Southfield, MI April 27, 2012: ENCO1 manufactured by ENCO Systems, Inc. is the recipient of the radio broadcast industry’s most prestigious technology honor, the Radio World “Cool Stuff” Award, given by a panel of expert engineering judges at the 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

Radio World’s “Cool Stuff” Award-winning products, announced by U.S. Editor in Chief Paul J. McLane, are selected each year by a panel of radio broadcast engineers as notable for their design, features, cost efficiency and performance in serving radio broadcast users. The winners will be featured in Radio World, which is read by thousands of broadcast professionals in the United States, around the world and online.
Only a small number of products were chosen for the Radio World “Cool Stuff” Awards from among the hundreds, if not thousands, of new products on display at the convention.

ENCO1 is a drastic departure from the traditional model used by radio broadcasting facilities for automation system design and integration. It offers the latest in virtualization, redundancy and IP Audio technologies in a two server platform. ENCO1 is a pair of specialized servers designed around a unique specification for the radio IT environment. It increases efficiency, decreases installation time and costs and can lower a facility’s total cost of ownership. ENCO1 is capable of replacing 5, 10, 20 or more workstations and servers in a single facility.

Patrick Campion, Director – Radio Sales and Product Development for ENCO Systems, Inc. was honored by the award. “ENCO has a long history of innovating and being the first to bring exciting new product categories to the radio IT industry. We are glad that Radio World has again chosen our company as a Cool Stuff Award recipient; it validates our opinion that our hard work is well worth the effort!”

ENCO1 is a pair of specialised servers designed around a unique specification for the radio automation environment. It increases reliability, reduces operating expenses, and decreases your automation system’s footprint – all while lowering a facility’s total cost of ownership. ENCO1 is capable of replacing 5, 10, 20 or more workstations and servers in a single facility.

Do more with less with ENCO1! Dave Turner tells all in this Film:

Bedford school, A private school for boys came to Special Media Projects to design and install a fully operational radio facility.

Their studio includes woodwork from Knotty Ash, Sonifex mixing console and ENCO Presenter at its heart offering the students full broadcast capabilities and voice tracking.

The school has a number of “houses” and “common rooms” spread all over the Bedford town centre and wanted to ensure that every location could tune in to the radio station. We installed a complete IP streaming solution, each house having a direct connection to the studio using internet connections and the schools own wide area network.

Jonothan Choy, Media Manager at Bedford School Says “This is an amazing resource for the boys to have. Already, so early on in the project they are producing some really creative, professional sounding stuff. The studio is first class, extremely high quality and a real asset to the school.”

For more information on this or any other school or broadcast studio, please contact us today, we are here to help

YMCA Fairthorne Group Video Production and Photography

The group discovered that although famous for their outdoor pursuites, parents, teachers and young people alike wanted to see more about what was on offer before booking.

Understanding the power of online HD video, Jordan Turner, Marketing manager for the YMCA Fairthorne group says “Our new films really show how amazing the facilities we have on offer are. The viewer gets a real feel for the activities and the magic that surrounds our centre. I am so pleased with the results, the online viewing figures have been much greater than we ever expected and the reaction from our customers has been nothing but positive.”

Special Media Projects are engaged in an on-going project to provide a number of promotional films and photography shoots for the YMCA. The first two, produced in HD highlight the nursery at Fairthorne Manor and the Daycamp activities. You can see both films right here.

For more information about the YMCA Fairthorne Group or to book an activity day (its not just for kids you know) you can visit their website at www.ymca-fg.org

YMCA Fairthorne Manor Daycamp Film

YMCA Faithorne Manor Nursery Film

If you would like more information about our film or photography services, please contact us today.

This however is really a very old method of scheduling radio, things have changed. Peoples expectations have altered and they expect, nay, demand more variety. This is due, in no uncertain terms to MP3 players, random type playlists and online services like www.grooveshark.com and www.spotify.com where by the user selects their favorite album and artist and the software selects tracks from within that search and similar music based on the style of tracks chosen.

Listening trends today have changed drastically, variety is in demand and a wide variety at that. It used to be that radio stations would play only “tried and tested” music, which is why every commercial station and local broadcaster sounded the same, the same songs, over and over again, because research stated that these particular songs worked well with the target audience, forgetting that while repetition works for advertising, it does not work for songs.

In cometh “shuffle scheduling”, something I have been doing for several years. Not because I am a lazy programmer but because it actually works, and works well. By using this “shuffle scheduling” technique your scheduling software produces a music log that is much more natural, or at least what has become natural for most listeners. It is, infact a very simple concept that works like this:

1.
Set your scheduler, whether thats Powergold, Selector, Music Master, Natural Music Ensemble or whatever to IGNORE all rules, apart from same song separation and artist separation.

2.
You need only 3 categories of songs which are:

A-List (these are the high rotation new songs, about 13 – 17 in total)
Core (this makes up the bulk of your playlist)
Recurrent (songs that used to be on the A-list with a lower rotation)

Plot these categories into your clock with something like the following percentage:

A-List 20%
Core 70%
Recurrent 10%

Shuffle scheduling produces a very comfortable sounding, natural playlist. It doesn’t matter to Joe Public whether they hear two female artists playing next to each other, or whether a song ends on a low or slow and goes into a high or fast, their iPod doesn’t discern these differences so what does it matter if their favorite radio station doesn’t.

Shuffle scheduling sounds great, not only that but it makes the task of scheduling a lot easier and faster, especially when using intelligent software like Powergold. There is no need to toil over playlists for hours on end, when with shuffle scheduling techniques you can create a weeks worth of music in minutes. Spend the rest of your time being creative and let your music do the work.

Winner of the NAB “COOL STUFF” Award

Have you ever felt constrained by where you can report from and how much gear you had to take with you? Have you ever wanted to control your DAD system from the road, literally? ENCO presents iDAD and interchange, a pair of tools that free those bonds and enable your system like never before. Now you can make the world your studio.

iDAD is a mobile application for the ENCO DAD and Presenter audio automation studio systems designed initially for the wildly popular iPhone, iPod Touch and brand new iPad tablet device from Apple. iDAD allows your news reporters and announcers to record, label and then send audio from the mobile device directly to their DAD or Presenter automation systems for timely playback using interchange.

iDAD also features a remote control function which allows easy control of a DAD or Presenter system from the mobile device using a simple array of buttons that represent various user definable DAD Command Language (DCL) based functions.

Most DAD networks are well isolated from the internet, and typically for good reason. That’s why we created interchange, the device that provides a safe and secure link from the outside world (iDevices, remote PC’s, etc.) to your DAD network. It is a simple 1RU rack mounted

network appliance with three connectors (power, two network ports). The browser based configurator allows you to easily configure your interchange.

interchange also provides the framework for a number of upcoming “remote oriented” features & products that we’re working on, plus you can run PADapult and a number of additional DAD utilities on the unit allowing you to have a powerful ‘utility players’ on your DAD team. Your investment in interchange will continue to pay divi

dends with new field upgradable optional features in interchange that can be easily added to your system as they become available.

You can have as many of the no charge iDAD apps as you wish (available now from the iTunes App Store), so you can outfit your entire staff if you’d like. You control the access and security though the interchange.

It’s the perfect combination of power, convenience, access and security that lets you take show on the road to anywhere. With iDAD and interchange, the World Is Your Studio.

Professional software for people serious about quality broadcasts.

The exclusive pricing is available to Community, Hospital, Education and small scale internet broadcasters.

See our community radio page at www.specialmediaprojects.co.uk for further information.

If you, like we understand most of the broadcast industry to be, are paying an extortionate fee for playout software and scheduling each month, now is the time to look at your spending and whether it is a necessary expense you need in a recession.

2012 is set to be a year of recovery, so why not expedite that recovery more quickly, lining your pockets with silver, rather than your suppliers.

Our software solutions lead the world in terms of features and power, while remaining cost effective and affordable. We do not charge a mandatory monthly fee, or tax on playout, we keep our costs low and our features high, ensuring that you have the most powerful playout solution on the market today.

For a free evaluation on your broadcast playout, talk to us today. We are here for you, to save you money and help make your business the most successful it can be.

The festival began in 1999 when Jenny Frank (MBE) from the Childrens Society aproached Pete Cooper at YMCA Fairthorn Manor for a venue to hold a meeting for some young carers from all over the country. Pete suggested that perhaps Fairthorn Manor could accomodate 600 young people for a whole weekend, giving them activities to take part in, a time to discuss their needs as young carers and a chance to meet new friends who shared similar experiences to them.

The first year was an amazing success, each of the young people not only having a great time, but it was a rare (at the time) opportunity to talk openly about the needs each of the young carers and the problems they face in their day to day lifes. It was at the Young Carers Festival for example, it was first picked up that many of those that attend (and of course those that don’t) wanted to raise awareness in schools. For a young carer, school work can sometimes be very difficult to complete on time and teachers, unaware of the situation could not accomodate the need for felxibility or even understand why homework was late. It was also realised that young carers do need to be able to talk to doctors about loved ones problems and not kept in the dark… to most, these sound like mundane, simple things to worry about, but for a young person, caring for loved ones, making dinner for siblings, carrying out the day to day household chores, while coping with a full day at school and other responsibilities, they are big, important changes to be made that really can lighten the pressure.

Through the Young Carers Festival, it is not only the profile of Young Carers in schools that has been heightened. The message about Young Carers and their needs has been taken directly into the Houses Of Parliament, into the heart of the UK government its self. As part of each festival, MP’s and politicians, from the Childrens Minister to the Education Secretary get involved with our own version of question time. This gives them the opportunity to get to know some of the UK’s young carers and more importantly, for the Young Carers to tell those in power what they need to make their lifes better. Young Carers of all ages and backgrounds are given the chance to ask some very probing questions about care policy and what the current government is planning to do to to help.

Of course, the weekend is not all about politics, it is mostly about having a weekend of absolute fun, a weekend where problems can be laid aside, the stress of every day life aleviated for a short time. It’s a weekend where new friendships are made, stories shared and social interations encountered. The festival is so important in the development of these young people’s lifes, its often the only weekend they get away from responsibility that would cripple most adults.

Each of the young carers that attends the weekend is different and the festival does its best to cater to the needs, wishes and tastes of everyone. From aporting activities, sailing, kayacking, rock climbing, team sports, team tactical activity, crafts, sports tournaments, live bands on stage, a silent disco, a massive outdoor party, fire works displays and YCFM, the festivals very own radio station… there really is so much to do.

For the whole weekend, each of the Young Carers arrive and live with their care group or project in a gigantic tented village. Some bring their own tents, while others choose to stay in under canvas provided by the YMCA and set-up by volenteers. No cooking is required as the on-site catering team cook over 12000 meals, there is a 24hr coffee shop serving hot drinks and snacks and an army of helpers work 24/7 to ensure the emphasis is on having fun and not worrying about a single thing. The atendees are encouraged to interact outside of their own group, to meet other young people from all over the UK, to make friends, share stories and to take part in as much of what is on offer as possible… of course, if a someone just wants to relax in the beautiful countryside and read a book, thats fine too.

So here we are, 13 years on and the festival gets bigger every year. Young people, now too old to attend the festival, come back to help as volunteers, simply because it is the place that they remember having the time of their lifes and want to share that with other young people in similar situations to their own. It is so hard to describe the atmosphere, no matter what the weather… it is nothing short of magical. From the amazing young people, the abundance of energy, the magic of seeing a young person change for the better in 3 short days.

“When you drive down that long winding tree lined drive to Fairthorn Manor, you can feel happiness in the air, a sense of adventure, fun and magic”, is how one person described arriving at the festival, but words alone do not express how worthwhile, how valuable it is to the young people that come back year after year. The festival is loved, the weekend is cherished and it is, in our minds and hearts, the most important date in our diary every June.

The festival organisers are always looking for sponsorship and we are always looking for great prizes to give away each year. If you can help, we would love to hear from you.

As of today, Special Media Projects is now a “trading name” of The Useful Media Company Limited. You still get the same great service, the same world class products and the same expertise so nothing really has changed. Just our “legal” name and a few things behind the scenes.

Your support agreements continue as they have before but what this does mean however, is that clients currently subscribing to support or monthly payments are going to need to change some details on their banking, we are really sorry about this and we will do everything we can to make the transition as simple and pain free as possible.

If you have worked with us in the past, just check that you update your details according to any new invoices.

We decided to change the company structure round a bit to ensure that as we get bigger, our commitment to you stays strong. By expanding with new departments, new products, features and services, we can continue under a single “entity” which makes things a whole bunch easier for you (and us) to manage. Look out for new services into 2012 and some exciting announcements.

This is great news for everyone, and the new company continues to go from strength to strength. We thank everyone for their support through 2011 and look forward to a great 2012.

Cheers guys!! Happy Christmas and a brilliant new year!!!!

publish your stuff to the web and let you read a bulletin off the screen with the audio all built in? Don’t want to pay every month for the rest of your life for it? Want dedicated support and development of the product, free updates with new features and the ability to file stuff from other sites, via email or on your mobile? You probably need AirScribe – and it’s available, right now.

Create local copy and attach audio to stories for your local site and other sites in your network. File in unlimited categories or genres

search back through your entire history with no need to worry about archiving

email stories in or from your mobile browser.

Get the latest from your IRN feed, with audio ready attached plus limitless RSS and other feeds.

A ‘live feed’ constantly updates with the latest copy filed, wherever it’s filed from.

Tag incoming stories to flag up locally relevant articles. Quickly include national stories in bulletins along with their audio.

When you’re ready, compile your bulletin and read it from the screen, or print it out if you want.

Reach out and publish bits of what you’ve done to Twitter & Audioboo. Publish your content to your website. Tag copy and keep a record of what’s broadcast and compile reports from tags – useful for pending periods. Easily get your content to air and the web.