Photo/Video Assignment: City Council Caucus Meeting [IN-PERSON ONLY]

601 Lakeside Ave E Cleveland, OH 44114 (Directions)

Cleveland City Hall, Room 220 (large conference room)

NOTE: This is an in-person-only meeting.

For this assignment, we are asking you to document this Cleveland City Council Caucus meeting with horizontal photos and vertical video. We may use your photos and videos in our summaries of Documenters’ work, or elsewhere on the Signal Cleveland site.

What you will capture in photos and video:

• Scenes of the room.
• City representatives and others presenting and answering questions.
• The audience watching the hearings.
• Anything of note that happens when you are in the room (e.g. protests, heated exchanges, important moments, etc.).

What you’ll submit:

• 15-20 landscape/horizontal photos.
• 3 vertical videos 1-5 minutes in length.
• Captions of your photos with the names of people in each photo (to the best of your ability). Send captions to Lawrence at lawrence@signalcleveland.org

Hours and pay:

• This is a** 2 hour assignment** that starts when the meeting begins.
• You do not need to stay longer than 2 hours. But, you are welcome to.
• Pay for this assignment is fixed at 6 hours total (2 meeting hours + 2 hours for prep and review + 2 hours for attending in-person).
• Total pay for this assignment is fixed at $108.

For this assignment:

• You will need to attend this meeting in-person in the Cleveland City Hall, Room 220 (large conference room) (601 Lakeside Ave.)
• You will need to present a photo ID to enter the building.
• You will need a mobile phone with the ability to take high resolution photos and video, OR
• A camera with the ability to take high resolution photos and video.

How to submit: You will submit your photos, video and names document in the “Documents” section of your assignment page (linked in the “you next assignment” email):

• Click the button that says “Add document.”
• For photos, click the “Image” link in the drop down menu, and select “Choose a file” to upload an image. Do this for every image you are submitting. Enter a caption for each image that includes the names of the people in the image.
• For video, click “File” link in the drop down menu, and select “Choose a file” to upload a video. Do this for every video you are submitting.
• For captions, send the photo file names and captions via email to Lawrence at lawrence@signalcleveland.org.
• Don’t forget to complete your assignment checklist!

Some photo/video resources:

• Here are a few tips on taking photos and video from the Documenters Field Guide.
• How to take awesome pictures with your phone camera (WikiHow)
• How to shoot a video (WikiHow)

Some tips for taking photos and videos in a public meeting:

• Under the Ohio Open Meetings Act, you are absolutely allowed to document local government meetings with photos and video.
• In general, try to get as close to the table as you can to get shots of individuals, as well as the whole group.
• You may have an easier time shooting from the ends of the table.
• However, you may be told that you cannot record from certain positions in the room.
• If you’d like, we can provide you with a Documenters badge to identify yourself as a Cleveland Documenter.
• If asked about your presence at the meeting, feel free to use this language: I am a Greater Clevelander trained to document public meetings in the public interest. My work as a Cleveland Documenter is published in partnership with Signal Cleveland.

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A City Council Caucus is an informal gathering of Cleveland City Council members. Council members use the meeting to discuss and gain clarity on issues and processes and to hold political discussions. They do not vote on legislation in this meeting.

Council caucus meetings are held in person and are NOT broadcast by TV20 or live-streamed to council’s YouTube channel.

**NOTE: **At a past caucus meeting, Documenters noted a lack of available seating in this room (chairs were reserved for city hall staff and Cleveland school district staff). Seating availability can vary from meeting to meeting, but on that occasion, a Documenter was left with the options of standing or sitting on the floor. Please don’t hesitate to ask council or city hall staff for additional chairs if there is no seating available. This is a meeting open to the public, after all!

Find Documenters coverage of past City Council meetings here: https://cleveland.documenters.org/reporting/?agency=181

For more information visit to Cleveland City Council’s website: https://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org.

Check the source website for additional information