Joe Griffin: Frankfort Patch's Person of the Year

Joe Griffin is as much a fixture of Frankfort, where he's lived all his life, as he is of FCTV (Channel 6), the village's cable-access station where he's worked since he was a high school volunteer beginning in the late '90s. 

But his lasting presence in the village--or with Channel 6--isn't what made readers vote for Griffin as Frankfort Patch's Person of the Year for 2011. It's the fact that, as the cable coordinator for Channel 6, he's made a significant contribution to the community thanks to his innovative technical and creative work with the station.  

"Over the years, I've seen him grow creatively, professionally and personally," said Mary Canino, Frankfort's community relations manager, who hired Griffin in his current role in 2004. "It's hard sometimes to be entertaining and educate residents, but he does a very good job at that."

"Joe shows a great deal of pride for where he lives and where he works," she added. "He's done a great job projecting that pride in his community over the airwaves. I'm very proud in what he's accomplished. Working with him is a great thing."

Griffin's connection to his hometown has certainly fueled his personal love of broadcasting, as well as the work he does for the cable channel. 

"It's given me the passion to make (Channel 6) better, because I know my neighbors in my community are watching it, and this is for them, so I want it to be the best that I can do," he said. "What makes me proud is hearing people watch it. You always think people are watching. It's broadcast. It's out there. But when you actually hear people say, 'I saw that.' ... It can even come as a complaint. 'I was watching Channel 6, and I don't like this.' It still means you were watching and that you care enough to tell me about it."

In his time at Channel 6, Griffin has done just about every job you can do at the station, from operating cameras to working the audio board to directing shows and even helping produce an award-winning documentary on the . As cable coordinator, he manages the day-to-day operation of Channel 6, everything from making sure the right fonts are used on graphics to pushing the station in new directions.

"My job is narrow in the sense of what I can do. It's community television," Griffin said. "But what I've been trying to do is make it wider by thinking outside the box with dancing shows, with gardening shows, with meet your neighbors shows.

"Looking at what other communities do, Channel 6 Frankfort is leaps and bounds ahead."

For Griffin, that next "outside the box" idea is using the internet to allow viewers to watch Channel 6 broadcasts on demand. On the surface, on-demand broadcasts could become a nice convenience for viewers. But Griffin also looks at them as a marketing tool.

"It's going to let people watch on their laptops and cellphones whenever they want," he said. "Kids can watch their graduation or just a section of their graduation in their cars. ... People outside of Frankfort can watch one of the Concerts on the Green, whether they're from Palos or Kentucky.

"It will be great for the board to be able to advertise how great our community is with video online to anyone. ... I just think it's really going to open up the world to Frankfort," he added.

Eventually, Griffin wants to make commercials and music videos or work for a small, private public relations company. Until then, he'll continue focusing his creative energy and thinking into making Channel 6 into more than just another cable-access channel.

"We're a community-access television station," he said. "A lot people go, 'Is it kinda like Wayne's World?' And yeah, it kinda is. We're not ABC. We're not MTV. We don't have the huge budgets. But that's what we watch, and that's what we want to make it look like, what we're striving for. We're trying to make it professional, and we've come a long way."

Get to Know Joe

Age: 27
Education: Graduated , 2002. Graduated Columbia College with a degree in television production and direction, 2010.
How he started at Channel 6: As a high school sophomore, Griffin decided to volunteer at the station at the suggestion of his dad, Greg Griffin, a trustee. That's when his passion for broadcasting began, Joe Griffin says.
What he liked about working at Channel 6 as a high school student: "They pointed me in the right direction and gave me a lot of freedom right off the bat. They treated me like an adult as opposed to the young man that I was, which allowed me to grow with them."
Accomplishments: Pushed for more creative and entertaining content on the channel. Worked out the technical challenges associated with broadcasting the meetings after they were moved from Heritage Hall to the .
Technical innovations: Strapping cameras used on snowboards to the top of firetrucks in order get good shots of Santa Claus during this year's tree lighting on . Using an egg timer to make a camera pan slowly to do time-lapse shots of the ice sculpture demonstration at last year's Winter on the Green. 
Favorite part of broadcasting: "I love the technical. I love framing up a shot. I love lighting. I love making somehting look different on camera than to the naked eye. I love people asking, 'How did you do that?' "
Nominating comment from a reader: "He has truly made a difference in our community with his educational, informative and down-right fun programming at Channel 6! He's such a delight to approach about the channel's programming. ... I truly take pride in our community, and I wholeheartedly believe Joe does, too."

Frankfort Patch Person of the Year 2011 Voting

Griffin thanked everyone who nominated him and also voted for him for this honor. He also thanked Mary Canino and the Frankfort Village Board for their support. And Griffin congratulated the other Person of the Year nominees. 

Here's a breakdown of the vote totals for each nominee:

• Harry D'Ercole: 31 
• Joe Griffin: 1759
• Mayor Jim Holland: 24 
• Kathy Klein: 255 
• Denise Lenz: 960 
• Mark Thompson: 14 
• Molly Tromp: 29 

Thanks to all the readers who participated in the nominating process and the voting for Frankfort Patch's first-ever Person of the Year honor.