Plainsboro Township hired consultant Doug Donaldson to get the township’s television station up and running. He did such a good job, that they decided to hire him for another year.
Township Committee voted on December 29 to award Donaldson, a Plainsboro resident, a $39,”000 contract to continue working on the station and programming development for all of 2006. This follows a contract for $25,”000 awarded to Donaldson for consultant work on the station for the final four months of 2005.##M:[more]##
Plainsboro, working in tandem with the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, last year began broadcasting on Comcast Cable Channel 3. The station was provided by Comcast as part of the township’s franchise renewal agreement with the cable provider and contains content provided by both the school district and the township.
Comcast has a similar deal with West Windsor Township for Channel 27. Both channels are administered by station manager Dan Monroe, who was hired by the school district. Programming is produced at a television studio at High School North.
Plainsboro hired Donaldson, who works with New River Media of Washington, D.C., last August to assist the township in the development and production of local programming on Channel 3. Because he is a township resident, Donaldson, 42, had a leg up on other consultants considered due to his familiarity with the community. He was also serving as a member of the township’s Cable TV Advisory Committee at the time.
“My interest initially was purely as a volunteer,” Donaldson explains. “When the township decided they wanted to step up what they were doing with the station, I raised my hand.”
According to Township Administrator Robert Sheehan, the township used a portion of the funds made available after the elimination of the position of in-house communications officer and shifted it towards the hiring of a consultant for Channel 3.
“We reached out to various firms to get expressions of interest to assist us, and Doug stepped forward,” says Sheehan. “For Doug, in part, this was a labor of love because he is a local guy. He was on the Cable Advisory Committee and wanted to see the channel move forward. At the same time, we felt that his extensive qualifications were important to the critical startup period the channel was going through.”
As the end of the year — and the end of Donaldson’s contract — approached, Sheehan says he decided to look into how much it would cost to bring the consultant back for all of 2006.
Donaldson went back to his firm and came back to the township with a $39,”000 price tag. Sheehan brought the offer to township committee, which unanimously approved a contract in that amount.
Donaldson and his wife, Julie, are 10-year township residents, living in the Village area on Prospect Avenue. They have two children in the WW-P School District — a son in second grade at Wicoff School, and a daughter in sixth grade at Community Middle School. Julie worked for a time as the childrens’ librarian at the Plainsboro Public Library.
Between 2002 and 2005 Donaldson owned and operated Donaldson Media Management, specializing in working with multiple clients on projects involving television and digital media program development. In the middle of last year, he joined New River Media, but works mostly from his home office in Plainsboro.
Last year Donaldson served for four months as a member of the township’s Cable Television Advisory Committee until he learned the township was looking to hire a consultant to help develop programming for Channel 3. He responded to the township’s request for proposals on the position and left the Cable Advisory Committee after being awarded the a $25,”000 contract.
Donaldson says he offered to work as a volunteer on the committee, and then as a paid consultant, because he felt that he could use his skills and knowledge to give back to the community.
“When I heard they were looking to put together a cable channel, I figured I could bring a lot of the relationships I had to help bring programming to the community. I know of a lot of resources for free programming, in addition to bringing my passion and professional skills to bear.”
Donaldson’s father is a retired stock broker and money manager, and his mother an interior decorator. The couple live in Maine.
A graduate of Brown University, Donaldson began work in the industry in 1985 in freelance production services. Before starting his own consulting firm, he worked at various companies including Citidel Motion Picture and Video Center, the Blackwell Corporation, PRIMEDIA, New River Media, and Cerebellum Corporation.
One project Donaldson recently helped produce was a six-hour live webcast from Times Square on New Year’s Eve in conjunction with Clear Channel Broadcasting and MSN. Content from the event is still available online.
He is currently executive producing a program for the Discovery Science Channel on Sabermetrics — the analysis of baseball through statistics. The program, which will air around the 2006 Major League Baseball All Star Game, features baseball writer/statistician Bill James, who coined the phrase Sabermetrics and is one of its most vocal proponents.
Donaldson says quality over quantity has been his philosophy in generating content for Channel 3. “We’ve erred on the side of caution as to releasing programing. We’d rather have a few quality programs rather than a lot of junk.”
The channel’s current core programming revolves around two shows produced by the township — “Eye on Plainsboro,” and “Spotlight Specials.” In addition, the township is also filming township events such as Founders Day and cultural and arts celebrations organized by the library and recreation department.
“We try to document local events so that people are aware of the multiple things the township is doing,” says Donaldson. Assisting in the filming of cultural events as cameraman is volunteer John Macaluso, a resident of West Windsor.
“From the outset, we defined our strategy as having some consistent destination programming,” says Donaldson of the two shows.
“Eye on Plainsboro” features Township Administrator Robert Sheehan talking about various township issues. It also includes segments presented by the Plainsboro Police Department, and Community Development Director Ernest Freeman on planning issues and projects around town.
The “Spotlight Specials” feature a township official filmed at various locations of interest in Plainsboro. Shows taped thus far have featured Mayor Peter Cantu at the Plainsboro Preserve, Forrestal Village, and the Plainsboro Public Library.
Donaldson has also worked to acquire free programming to fill out the Channel’s schedule, including programs from NASA, Access New Jersey, and Spotlight on Middlesex County.
Future plans for the channel, according to both Sheehan and Donaldson call for trying to purchase and install a satellite dish. “A satellite dish will allow us access to additional outside programming, in some cases at no cost,” says Sheehan. “We will be able to maintain fresh episodes of NASA programming and access a variety of educational and arts programs available through the Annenberg Foundation. We will also explore other outside programs available through the satellite dish.”
Donaldson says they are also focusing on producing a special feature program on a quarterly basis. The program currently in production is “Welcome to Plainsboro,” a program introducing the township and its amenities to new residents. Also planned is a special celebrating community volunteers scheduled for April, which is National Volunteer Month.
Being considered for this summer is a special on outdoor nature in conjunction with the Audubon Society, which runs the Plainsboro Preserve. The township will also continue monthly production of “Spotlight Special,” and “Eye on Plainsboro.”
