I'm Tom Bozic and I created and maintain this behemoth of a site!

Hmmmm....I've had a interest in Australian television - both its programmes and its presentation - since time immemorial (probably when I was about 4 years old, I don't know), although I only took a serious interest late in 2002 (or thereabouts) when, on a night with nothing better to do, I hopped onto my computer (not literally, that'd be dangerous), fired up my web browser, surfed over to a search engine and typed in "australian tv logos" (or "promos", or something like that - it doesn't matter) and discovered a whole heap of websites with various downloadable clips regarding various aspects of Australian television presentation, including station IDs, promos, signposts, jingles and the like (James' (then) site was probably amongst them, not sure). I also discovered a Yahoo Group devoted to the discussion of Australian television presentation ("austvlogos"), which was quite fascinating to read and at times engaging to participate in.

All of this took me by surprise - I had no idea that there were other like-minded people who shared an interest in an aspect of television that is often dismissed and ignored by most people, yet (of which I am firmly convinced) is just as important as the programmes themselves. On-air presentation gives a channel its identity and also (if done correctly) maintains a sense of continuity between programmes and breaks; without it, viewers may feel unsettled, confused, annoyed, etc. and perceive the operators of the channel as unprofessional (case in point, the now-defunct community station C31 Sydney, which was practically devoid of any kind of continuity :P). On-air presentation is an art form, and I'm glad that other people feel the same way too.

I met James online in June 2004 - back then he was searching for people to do "write-ups" for his (as-yet-to-be-developed) website - he had taken down his previous site (for various reasons which I won't go into here - they're mentioned in other parts of this site) and I put my hand up to help, even if my knowledge of Australian television history was still limited (do recall telling James that my knowledge was "a cut above knowledgable, a cut below encyclopaedic" - quite a few cuts below, in reality :P) - my main interest all along was to develop this site, however, someone else was already attached to that task....or so it seemed. As I got to know James better, it became apparent that the development of the site was going nowhere fast; basically, James wanted an easy-to-maintain site with password protection...and he wanted it all done for free, which proved to be a problem, as few people were willing to give up their time for a considerably mammoth undertaking - someone had to create all of those pages for all of those clips, so after I attempted to fix a few Dreamweaver templates created by the previous so-called "professional" web developer, James handed over development duties to me and, since I had nothing better to do, I stayed (and am still here today) and worked on his site and on February the 1st, 2005, the new site was launched.

Developing the site was quite a challenge and as a result, I believe I have become a better web designer and programmer. I've also learnt quite a lot about Australian television history from the many people who have contributed to this site, quite a few of whom are now good friends, and also from countless trips to the library where I have conducted research for the site's articles. But ultimately, I have James to thank for giving me the opportunity to develop my skills, for teaching me quite a bit about the technical aspect of television (I've no trouble telling Betamaxen apart from Betacams now!), of which he is certainly well-versed and for sharing with me a part of his Archive. I was quite enamoured with the "Archive" concept right from the start and I am overjoyed that there are people out there like James who are concerned with the preservation of Australia's televisual history in all of its forms, acting as a catchment for programme material and equipment that the official archives and networks may discard (or fail to preserve to begin with) for whatever reasons they may have. Because of this, the power and the responsibility to preserve our history (not just our televisual history, all kinds) is in our hands!

...so thanks, James...and thank you all!

Rank:
Site Admin

Full name:
Tom Bozic

Location:
150?52.544'E 33?52.892'S

Joined: 1 February 2005
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Articles created: 123
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Email:
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