World, We Are Not Broken, Economic Growth Business Incubator, The New Philanthropists, Austin Chamber Ensemble, Friends of Paws in Prison, GALS - Giving Austin Labor Support, Austin Community College Alumni Network, Science in a Suitcase, Pflugerville Pets Alive!, Friends of McKinney Falls State Park, Capital of Texas Team Survivor, Les Dames D'Escoffier Austin Chapter, and Camp Fire Central Texas stream live on their social media platforms from Austin Public on March 5, 2020 from 6-10pm.
About Austin Public
Committed to freedom of speech and expression, Austin Public is a non-exclusive and content-neutral media studio that offers low- and no-cost training, equipment, facilities, and content distribution services to all Austinites. Its programs empower individuals and nonprofit organizations to create film and media projects that speak to the local community, facilitate community building, and diversify the media landscape. Austin Public operates cable channels 10, 11, and 16 (cable channel 10 being the longest continually running public access station in the country) and simultaneously streams the channels. Austin Public also provides video-on-demand and over the top distribution services. Find their streams and video-on-demand content here.
About Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS supports filmmakers towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
ILHIGH extends special thanks to Austin Public, Doug Gray, and Erica Deiparine Sugars.