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In 1996 MTN will be saying good-bye to board member Everett Forte. Forte joined the board in 1988 after receiving a call from Randy Adamsick (then at the city's Office of Film, Video and Recording) encouraging him to apply.
"I knew about access from the meetings I'd attended during the franchise negotiations," Forte remembered, "and I made the mistake of mentioning to Randy that I thought it could interesting."
That "mistake" turned into eight years which Forte describes as some of MTN's most exciting. "When I started, MTN was primarily focused on our own local community. While we knew other access centers existed, there was little further connection beyond th e sharing of programs."
"But after we hired Tony Riddle, we followed his vision which included making national and international connections," Forte continued. "One result was hosting the annual conference of cable access centers. It really gave staff and producers here a boos t to see how well we shaped up in comparison."
Forte is also excited by the prospect of community access to the Internet. "It's really a complimentary technology which allows many more options for program delivery. An individual in one community can share information and programs with other individu als around the world in addition to those next door. It's an amazing tool."
Forte described how MTN's mission has changed and expanded during his board tenure. "MTN has become much more than I expected when I started. I saw access as a means to empower people by giving them a forum to communicate voices unheard in the mainstrea m media."
Forte explained, "We need a collage of perspectives. Access brings a mirror to our communities, a truer mirror than the distortions provided by major media outlets. "That's also what is exciting about the Internet," he continued. "It has tremendous potential for democracy at a grassroots level which has never been possible before in our multicultural society. It's suddenly conceivable for one voice to build a commu nity of shared values and goals from the ground up by contacting one person at a time."
Forte sees MTN's continuing role as helping to educate people on ways to use these new technologies effectively. "MTN is there to do training, community building and problem solving as people work to secure and share information," he said.
Among the many moments Forte remembers with fondness is when he suggested MTN move to St. Anthony Main. "We were in a crisis because MTN had been kicked out of the Lehman Center due to lead contamination and we had to find a new home right away," he reca lled. "We were brainstorming and I half jokingly suggested that St. Anthony Main was just sitting there. The staff picked up the ball and ran with it and here we are." Forte had a special thank-you for the people he's worked with during the last eight years. "The real strength of MTN is its staff and its volunteers. They're really terrific. They seldom get the recognition they deserve for the wonderful things they co ntinue to accomplish during this era of municipal budget cutting. They always come up with creative ideas for maintaining excellent service even when the powers-that-be drop the floor another foot. I just wish MTN would get the backing and support it de serves."
With no board or committee meetings to attend, Forte considered how he would use his newly found free time. "Maybe I'll finally take an MTN class. I've wanted to do that for years."
From all of us at MTN, Thank you Everett.
Page One: Good Bye Everett