Two weeks ago Stephanie and I decided to do something to help raise some money for our dear friends Alan and Mary Gagnon.  We wanted to use our talents in the best way possible and so Stephanie suggested a telethon, and I said that we should do it over two nights.

We set it up in the Hardwick Trust building, right across the street from the Gagnon’s video rental store, where the Galaxy bookstore used to be.

The Full Setup

I gathered video and audio gear from the TV station and my stash too. It was a four camera switch, 12 audio input mix setup, recording through Final Cut (the iMac) and live streamed on Ustream (my laptop).

Engineering Central.

Stephanie gathered items donated by local artisans and craftspeople and we had a silent auction for the fundraiser part.

Errol running the switcher.

I had by Big Light (750w Mole Richardson Baby Solarspot) up on the second floor lighting the facade of Gagnon Video which was the backdrop of the set.  We would do an hour of music using three cameras, and then switch to Camera 4, which was setup in the back room where the Silent Auction stuff was and Stephanie would talk to the camera while I set up the next musical act.  When I was ready, I would signal her and we’d switch back to the music. I used the TV station’s titler to put up the website and phone number.

All of the video is at: backontheirfeet.com

Preview monitor. Gagnon’s video is in the lower right, Camera 4.

We raised $4400!

Afterwards we did a full breakdown and came up with the costs if this had been something more than a shoestring for our friends.  We decided it would cost about $7500 to pull off what we did, and that would pay for stage hands and camera operators, a merchandise captain, a website updater, etc.