Alliance for Community Media Northeast Region

ACM-NE Spring Conference & Trade Show

May 21-22, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

8:00 AM to 5:30PM – Trade Show in the Vendor Area

8:00 AM to 9:30 AM— Continental Breakfast in Vendor Area

9:30 AM to 10:30 AM—Welcome and Opening Plenary

10:30 AM to 12 PM—First set of Workshops

12 PM to 2:00 PM—Buffet in Dining Hall and Lunch in Vendor Area

2:00 PM to 3:30 PM—Second set of Workshops

3:30 PM to 4:00 PM—Break in Vendor Area

4:00 PM to 5:30 PM—Third set of Workshops

5:30 PM—Dinner on your own in local area

7:00 PM—Party at Access Center

Friday, May 22, 2009

8:00 AM to 4:00PM – Trade Show in the Vendor Area

8:30 AM to 10:00 AM—Breakfast Buffet in Dining Hall and eat in Vendor Area

10:00 AM to 11:30 AM—Fourth set of Workshops

11:30 AM to 1:00PM—Luncheon in Vendor Area with Keynote Speaker Helen Soule, ED, ACM

1:00 PM to 2:30 PM—Fifth set of Workshops

2:30 PM to 3:00 PM—Visit with Vendor Area

3:00PM to 4:00PM—Closing Plenary

Track I—New Media and PEG 2.0

1. Tale of Two Community Media Centers:

Today’s community media center bridges the analog and digital world. We are retooling our operations - from outreach strategies to video production and distribution. Community Media 2.0 is a framework for rethinking the way public access serves the community. Access leaders from successful centers will talk about the philosophy, planning and activities that drive today’s effective community media center. Moderator: Lauren-Glenn Davitian, Executive Director, CCTV, Burlington, VT.

2. Constant Contact and Twitter, and Flicker and Facebook: Oh My!

Social Networking tools can amplify the message of free speech activists and media centers. What constitutes a strategy? How do you shape your message? What tools will help you reach your target audience? Moderator/Presenter: Liz Schlegel, Found Line.

3. Hands ON Social Media Workshop:

Spread the news about the conference and your own cause/center with this hands-on social media workshop. Moderator: VCAM Seth Mobley with Special Guest Facilitators and the Mobile Media Lab.

4. Expanding the Reach of Community Programming: Leaders in the exchange of community programming talk about the networks that are in place (New Jersey, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts), and how to help to build a national network of community produced/user generated content. Moderator: Rich Desimone, Jersey Access Group (JAG).
5. Build Your Own Multi-Media Hub: The center of Web 2.0 operations is the digital hub or portal. They range from Facebook pages to Open Source content management systems. How can you gauge what is right for you and figure out the basics? Moderator: Mauro DePasquale, WCCA-TV, Worcester, MA.

Track II—Media Reform and Telecom Policy

1. Congressional & FCC Update on PEG Issues:

A briefing for directors and board members about the latest happenings in the courts, the FCC and in Congress and how PEG access needs and concerns are being impacted. Moderator: Chuck Sherwood, Principal, Community Media Visioning, South Dennis, MA. Presenters: Gloria Tristani, Spiegel McDiarmid, Washington, DC and Helen Soule, Executive Director, ACM, Washington, DC

2. Congressional & FCC Update on Media Reform Issues:

A briefing for media reform activists and PEG access centers about the latest happenings in the courts, the FCC and in Congress regarding issues and concerns of the media reform community. Moderator: Chuck Sherwood, Principal, Community Media Visioning, South Dennis, MA. Presenters: Jon Bartholomew, Associate Director for Media Reform, Common Cause and Gloria Tristani, Spiegel McDiarmid, Washington, DC

3. Update on the Impact of FCC Actions & State Franchising Legislation on PEG Access:

A briefing on PEG access and Media Reform issues and responses to decisions made by the FCC, state franchising legislation and advances in local cable licenses. Moderator/Presenter: Helen Soule, Executive Director, ACM, Washington, DC. Presenters: Bill Solomon, Town Council, Stoneham, MA, Bill August, Epstein & August, Boston, MA, and Jennifer Evans, Executive Director, West Hartford Community TV, West Hartford, CT

4. Vermont's Public Broadband Agenda and the Role of PEG Access:

National stimulus money pushes the broadband agenda and calls PEG access centers to position themselves as Broadband Media Centers and developers along with local and state broadband councils of state and national broadband policy. Vermont’s public fiber projects works closely with local Peg operations and provide a model for enhanced access services and open networks. Moderator: Greg Epler-Wood. Presenters: Tim Nulty, EC Fiber, John Bloch, ORCA-Media, and Rita Stull, President, TeleDimensions, Inc., Cincinnati, OH.

5. The Future of PEG Funding in a Broadband World:

One of the major issues for PEG access centers as the FCC and Congress develops a National Broadband policy is to insure that there is a real level playing field between providers and services, making sure as telecom practice and laws change, so does the funding of PEG to ensure secure future funding streams. Moderator: Chuck Sherwood, Principal, Community Media Visioning, South Dennis, MA.

Track III-- Collaborations with Local Nonprofits, Old and New Media

1. Making Media That Moves—Youth and the News:

Boston based non-profit Press Pass TV will host this interactive workshop, bringing in representatives from BNN and CCTV to discuss successful models of community collaborations. In addition to talking about ways that these Access Centers and Press Pass TV have collaborated with area organizations and schools to make powerful community based media, participants will have the opportunity, in small groups, to come up with ways that they can use this model in their own communities, and take home a copy of Press Pass TV's workbook. Moderator/Presenter: Cara Lisa Powers, Executive Director, Press Pass TV, Dorchester, MA

2. Nonprofits & Media Reformers Turns to Web 2.0:

Case studies from four organizations, causes and centers who are integrating traditional and new media into their communications and demonstrated results. Moderator: Elaine Young, Champlain College, Burlington, VT.

3. Government Access, Citizen Media & E-Democracy:

Now, more than ever, the public is looking for transparent and responsive government, and the opportunity to participate in decisions that affect them. Many local government access channels are at the forefront of engaging citizens through live meetings, new partnerships and innovative web access projects. Moderator: Jess Wilson, Channel 17 Town Meeting TV.

4. Public Access News: From Plan to Action:

From citizen journalism to reporters round-tables and standard news formats, PEG access centers have unique opportunity to fill a community need as the fourth estate come under serious attack thus building PEG’s strong connection to community events and partners. The panel will focus on the process an access center needs to go through to decide what type of news programming is needed to best serve its community, what format and segments to consider, how to locate appropriate on-air, production, and editing talent, what is involved in the news gathering/editing/scripting process along with the production process, and how to maintain editorial integrity and positive relations with city or town officials. Video examples will be included. Moderator: Paul Berg—Executive Director, Arlington, MA. Panelist: Jane Christo, The Fletcher School's Edward R. Murrow Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA and Art Singer, Consultant.

5. Expand Free Speech through Local Media Partnerships:

A variety of media outlets are available to Free Speech advocates and PEG Centers to expand their reach and impact--TV, Low Power and Full Power radio, local newspapers and independents, and the local Blogosphere. The workshop focuses on the partnerships that several Access Centers have developed with local newspapers and radio stations and how that works for both organizations along with samples of the shows and blogs that are produced through these collaborations. Moderator: Doris Ballard, Outreach and Development Director, Concord Community TV, Concord, NH. Presenters: Linda Sandhu, Communications Director, Cape Cod Community Media Center, South Yarmouth, MA and Amy Davies, Director of Production Services, Cape Cod Community Media Center, South Yarmouth, MA

Track IV—Vendor Presentations of New Media Technology

Vendors will provide demonstrations throughout the conference. Please check schedule upon registration.

About the Alliance for Community Media

The Alliance for Community Media is committed to assuring everyone’s access to electronic media. The Alliance advances this goal through public education, a progressive legislative and regulatory agenda, coalition building and grassroots organizing. A nonprofit, national membership organization founded in 1976, the Alliance represents over 3,000 Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) access organizations and community media centers throughout the country. It also represents the interests of millions of people who, through their local religious, community and charitable groups, use PEG access to communicate with their memberships and the community as a whole.

Local community groups, public schools, religious institutions, colleges and universities, government officials, the disabled, and second language communities as well as national institutions such as NASA, the US Department of Education, and the US Army, to name a few, all use PEG facilities and equipment to advance their causes through cable television and the Internet.

The Alliance for Community Media provides critical support services for these community media centers and for the primarily volunteer staff that keep these electronic outposts of democracy in operation. The Alliance’s activities in providing technical assistance, grassroots organizing and opportunities to share experience promote the broader goals of supporting our nation’s communities and families and promoting effective communication through community use of media.

The Alliance’s public policy program is dedicated to promoting legislation and regulation which supports PEG access. To achieve this, the Alliance works with Congress, state legislatures, the Federal Communications Commission, state public utilities commissions and coalition partners and brings suits when necessary in courts around the country.

To learn more about the ACM, please go to their website at www.alliancecm.org.