2019 Fall Station Tour

The Fall Station tour will be part of Central States Region ACM annual conference & trade show.

Here is the run down for Friday, Oct. 18, 2019:

12:30 PM-1:00 PM	Rockford High School- Beyond the Rock Studio & Classroom: 4100 Kroes St NE, Rockford, MI 49341 (park anywhere close to the front entrance. We’ll meet at the front entrance and go to the classroom together)
2:00 PM-3:00 PM	Wealthy Theater: 1130 Wealthy St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506 (parking is limited, look for street spots)
3:15 PM-4:15 PM	City of Grand Rapids: 300 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (park in ramp under City Hall)
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM	GRTV & GRCMC: 711 Bridge St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (park behind the building in the lot)
5:30 PM	Networking dinner at a local spot by GRCMC

Please RSVP, by email to MichiganACM@gmail.com, if you are attending just the station tour, which is free for members or $20 for non-members.

If you choose to attend the whole conference please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-conference-trade-show-philo-festival-award-ceremony-tickets-66496951171

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Alysha (Schlundt-Bodien) Albrecht

The 2019 Conference, Trade Show & Philo Festival of Media Arts Award Ceremony!

The annual Conference & Trade Show highlights include Creating Videos with your iPhone/iPad, Social Media Panel with the Pros, Hosting a Show…..What an Adventure!, Onset Knowledge – Production Algebra Bootcamp, WKTV’s VOICES, an oral history project, which take place in a fully restored Airstream trailer, Building a Community News and Journalism Operation, FCC Public Policy & Discussion (Presented by Mike Wassenaar, National ACM CEO, & Mike Watza, General Counsel for PROTEC) and so much more! The schedule of events, session descriptions and registration link is on the website, click here. Other networking opportunities will include: A networking & legislative brunch at WKTV Studios from 11am-2pm on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Sponsored By Leightronix, Inc.!  A networking social at Founders Centennial Room from 6-9pm on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Sponsored by Municipal Captioning!  A Keynote Block Party at WKTV Studios from 12:30-2pm  on Thursday, Oct. 17. Sponsored by WKTV!  The Philo Festival of Media Award Ceremony from 7-10pm at City Flats Ballroom on Thursday, Oct. 17. Sponsored by Comrex! We hope to see you all during the 2019 Conference, Trade Show & Philo Festival of Media Arts Award Ceremony Hosted by WKTV!  Congratulations to all the 2019 Philo Winners & Finalists!! To view the list please visit our website by clicking here. The Award Ceremony will be on Thursday, October 17, in conjunction with the Conference & Trade Show from 7-10pm at City Flats Ballroom. Sponsored by Comrex! Winners will receive one free ticket or a discounted rate to the conference and trade show (registration code will be emailed to you)! Excellence Award Nominations have been chosen! NOTE: The Excellence Award Winner will be announced during the Philo Festival of Media Arts Award Ceremony on Thursday, October 17 from 7-10 p.m. at The City Flats Ballroom: 83 Monroe Center, Grand Rapids, MI. Good luck to all the nominees! To view the nominations visit our website.

FCC FNPRM Comment Deadline Friday, Dec. 14!

Most of you know about this, but we haven’t posted anything publicly… so here it is from National ACM:

Reply Comments to FCC & Beyond Friday, December 14 is the FCC’s deadline for reply comments in its rule-making on cable franchising. We’ve seen over 2,200 comments from across the US so far. Almost ALL of them oppose the FCC’s proposed rules on “in-kind” support. It’s important for your community to be on the record in the rule-making. If you need templates for comments and instructions on how to make comments, I’m happy to send them to you (just email me at mwassenaar@allcommunitymedia.org). It’s JUST as important now for us to engage members of Congress on the issue – especially because the House of Representatives new leadership has said it will provide a greater oversight role of the FCC. That’s why the joint letter from Representatives Peter Welch (VT) and Chellie Pingree (ME) issued this last week is important, and why I’d like you and other ACM members to contact Congress and ask members of the House to write similar letters to the FCC. Tell your members of Congress that the FCC shouldn’t be harming local communities and reducing local channels available to the public.

Please file a comment with the FCC, inform you local, state and federal representatives about it and help save Community Media!!

2018 Fall Station Tour Recap

A huge hip hip hooray to all the staff and volunteers at MPACT Studios in Monroe, MI for making the Fall 2018 station tour a success!

The event started off at 9a.m. with donuts and coffee sponsored by Tim Hortons, time to network and a fabulous tour of MPACT studios & Rewind 94.3 at 20 W. Fifth St. Ste. 201. We were lucky enough to have an open discussion with State House Representative Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe). State Representative Ballino talked to us about the importance of building close relationships with your representatives and how critical it is to make sure Community Media is here to stay. Next, we had an awesome Sony Demo from Vince Deur! He showed us new Sony cameras and tips to make shooting a breeze. And last, but not least, we had Randy Visser from CableCast by Tightrope Media Systems show us a demo of the interface and all it’s features; like video on demand, streaming and more! As we were leaving an MPACT volunteer was coming in to record a band segment for Rewind 94.3.

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We then enjoyed a tasty lunch sponsored by CableCast by Tightrope & Sony at the Public House where we also got to meet State Senator Dale Zorn (R-Ida) to discuss state franchises agreements and local franchises authorities. Senator Zorn was also very supportive of making sure Community Media thrives and survives.

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After lunch we headed to MPACT Government Access in Monroe City Hall at 120 E. First St. The Council Chambers was under construction as they update the room to be full HD. But it was still cool to see the space and envision what it would look like once complete.

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Next, we went to the Monroe County ISD studio at 1101 South Raisinville Rd. to meet with Christopher Slat who is the Instructional Technology Specialist. Christopher works with teachers in the ISD to offer media programs. He mostly does remote shoots, but he does a few studio shoot each year. The most well know studio shoot in the annual Quiz Bowl!

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We then went south to Bedford Township’s government access channel, in Bedford township hall, to meet with George Welling who runs the city meetings. Their space is small, but very well engineered and we enjoyed meeting George and a volunteer!

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Our last stop was the Bedford High School TV & Radio Studios, which is a CTE operation taught by Mickey Kent. His classroom has it’s own television and radio studio where students produce high school news shows and much more. More photos here can be found on the HOMTV Flicker Page; click here!

Huge thanks to Michigan ACM Vice President & Executive Director Milward J. Beaudry II & MPACT Studios for hosting and putting together the 2018 Fall Station Tour! Special thanks to all the stations that let us come visit! It was a jam packed day full of inspiration, knowledge and great conversations!!!

Our next event will be during the 2018 Great Lakes Media Show hosted by Michigan Association of Broadcasters on Wednesday, March 6 at 8 a.m.! More information about sessions, registration and pricing TBA. We hope to see you there!

Fall Station Tour is THIS Friday, Oct. 12!

Here is the final schedule for Friday, Oct. 12! Photos to come. And hip hip hooray to our sponsors; Vice Deur from Sony & Randy Visser from Cablecast by Tightrope Media Systems!

9:00 a.m. Coffee & Doughnuts Social & Tour at MPACT  (Sponsor: Tim Hortons)

20 W. Fifth St. Ste. 201 Monroe, MI 48161

9:30 a.m. Discussion with State Representative Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe) & State Senator Dale Zorn (R-Ida) regarding SB637

10:10 a.m. Sony Demonstration – Vince Deur

10:30 a.m. Tightrope Demonstration – Randy Visser

11:15 a.m. Group Tour of MPACT & Rewind 94.3

Lunch 12:30 p.m.  (Sponsors: Sony & Cablecast by Tightrope Media Systems)

Public House- Address: 138 N Monroe St, Monroe, MI 48162

Tentative Menu to select from:
Burger- field greens, tomato, red onion, ciabatta – add cheddar, swiss, bleu, feta, mozzarella, or provolone cheese
Public House Burger- bacon, pulled pork, field greens, tomato, red onion,ciabatta
Portobello Sandwich- balsamic marinade, olive tapenade, provolone, onion, field greens ciabatta
Public House Grilled Cheese- swiss, feta, sautéed spinach, tomato, onion, grilled pumpernickel rye

1:45 p.m. MPACT Government Access @ Monroe City Hall 120 E. First St.

2:30 p.m Monroe County ISD 1101 South Raisinville Rd.

4:00 p.m. Bedford Township government access channel operations (New ACM Member) Possible added location: Bedford High School TV & Radio Studios

5:15 p.m. Return to MPACT or Hotels

6:00 p.m. Dinner TBD

Huge thanks to Michigan ACM Vice President & Executive Director Milward J. Beaudry II & MPACT Studios for hosting the 2018 Fall Station Tour! Stay tuned for a recap of our events.