Joy marks 20 years with live extravaganza

MELBOURNE-based LGBTI radio station JOY 94.9 celebrated 20 years on the air over the weekend, marking the occasion with a 24-hour live audio-visual broadcast on World AIDS Day, the most technically ambitious project ever undertaken by the station.

General manager Conrad Browne told the Star Observer a number of elements had to come together for the broadcast, which was managed by presenter Dean Beck.

“We used six cameras in the studio with audio visual mixers, and we did everything we usually do on air for an outside broadcast but we also filmed it and streamed it live back to the audience, as well as putting pre-produced content in there that we’d gathered during the day,” he said.

Browne explained volunteers were collecting footage from WAD events to package into content for the broadcast. He said incorporating the visual element was the biggest challenge, effectively turning the station into a TV station for 24 hours.

The broadcast came off the back of week-long celebrations for the station’s 20^th birthday, with long-standing and former volunteers recalling how it all started.

“It was really amazing hearing former volunteers and people who were here right from the start just how overwhelmed and impressed they were with how Joy has not only continued, it’s grown so much more than they had ever imagined it would,” Browne said.