ACM-NE Spring Conference

With one week to go until the conference, we thought we would give you an advanced look at the conference pack that you will receive next week. Take a peek here:

Conference Packet

We are only two weeks away from the ACM-NE Spring Conference and Trade Show at the Renaissance Providence Hotel in Providence, RI.

It is going to be a great event!  Get all the details here.

This will be your last reminder to make sure to reserve your room at the Renaissance Providence at the special discount rate.

The deadline to reserve a room at the discount rate is tomorrow, April 18th!!  Reserve now!  Call 866-630-0704.

Tightrope Media Systems will be hosting a pre-conference event at the Renaissance Providence for those new to their products.

From Tightrope:

What: Tightrope Media Systems Training: Level 1 for Cablecast and Carousel
When: May 8th, 2008
Time: 9:00am to 4:00pm
Address: Renaissance Providence Hotel
5 Avenue of the Arts
Providence, RI 02903
Food: Continental breakfast and lunch (probably pizza) provided. Also, please let us know if you have any dietary considerations.
Cost: You will forever be indebted to us (free)
Who Can Attend: Anyone! It’s intended for existing Tightrope Cablecast and Carousel users, but tire kickers are welcome, as well.
Schedule: Carousel in the morning, Cablecast in the afternoon. Topics will be split into 40 minute segments with 15 minutes for questions and a 5 minute break.
Registration: Send an email to sales@trms.com. If you click on the link provided “Registration for May 8th Training” will appear in the subject. Otherwise, enter it manually and let us know your organization name and the names of who is coming. Limited to the first 65 registrants, so get yours in early!

We’re holding it nary one day prior to the Alliance for Community Media Northeast Region Spring 2008 Conference at the same hotel! We hope this provides you with the excuse you needed to support the ACM or to swing by a day early and catch some valuable training!

Find out more here.

For years the issue of program sharing has been a concern to many of us who run access centers.  How can we get our hands on other programs that may be of interest to our viewers?  In what format can we obtain these programs?

For months a group representing the video server industry and the ACM has met to discuss ways by which this “digital bicycling” can efficiently and practically take place.  Progress on the issue has been made and the ACM-NE Spring Conference will be the first opportunity for you to find out how this new program sharing initiative will work.

Find out for yourself.  Make a point to attend the conference and attend these workshops.  Get the all the conference details here. 

We are pleased to announce that our Keynote Speaker at the ACM-NE Spring Conference will be Nolan Bowie, Senior Fellow of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The topic of his speech will be “The Future of PEG Access in the Age of New Media”.  Here is Nolan’s biography:

Nolan Bowie is Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy and a Senior Fellow of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. From 1986 to 1998 he was an Associate Professor at Temple University, School of Communication and Theater. His primary policy concerns are issues regarding equity and fairness in the allocation of and access to information (literacy, education, and knowledge) in all formats via digital and analog communication technology. He is a former public interest communications lawyer who has been teaching, writing, and advocating on behalf of underrepresented constituencies for a period of more than 33 years. He also is a self-taught artist who has served as a naval officer, juvenile probation counselor, New York State assistant attorney general for civil rights, and an assistant Watergate special prosecutor. He received his law degree in 1973 from the University of Michigan Law School.

Go to our Trade Show tab at the top of the site to get the latest on the trade show. The trade show will last the two days of the conference.

Included on the page is an updated list of vendors to date. Come to the conference and bring your equipment needs with you!

We have updated the list and descriptions of the seminars for the conference.  The number of the workshop in each track corresponds to the schedule. So the first workshop falls under session #1, etc.  We have also listed the current moderators and presenters for each workshop.

Get the latest here.

We appreciate that the cost of hotel rooms at the Renaissance Providence is a cause of concern for some.  So let’s use this site to do something about it!

Let’s use the comments of this post to bring people together who are willing to share a room.  Whether you can afford a room or not, add your name and contact information in the comments section if you are willing to take on a roommate.  It will also be helpful if you add where you are coming from…that may open up some travel sharing opportunities!

Let’s use this online community to help each other.  Thanks!