We received this from Danielle Maloney from Germantown NY and PANDA 23 , who went to “Be More,” the national ACM conference last July on a Paul Berg Scholarship from ACM Northeast.
I had a great experience attending the 2018 ACM National Conference in Baltimore. I learned a lot from the panel sessions I attended. Also of equal importance to me was gaining insight into how other stations both in the Northeast and across the country are responding to a constantly changing environment regarding available resources, maximizing visibility, and community outreach and networking.
A personal highlight of the conference was getting to participate in the Day on the Hill lobbying event. Getting the chance to meet with the staff of my Senators and Congressman to express the importance of community media for the people they’ve been elected to represent was both productive and personally rewarding. It was such a relief and a shot of encouragement to hear unanimous support from them!
I learned a lot and gained some exciting new ideas for our station in the panel sessions, particularly on community media’s role to play as independent journalists and leveraging social media to our benefit. That said, I think I got the most value out of getting the opportunity to meet and network with other community media professionals, many of whom are part of ACM Northeast. It was such a pleasure getting to meet and learn from folks like Tony Riddle from BRIC/Brooklyn Free Speech, Roslyn Nieves and Madeline Johnson from Queens Public Television, and Matt Sullivan from LCM-TV, and I plan to make use of their valuable
opinions and experience going forward.
So that’s what a scholarship can get you. Are you in touch with your state chapter? They can help you attend our Northeast Trade Show & Conference with a little financial aid. You can look up your state representatives here.