Latest News

2XXfm 98.3 Listener Survey

2XXfm is conducting a survey of subscribers to discover patterns of listening to 2XXfm gather audience feedback and gauge attitudes to possible changes at the station. To complete the survey, download the document here (.DOC 37KB), and email or send it to the station (details are included).

 

New 2XX Board !

At the 2008 Annual General Meeting, the members of the 2XX Association elected eight (8) members to form a new board of management.  The Board Elect met on Monday 8 December and appointed 3 institutional representatives to join the Board from community bodies.  The Board Elect then chose its new Executive.

The new 2XX Board of Management is:

Sylvie Stern  -  Chair of the 2XX Board and members' representative;
Elizabeth O'Brien  -  Treasurer and institutional member for Welfare and
Social Services;
Pete West  -  Secretary and members' representative;
Bruce Lemin  -  Senior Vice Chair and members' representative;
Kimmo Vennonen  -  junior Vice Chair and members' representative;
Simone Penkethman  -  institutional member for the Arts;
Craig Shannon  -  institutional member for workers' interests;
Mary Martin  -  members' representative;
Tony Hobbs  -  members' representative;
Alastair Coe  -  members' representative;
Brian Byrnes  -  members' representative.

Join the 2XX Association and Get a Say In Management Issues! Membership of the 2XX Association remains at just $5 per year, and 2XX subscribers presenters and volunteers, and other persons from our community, can join at any time. Financial members of the 2XX Association enjoy voting rights at our General Meetings and are able to participate in deciding the big policy issues.  Being a member of the 2XX Association that owns the station and holds the licence is the best way of ensuring due democratic process in the management of 2XX. Read more here.

Notice of AGM

On Friday 31 October the following notice was published in the Canberra Times.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of
Community radio 2XXFM

Friday November 28, 2008
at 6pm, Room 9, Level 2,
the Griffin centre,
Genge Street, Civic.

The AGM is being called in accordance with 2XXfm Inc. Rule 11 and 2XX had received an extension until 28 November 2008.

Nominations for Board membership must be received in writing by the Public Officer by COB 14 November 2008. Nominations must have a nominator and a seconder.

Nominations can be handed to any 2XX staff person, in a sealed envelope clearly addressed to "Public Officer".
They can also be mailed (registered mail only) to;

PO Box 437
Jamison Centre  ACT  2614

to arrive on or before 14 November 2008.

 

ACT Gov grant brings new gear

ACT Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Housing and Territory and Municipal Services, John Hargreaves MLA awarded 2XXfm $70,000 to upgrade essential on-air equipment

Some of this equipment - including the studio console - has been with the station since 2xx began in 1976

2XX is set to receive a makeover in 2008 after the Board was successful in securing funding from the ACT government.  The ACT Minister for Multicultural Affairs, John Hargreaves, announced live on-air that the station would receive $70,000, allowing it to replace studio equipment which, as he pointed out, in some cases is already 30 years old. 

“2XX is a very important community radio in this city, especially for the multicultural community,” Hargreaves said.  “Without it, many members of the community face the risk of feeling isolated, and of being cut off from news and broadcasts in their own language.”

“2XX broadcasts programs in 22 different languages and aims to provide a voice for people who are often voiceless.”

Hargreaves painted a bright picture for 2XX’s future.  With the much needed funding the station will now upgrade to digital radio technology by purchasing computerised mixing panels, as well as further recording and broadcasting equipment. 

“In this electronic age, with the right equipment, a community radio station can provide internet streaming to all parts of the world and enjoy far greater connectivity with the broader community radio network,” he said.  “New equipment for 2XX means a new era for the radio station.  I’m sure this additional funding will now allow 2XX to reach a greater audience base.”

In partnership with fellow 2XX Board members, Vic Rebikoff and Vice Chair Sylvie Stern played a major role in the stations successful application for additional funds.

“We're extremely thrilled to receive this important recognition from the government, with the upgrade of our equipment,” Sylvie said.  “It's a wonderful acknowledgement of the committed work we do at 2XX, and of the service we provide, which includes the social, cultural and educational interests of the Canberra community through broadcasting.”

2XX replaced the old loudspeakers with three pairs of what are called Mackie HR824 Mk2s ‘Active Loud Speakers’, and they’ve got amplifiers built into them, which is really good because it means that they can’t be damaged so easily and they’re of a similar quality to what we had originally. 

As well as the replacing the old consoles with new Elan Audio Kestrel 16 mixing consoles, and the loud speakers, we’re also replacing our CD players with Denon DNC635’s.  After some years of heavy usage the CD players wear out.  They don’t have as long a life time, they’re not meant to last thirty years.  

We’re also buying a really accurate clock system, so that when people say the time on 2XX it really will be correct. When we’re dependent on external things, like the news and crossovers, we can be sure that we get things to air on time.

The official Community Radio 2XX Equipment Up-grade Launch of the new re-fit of 2XX’s recording, training and on-air studios, was held on Tuesday 8th July 2008 at 11.00am by The Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister John Hargreaves MLA. 

 

Events

2XX broadcast live from the Tally Room at CIT Reid on 18 October 2008 during the count for the ACT Election, owing to a team assembled by Chris Warren comprising anchor Liz O'Brien, Kimmo Vennonen on sound editing and technical support, David Bromage on online updates, Tim McCann on the Molonglo electorate, Ebenezer Banful on Ginninderra and me, Michelle Dunne Breen, on Brindabella. Our live crosses to the studio every half hour from 6pm to 9:30pm were enabled by presenters Marianne Mettes (oz music show) and Kieran O’Brien presenter (Q Radio).

The team worked well together at the frantic pace of the high-energy situation: as members of the public and candidates alike stared hopefully up at the tally room board, we'd hurriedly discuss between crosses the implication of the numerical blizzard of inflowing information, elucidated by David Bromage's and Tim McCann's swift and incisive reading of the figures tables on the Australian Electoral Commission website (and muddied by the paper reams of preferences flows calculated and supplied by the AEC) as we'd scribble down the relevant counts to our electorates. Steve Pratt, an early casualty, was an even earlier visitor to the Tally Room, there before the sun set on the day and on his political career. Pre-poll psephologist Malcolm Mackerras was seen floating between tables, at one point asking us if we wanted to interview him, but his predictions were yesterday's news – he was trumped by our own floating psephologist Ray Polglaze, who provided some canny insights into implications of how the count was going: for example, that Community Alliance's Val Jeffrey might actually get up in Brindabella on preferences flows (and as it turned out, on a first-preferences-only count he would have).

Among interviewees nabbed were ultimately triumphant Meredith Hunter for the Greens, unsuccessful Independent Mark Parton and outgoing MLA Bill Stefaniak.

We all felt the outside broadcast from the Tally Room went really well and that 2XX is well set up to stand beside the mainstream media in situations like this. 2XX was in fact the first media outlet to call the result of 7 Labor, 6 Liberals and 4 Greens - Liz O'Brien saw it way before any of the other media outlets, the result only becoming known many days later. Up until then, it was believed that Labor and the Liberals would be even on 7, with the Greens getting 3 seats).

 

Past events

 

A Celebration of 2XXfm

Thurs July 5, 2007

Join Words Apart... Canberra News Extra... and Sound Print for A Celebration of 2XXfm

Featuring: Solo Violinist Erin Patrick, Performance Artist Troupe 442, Acoustic Musicians and much more.

Member for Ginniderra & Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly, Wayne Berry gave an entertaining and enlightening presentation on "The Voice of The Community in Action"

 

Feeling Hot - 2XXfm Quiz night.

Friday June 29, 2007

The 'Feeling Hot' Trivia fundraising quiz was a great success, and was
attended by just over 100 people, raising $2,700 (after expenses) to
keep 2xxfm on the air. 

The winning team Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs just
managed to best the other teams to take away their Trivia Champ
Trophies.