What I learned over the summer

With the announcement of our Project: Do Good winners early this week, it marked the unofficial end to my summer. Over the summer in support of Project: Do Good, I made nearly 60 visits to community group, service organizations, committees, boards and individuals asking for great ideas to improve the Mitchell community. 

That request was met with over 65 ideas for the community to make Mitchell a better place to live, work and play. On Monday, we announced eight award winners from 55 submissions in two of those categories. During the announcement, on a number of occasions I mentioned that we had far more good ideas than we had money available. That is what I learned over the summer, Mitchell is a vibrant place and our community has tremendous ideas for growth. 

When we give people a voice and allow them to chart a direction for our community, anything is possible. I look forward to working with the award winners to take these ideas and turn them into reality. I’m also excited for the potential and possibility that can come from the ideas we weren’t able to fund.

Please keep an eye on our progress as we’ll updating you as we go and if you have ideas for community please share them. If you have a personal stake in the improvement of Mitchell, please work to take on one of these projects and help make a difference.

Ideas? Check!

A portion of Project: Do Good closed earlier this week, as we cut off submissions for our LIVE and PLAY categories on Tuesday. The final tally? 55 ideas split between the two categories, an amazing response from the community. We currently have every submission displayed on our windows just inside the main entry of the mall (photo below) and invite you to stop out to see what ideas people have conjured up!

The next step is to review all of the submissions and select finalists (that is set to happen next week). We plan to meet with the finalists of the LIVE category on Monday, September 16th and convene with PLAY category finalists the following week on Tuesday, September 24th. From the finalists, we'll whittle it down a little further by choosing our winners and how we will divvy up the $7500 available in each category. Those winners will be announced at an event at the Highland Conference Center on September 30th.

Keep an eye on your email and the newspaper and an ear on the radio in the next week to learn who has earned their way into the finals.

Channel 90 Coverage

We're back for the fall season with our coverage of local sports from Mitchell High School and DWU. This week we kick the action up a notch with Kernel football LIVE from Joe Quintal Field on Tuesday, Thursday and the Varsity opener Friday (vs Harrisburg).

We get our first look of the Kernel volleyball team in action over the weekend when Harrisburg comes to town on Saturday.

As usual, you can follow all the action on Channel 90. 

Check our full fall schedule here - http://www.switchtomitchelltelecom.com/localtv/schedule.php

Make a SPLASH!

Our annual community summer fun day is coming back later this month for it's third year. SUMMER SPLASH is set for Saturday, July 27th and offers FREE admission to the Mitchell Aquatic Center along with fun and games all day capped off by a poolside showing of HERE COMES THE BOOM after sunset (around 9pm).

When we prepare for events like Summer Splash, I'm reminded how great of a community we have in Mitchell. Let's keep that rolling and you can help make Mitchell a better place to LIVE, WORK and PLAY by sharing your ideas during PROJECT: DO GOOD (read more here: http://mit-tel.blogspot.com/2013/06/doing-good.html).

There is still time to participate and we encourage to check out www.DoGoodMitchell.com for more details and to submit your ideas to improve Mitchell. And, if we can ask you to do one more thing, please spread the word about Summer Splash and Project: Do Good.

Who's Hungry?

As a part of our Do Good Summer and Project: Do Good, we want to say thanks to our customers with our annual Customer Appreciation Lunch at Culver's next Tuesday. We're buying burgers, fries and sodas from 11:30am to 1:00pm on Tuesday, July 2nd - who's hungry?

Look for the Mitchell Telecom staff member at the restaurant (HINT: we'll be in the blue polo) and we'll get you hooked up with a voucher for lunch. You'll also see a stuffer in your July bill, which also has all the details.

The lunch is to say thanks to our customers for their continued support and is a part of our Project: Do Good (Read more here: http://mit-tel.blogspot.com/2013/06/doing-good.html). We'll have more information on how you can participate in sharing your ideas for making Mitchell a better place to LIVE, WORK and PLAY this summer.

We look forward to seeing you next week and hearing how we should make Mitchell better (between bites of course)!

Doing Good

Mitchell Telecom announced a new project aimed at repaying some of the goodwill the Mitchell community has bestowed upon our company since our launch. We unveiled Project: Do Good our initiative to make Mitchell a better place to LIVE, WORK and PLAY with over $30,000 of cash and in-kind support pledged to get the creative juices flowing.

So, let me ask you the question - What would you create or enhance to make Mitchell better? Tell us your ideas at www.DoGoodMitchell.com and let's make it happen!

Here's the full press release...

Mitchell Telecom unveils “Project: Do Good”  for  Mitchell!

Mitchell SD. 

Mitchell Telecom Subsidiary Manager Scott Peper held a press conference

Tuesday at the Highland Conference Center to announce a plan to return some of the “goodwill” the Mitchell community has provided to Mitchell Telecom since they installed their first customers in 2005 to today when the company’s fiber optic network provides service over 3,500 Mitchell homes and businesses.  

Mr. Peper  went on to say “ We are proud to call Mitchell home, and take great pride in Mitchell’s distinction as a Smart21 community of 2013. We’d like to think Mitchell Telecom, our network and services, played a role in gaining that distinction in conjunction with a number of individuals and businesses throughout Mitchell. It’s wonderful to see the some of the secrets that make Mitchell a great community, get a little notoriety. We take tremendous pleasure in announcing a project we are kicking off today and will work on this summer, fall and beyond. We’re calling it Project: DO GOOD , and it has ONE simple goal – TO MAKE MITCHELL BETTER! ”

Through Project: Do Good, Mitchell Telecom is searching for ideas that will make Mitchell a better place and the company is offering over $30,000 in cash and in kind support to kick start creative juices in three broad categories.

LIVE – ideas aimed at improving Mitchell’s quality of life.

WORK – searching for entrepreneurs in the community looking to develop a business

PLAY - ideas with the intent of enriching the experiences of young people.

Mr . Peper went on to say “If you have an idea that will make Mitchell a better place to LIVE, WORK or PLAY, we want to partner with you and make it happen. We will accept submissions until September and you can submit ideas or find out more about Project: Do Good  at www.DoGoodMitchell.com.”   

If you have any questions or would like Mitchell Telecom to get a time set aside to talk specifically with groups on how they can participate email Scott Peper at speper@mitchelltelecom.com

Hockey Donation

Here's us (Scott, Brice and Carrie) along with Chamber's Sonya and Katie (in the front) during the Chamber's Golf Outing on May 31st.



Why is that important? Well, during the tournament we were sponsoring Hole #18 and playing a couple games for a couple great prizes. One of those prizes happened to be an iPad Mini and we asked interested golfers to pitch in $5 in hopes of winning the mighty-mini. Nearly $500 later ($491 to be exact - I don't know how we ended up with the extra $1), Sally Moody won herself an iPad and we had some money to donate to a worthy cause.

We choose to give the cash to the Mitchell Skating and Hockey Association as they work to pay for the second sheet of ice currently under construction and help pay for the many extras they'll need to make that place sparkle. What a great group for Mitchell and one that really loves their sport. Best of luck to them and we're happy to play a really small part of that effort.

You can learn more about the drive and how you can help here - http://www.mitchellmarlins.com/page/show/688121-twice-the-ice. GO MARLINS!

New Channels Coming May 15th

Alright Mad Men and Kardashian fans (I assume those groups are mutually exclusive), you are a few days away from  being able to watch your shows in HD. Mitchell Telecom will launch AMC HD and E! HD to subscribers on Wednesday, May 15th.

AMC HD will be found on channel 653 and channel 665 will be home for E! HD. Enjoy!

Still not seeing HD? Add it to your account today by calling 990-1000 or email us at info@mitchelltelecom.com.

Network Interns Wanted

As we near the end of the school year, we'll bid farewell to our current cast of network interns that assist us with Mitchell Telecom's video network. These are also the same folks that bring you most of our coverage on Channel 90 throughout the year. We would like to thank both Tanner and Carina and wish them the best of luck as they head toward their professional futures - we should expect big things out of them!

That change means Mitchell Telecom is looking for new interns to work with our staff during this summer and next school year. This is a paid position and one that offers an unique set of challenges to help students prepare for their chosen career path. We're looking for students that have an interest in technology and working in a field of study that lends itself to the job. In the past, we've worked with Multi-Media and Graphic Design folks from DWU as well as Telecom, SCADA and Satellite Communications students from MTI. If you have an interest please submit a resume and cover letter to info@mitchelltelecom.com. Also, if you know of someone that might fit the bill, please ask them to do the same.

Here's a little bit about the position...


Position: Network Intern - Video 

Overview: This position will assist in the management, control and troubleshooting of our video network. They will gain an intimate knowledge of the hardware and software elements that power our video product while helping to support our customers. We will expect the interns to learn software, server management and video production tasks that are vital to our cable system across our terrestrial, online and mobile networks.

Requirements: Applicants should be a student in an field of study that relates to the position.

Time: Summer 2013 + 2013/14 School Year

Submission Date: Please send resumes and cover letters to info@mitchelltelecom.com before Friday, April 19th.

The WiFi, it's extending

It's crazy to think about the explosion of wireless device use in our homes over the past couple years. If your house is anything like mine, you've seen exponential growth in the devices that use your in-home Wi-Fi network. Personally, I went from a laptop, iPod Touch and smart phone using our home's Wi-Fi to two laptops, two smart phones, a Roku box, Blu-Ray Player, iPads and iPods - literally five times the number of devices over a pretty short period.

We now NEVER CONNECT TO THE INTERNET VIA A WIRE in our house and haven't done so in quite some time. The byproduct of that growth is a bigger importance and reliance on our Wi-Fi network to make entertainment and information available throughout the home. As you might expect (and probably experience), we found certain parts of the house had better connectivity to Wi-Fi and other areas (garage, bedrooms, deck, etc) would have reduced or no connection.

I needed a way to extend our home Wi-Fi network and do it in a manner that didn't cost an arm and a leg. Thankfully, our techs were able to find a solution that wins on both accounts and connects to our existing router - a home wireless access point.

After using the access point ourselves, we now want to make this product available to our customers who find themselves in the same boat. You can add a home wireless access point to your Wi-Fi network for only $79.95 and we'll have our technicians do the install, set up and make sure your devices get connected.

HOME WIRELESS ACCESS POINT (pictured below)

- Extends the signal from your existing wireless router

- Boosts the Wi-Fi signal in and around your home

- Professionally Installed and Setup

ONLY $79.95

Add one today - email info@mitchelltelecom.com to get started

Mitchell Telecom's home wireless access point

Psych!

Look what you have to look forward to tonight at 9pm! Psych makes it back for Season #7 in the long anticipated conclusion to last April's cliff hanger. Hopefully my man Henry can make it through and Shawn & Gus can put my levels of 80's music and (then) pop culture back to normal!

Busy Week for 90 / Schedule Changes

The start of post-season play is always a fun time for our Local Content Channel 90 crew and that fun began earlier in the week.  Tonight (Wednesday) doesn't have anything on tap for games, but we start hot and heavy tomorrow.

District 10B Girls action is slated for 6:30 & 8:00 tomorrow with the winners moving to Saturday's Championship. That game is also scheduled for 6:30 on Saturday and you'll be able to see it on Channel 90 as well. Friday brings two more District Championship games (11B & 12B), both of which can be seen live at 6:30 and 8:00.

The added hoops action on Channel 90 will bump our weekend coverage of Marlin's Hockey to Channel 91. Two games are slated for the weekend featuring Marlin Boy's Varsity. These will be our final hockey games covered for the year, so make sure to tune-in for a big weekend of action.

Hockey Coverage This Weekend (All Games Covered on Channel 91):
- Friday 7pm: Marlin Boys vs Brookings
- Saturday 4pm: Marlin Boys vs Aberdeen

We'll have a similar smashed schedule next week as Girl's Hoops hits Region play and the Boy's kick off Districts. Keep an eye on the blog and your guide for more information.

Anti-Virus Product Launched

Mitchell Telecom now offers VIPRE ANTI-VIRUS, which brings customers the right mix of security technology with the best protection available. This service is built for computer users that need the ultimate online security protection, but aren't technology experts. 

Once you complete the quick self-install the software monitors and protects your computer without having to continually update the service.  The service stays in place (and up to date) for as long as you keep the service – VIPRE removes the guesswork by ensuring you have everything you need to stay protected online.

Our two pricing plans offer options for users that just need to protect themselves as well as those that have to an entire house of computers to worry about.

-          Single Computer Install: $4.00/month (Covers a single PC or Laptop)

-          Multi-Computer Install: $5.00/month (Covers up to three PCs or Laptops)

Add it to your account today by calling 990-1000 or emailing info@mitchelltelecom.com!

Go Kernels!

Happy Friday Kernel Fans! We were unable to get permission to bring you a copy of the internet feed over our cable system for tonight's big match-up in Sioux Falls. The best I can offer is a link to the webcast.

This option is from the Argus Leader and includes a chat with their sport's reporter - http://www.argusleader.com/section/washhssports

This feed comes from the Sioux Falls School District - http://media.sf.k12.sd.us/live_washington.php

With either of the above options, I'd suggest pairing the coverage with the play-by-play styling of either of our crack radio stations in town - http://www.kmit.com/ or http://www.1490korn.com/ - GO KERNELS!

In addition to the streaming options, we have a couple local options on our local content channels. We'll feature Kernel Wrestling (vs Yankton) on our flagship Channel 90 at 7:30 and a half-hour earlier, you can tune into Marlin Hockey action on our overflow Channel 91.

Tomorrow will be a jammed pack day of hoops. We have a DWU / MHS Boys Tripleheader on Channel 90 starting at 1PM. We'll also punch through an Internet feed from the MHS Girls trip to Aberdeen on Channel 91 starting at 7:30.