[RTC List] Your help needed!

[Larry Goldberg]

RTC folks,

Many of you may have followed the past few months developments as the
Humboldt Film and Digital Media Commission (formerly the Humboldt Film
Commission) has been negotiating with the Humboldt County Convention and
Visitor's Bureau (HCCVB) to split off and move to a new home.  For those
of you out of the area or not aware of the issue, here's a recent Eureka
Reporter article to read for some background:
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=30961

In any case, I have been a volunteer on the Friends of the Film and
Digital Media Commission for nearly two years now and have been following
this split for a long time now.  Without going into the whole history of
the matter, suffice to say this is a significant and historical moment we
live in now in the digital world.  As most of you well know, the Internet
and digital media have transformed our world and we're not going back - if
anything, the technological changes are accelerating!  Humboldt has often
been described as being "Behind the Redwood Curtain" but, in reality,
we're often at the cutting edge or at least close to the edge of new
technology.  This is truer today than ever before as we celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the RTC.  The film and digital media industry is a
fledgling industry in this community but it's been coming of age for the
past ten years and needs our support.

The Friends advisory group with whom I've been associated for the past two
years is working very hard to create a new identity for the Film & Digital
Media Commission by relocating it with the Northcoast Small Business
Center and expanding the organization’s focus from tourism development to
economic development (which includes marketing, of course).  This has been
a long time coming and will be very beneficial to many of you in the RTC. 
As some of you may have heard, a major studio is relocating to Marin
County and Northern California is quickly becoming a new hub for the film
and digital media industry.  There are film & digital media jobs going on
right now as we discuss this - right here in our community!  We need to
nurture and grow this industry.  We need your help right now to accomplish
this worthy goal!

This Tuesday, Nov. 27th at 10:30 AM the Humboldt Board of Supervisors has
an agenda item that we've advanced to support the split of the Film &
Digital Media Commission from the HCCVB and allocate funding which is
currently going solely to the HCCVB.  In prior years the HCCVB funded the
Film Commission with some of this money and we're asking for the existing
share to be dedicated to the new Film & Digital Media commission in their
new home.  WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT AT THIS MEETING!  Any of you who support
or work for the digital media industry on the Northcoast should plan on
attending and speaking of your support to the Board of Supervisors.  There
are many "old guard" tourism-based folks (hospitality industry, primarily)
who do not want to see the split occur, so it's definitely a "line in the
sand" moment where your presence can really made a difference.

The Friend group will be making a presentation and then we need as many
people from the community who understand and support our efforts to speak
before the Board of Supes.  The split is almost a "done deal" but we need
the commitment from the county to maintain their support - both financial
and political - to continue our efforts.  With your help we can move
forward in what I believe with be a major boost to our technology economy
for the region.  Thank you for your help and if you have any questions,
please e-mail me ASAP.  Looking forward to seeing you at the meeting on
Tuesday!