Rick Miller Keeps Memories Alive With Treasure Coast Multimedia

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Treasure Coast Multimedia commands a bird’s-eye view of downtown Stuart from its second-story studio on Colorado Avenue. A camera that owner and operator Rick Miller affixed to its north-facing window steadily streams a live feed of Haney Circle for the world to watch—or at least for locals to have a look-see.

“It’s pretty popular,” Miller says of the 24/7 broadcast that gained several subscribers during the days leading up to Hurricane Dorian. “It was down for a couple of hours before the storm, and in that time I got three calls and two emails asking me where the camera was.”

Miller, who is celebrating the 15th anniversary of his video production company, has gained a following not only for the webcam but also for the professionalism of his projects. The bulk of his business involves converting old videotapes to digital files.

“It’s interesting,” he says. “When a mom brings me a tape of her kids growing up, in the past I converted them directly to DVD. Not today. With technology changing, it’s USB drives.”

His customers like the fact that he does all the work in-house.

“I don’t ship anything out,” he says. “They drop off all of their precious tapes to me, and they know they are not going to leave the building. That’s what I sort of pride myself on.”

The 50-year-old University of Florida graduate with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication production now finds himself delving into the field of 360-degree video. Working with the Stuart Heritage Museum, he has piloted a virtual reality video tour of the five city markers comprising the Historic Sailfish Trail.

“The unique aspect of 360-degree video is being able to see everything—not just looking in front where the camera is pointing,” he says. “The experience is enhanced even further when wearing a virtual reality headset.”

He lives with his wife, Francine, in a 1970s-era home close to the office and belongs to the Stuart Main Street board of directors, volunteering his time and talent on the Digital Communications subcommittee.

“I’ve met so many people,” he says. “I feel like the community knows me, and I feel like I know the community.”

When and why did you become involved with Stuart Main Street?

I joined Stuart Main Street in 2010. I wanted to become more involved in the community, and what better way than joining a board dedicated to downtown Stuart where my new business was located?

As a member of the Digital Communications subcommittee, what are some of your goals?

In 2019, social media is an extremely important part of marketing any business or organization. We would like to double, if not triple, our membership numbers in 2020. I believe our new website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., will be very instrumental in making that happen.

What do you and Francine do for fun?

We like to go on a couple of trips a year, sometimes to Michigan to visit my family, and Buffalo and upstate New York to visit hers. We also like to do getaways to New York City and Yosemite National Park.

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