by Geoffrey Belinfante, Conference Committee, Vice Chair
Planning the JAG conference is like staging a high school musical. You and your colleagues work all year long on the musical (read “conference”), and all the events you’ve planned come and go so quickly that you barely have a chance to appreciate your hard work. That’s how I feel about this year’s JAG Conference and Awards dinner. While admittedly the day is a blur to me, I do remember some of the highlights and I have talked to lots of people who attended workshops that I could not so, by way of full disclosure, this article is based on personal observations and what I have heard from others.
By all measures, the 2024 Conference was a success. Attendance was up substantially from last year; the workshops were all well attended and every time I was on the exhibit floor there were people chatting at the booths. The day started out with two user groups where TelVue and Varto Technologies shared new developments for their respective technologies and answered operational questions from the assembled users. Both were full.
Next up was the showcase event of the morning, and perhaps of the entire day. People came from all over the state to attend the workshop sponsored by LiveU that featured technology that allows drone footage to be easily integrated into both Emergency Management operations and the towns TV channels. The example of the use of drone footage during last year’s Elizabeth Ship fire was particularly noteworthy.
Our lunchtime panel was just as advertised. A packed room heard from assembled experts who explained the importance of broadband in the future of television distribution in general, and local access TV distribution in particular. Valarry Bullard, Broadband Director, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities explained the importance of identifying the broadband “deserts” in your community and communicating their location to the BPU so your township can take advantage of the federal money that has been allocated by the Biden administration to provide broadband service to all.
Mike Wassener, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media and JAG’s attorney Ken Fellman, Esq., founder and partner, Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman, emphasized the importance of making broadband available to all in the 21st century. With people cutting the cord and thereby loosing access to local town channels, we have to ensure that broadband service is available to all and that these channels are available on those broadband services. It’s part of what Mike called their “digital right,” and that right extends to their ability to access their townships PEG channel. It’s part of a new standard of governance in a democracy and every citizen should have the ability to view their government in action.
Providing access to inexpensive broadband service to all is key to that participation. Robert Boyle, CEO, Planet Networks, also made it clear that in the services he provides to township, there is always the willingness to provide the hyper local information that local stations provide to his subscribers. If there were any JAG members who didn’t understand why they should be concerned about Broadband deployment in their areas, they certainly understand now.
After our Broadband Panel, if anyone was wondering how they can reach every citizen in their town, including the cord-cutters, we offered a panel that discussed the new and different ways to reach all your citizens with broadband access but no cable service.
The Sessions
After lunch was the period when I was busy hosting workshops, so I’ll review the success of the panels I hosted–admittedly with my rather biased view of the three panels I moderated. The first was a panel presented by the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, which is part of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, that was roughly based on a presentation that they have been giving to municipal officials across the state called “Making Your Municipality Film Ready.”
The objective of the presentation was to insure that visiting Film and Television productions companies can take full advantage of all that New Jersey has to offer without a lot of red tape to obtain the required permits. When Governor Murphy re-instituted the tax incentives for film and tv producers, the amount of production in the Garden State began to soar and now, with two major production facilities planned for the future, it will only continue to increase. Charles Riccardi, Operations & Creative Director & Elizabeth Parchment, Chief Marketing Officer from the commission emphasized the potential economic impact of a large film shoot for local businesses. One of the things that the commission recommended in their presentation was that a municipal employee be appointed as the principal point of contact for any producers interested in shooting in their town. It was suggested that it might be helpful if that person was someone who understood the needs of film and television production. What better person then someone involved in running the local access channel. As you can imagine, that got the attention of all those in the room.
For several years now, we have all expected to face the fact that the federal government will require that all forms of public meetings be closed-captioned. Those days are drawing closer as the Justice Department, rather than the FCC, begins to look to enforcing closed captioning under the Americans with Disabilities act. We presented two workshops on the subject, one by Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media and Jeff Bayne, partner, Spiegel & McDiarmid, that covered the activities of those in Washington who are charged with enforcing the ADA. The take away from this panel was that the mandate from Washington is coming, but it’s hard to predict exactly when. It’s likely that there will be a two-to-three-year grace period before the mandate kicks in.
We also presented a session to discuss the technical choices available to help stations to comply. Jesse Lerman, President/CEO, TelVue Corporation, took those present through the various ways to caption a live meeting. He also went into some detail about the solutions that TelVue offers to complete the task. Once again, those who attended understood what is require and how much it will cost when they have to comply.
Some stations may be facing the renewal of franchise agreements in the near future and that can be a stressful time for a municipality. Panelists Ken Fellman, Esq., founder and partner, Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman and Jeff Bayne, partner, Spiegel & McDiarmid were able to update station managers as to what to expect when they and/or their bosses sit down to negotiate with the various cable companies that service New Jersey. This also included a discussion about the statewide franchise agreement and what is included when a carrier opts for this kind of contract.
Simultaneously panelists Gina Forbes, Station Manager, Woodbridge TV; Jesse Lerman, President/CEO, TelVue Corporation; Joe Fernandes, Assistant Supervisor, Woodbridge TV; Brandon Uhlig, Station Manager, Metuchen Media, explored how to provide content to different distribution platforms. This provides new opportunities to enhance their programs. The session could have easily gone on for another hour as there were a number of questions that couldn’t be addressed and led to a rush to the panelist after the session ended.
Thanks to Don Smith’s contacts at News 12, we were able to present a very informative session on interviewing techniques featuring a former colleague of his, Kristina Behr, an Emmy award winning anchor and news reporter. The attendees had a number of questions relating to problems they had encountered that effected the quality of their program. They went away with some new tools and a better understanding of how to control an interview.
My last session concerned the unlikely places to look in your municipality for story ideas to enhance your local programming. Thanks to fellow panelists Anthony Pagliuco, Station Manager, East Brunswick TV; Gina Forbes, Station Manager, Woodbridge TV and Abby Wilson, Production Manager, C-NET, State College, PA, we presented sources of programming ideas that are readily available in most towns. While none of the ideas presented were particularly revolutionary, those who attended found it useful to see all these opportunities in one convenient place.
The final panel of the day discussed the availability of new and smaller equipment for use on remote shoots. Panelists Ed Cologna, Cologna Productions; Paul DeStefano, Northeast Regional Sales Manager, DeSisti and Yervant Keshishian, Sales Engineer, Varto Technologies addressed streamlining your workflow in the field by minimizing gear to significantly enhance efficiency and make your work more manageable.
What an afternoon. My head is still processing an amazing collection of information. The committee deserves a round of applause for providing a diverse array of sessions with knowledgeable panelists.
The end of the day brought a raffle for all those who stayed for the duration, a cocktail reception with some tasty passed hors d’oeuvres. Thanks to Cologna Productions, TelVue and Varto Technologies for providing items. This was a great time to network with attendees and vendors and relax after a full day of sessions. But there was still the final event of the conference to attend. Soon we would celebrate the work of the members of JAG.
The Banquet
And of course it was soon time to celebrate and recognize outstanding achievements and the presentation of the JAG Awards. First the “Serving Community Media Award” was presented to Ken Fellman for his years of assistance as counsel to JAG. This award consisted of an engraved cake serving set that Ken used to ceremoniously cut a cake that was then served to the community media representatives that were present.
Next, JAG presented the “Legislator of the Year Award” to Senator Cory Booker for his continued help in supporting the survival of local access TV. The plaque read:
AS ONE WHO RECOGNIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPARENCY, THE JERSEY ACCESS GROUP IS PLEASED THAT YOU RECOGNIZE THE ROLE OF MUNICIPAL AND COMMUNITY MEDIA IN FURTHERING THIS MESSAGE.
Although Senator Booker could not attend, he sent a wonderful video message about JAG. https://youtu.be/Mba7WMrhSOY
JAG also presents a Community Recognition Award to recognize a local official whose effort in New Jersey strengthens JAG’s value. This year JAG recognized Lisa Allen, Council President, City of Summit for her many years of support. The Plaque read:
JAG RECOGNIZES LISA ALLEN, SUMMIT COUNCIL PRESIDENT AND LONG-TIME MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR SUMMIT’S OWN CHANNEL, HTTV, FOR HER MANY YEARS OF UNWAVERING SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY TELEVISION AND ITS ROLE IN PROVIDING INFORMATION, EDUCATION, ENTERTAINMENT AND TRANSPARENCY TO THE COMMUNITIES IT
Nick Besink received the “JAG Members Recognition Award” for all the great work he has done to spread the importance of JAG membership to towns all over Bergen County.
The award read:
NICK HAS BEEN A PART OF ORADELL’S COMMUNITY TV FACILITY, OPTV SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2006, AND HAS BEEN ITS CHAIR SINCE 2009. IN ADDITION TO RUNNING OPTV AND, ALONG WITH STAFF AND CREW, MAKING IT THE BEST IT CAN BE, NICK HAS ASSISTED MANY OTHER PEG FACILITIES WITH THEIR OPERATIONS GETTING THEIR FACILITY UP AND RUNNING AND ON THE AIR. THESE INCLUDE NJ COMMUNITY TV CHANNELS IN MONTVALE, RIVER EDGE, WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (BERGEN), EMERSON, PARK RIDGE, OLD BRIDGE, AND MAYWOOD. HE IS ALWAYS READY TO ASSIST ANYONE, WHETHER IT BE RELATED TO EQUIPMENT, OPERATIONS, OR ANYTHING THAT IS NEEDED. HIS REPUTATION IN THIS REGARD IS WELL KNOWN. OPTV HAS BEEN A JAG MEMBER SINCE 2008, AND NICK VALUES NETWORKING WITH OTHER MEMBERS AND SHARING INFORMATION.
The President’s Ovation Awards were given to Dave Garb for the work he’s done as chair of the Legislative Committee including visiting NJ legislative representatives in Washington on behalf of all JAG members; and finally to yours truly for my work as the chair of JAG’s External Relations Committee I am truly grateful. The award read:
In acknowledgement of his
unrelenting commitment to the
members of the Jersey Access Group,
PEG Access and local governments
throughout our area.
The JAG Awards followed and I am always impressed by the quality of the productions that win the Awards of Excellence. This year was no exception. The 25 awards spanned the largest group of stations ever, a clear indication that local access is growing in New Jersey. While it came and went faster than I would have liked, this year’s conference was a great success. Thanks to all our loyal sponsors: TelVue, Varto Technologies, LiveU, Planet Networks, DeSisti and Cologna Productions for their continuing support. If you missed it this year, be on the lookout for the details of next year’s Conference. Don’t miss it!
The 2024 Conference In Review
Posted: July 12, 2024 by Doug Seidel
by Geoffrey Belinfante, Conference Committee, Vice Chair
Planning the JAG conference is like staging a high school musical. You and your colleagues work all year long on the musical (read “conference”), and all the events you’ve planned come and go so quickly that you barely have a chance to appreciate your hard work. That’s how I feel about this year’s JAG Conference and Awards dinner. While admittedly the day is a blur to me, I do remember some of the highlights and I have talked to lots of people who attended workshops that I could not so, by way of full disclosure, this article is based on personal observations and what I have heard from others.
By all measures, the 2024 Conference was a success. Attendance was up substantially from last year; the workshops were all well attended and every time I was on the exhibit floor there were people chatting at the booths. The day started out with two user groups where TelVue and Varto Technologies shared new developments for their respective technologies and answered operational questions from the assembled users. Both were full.
Next up was the showcase event of the morning, and perhaps of the entire day. People came from all over the state to attend the workshop sponsored by LiveU that featured technology that allows drone footage to be easily integrated into both Emergency Management operations and the towns TV channels. The example of the use of drone footage during last year’s Elizabeth Ship fire was particularly noteworthy.
Our lunchtime panel was just as advertised. A packed room heard from assembled experts who explained the importance of broadband in the future of television distribution in general, and local access TV distribution in particular. Valarry Bullard, Broadband Director, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities explained the importance of identifying the broadband “deserts” in your community and communicating their location to the BPU so your township can take advantage of the federal money that has been allocated by the Biden administration to provide broadband service to all.
Mike Wassener, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media and JAG’s attorney Ken Fellman, Esq., founder and partner, Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman, emphasized the importance of making broadband available to all in the 21st century. With people cutting the cord and thereby loosing access to local town channels, we have to ensure that broadband service is available to all and that these channels are available on those broadband services. It’s part of what Mike called their “digital right,” and that right extends to their ability to access their townships PEG channel. It’s part of a new standard of governance in a democracy and every citizen should have the ability to view their government in action.
Providing access to inexpensive broadband service to all is key to that participation. Robert Boyle, CEO, Planet Networks, also made it clear that in the services he provides to township, there is always the willingness to provide the hyper local information that local stations provide to his subscribers. If there were any JAG members who didn’t understand why they should be concerned about Broadband deployment in their areas, they certainly understand now.
After our Broadband Panel, if anyone was wondering how they can reach every citizen in their town, including the cord-cutters, we offered a panel that discussed the new and different ways to reach all your citizens with broadband access but no cable service.
The Sessions
After lunch was the period when I was busy hosting workshops, so I’ll review the success of the panels I hosted–admittedly with my rather biased view of the three panels I moderated. The first was a panel presented by the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, which is part of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, that was roughly based on a presentation that they have been giving to municipal officials across the state called “Making Your Municipality Film Ready.”
The objective of the presentation was to insure that visiting Film and Television productions companies can take full advantage of all that New Jersey has to offer without a lot of red tape to obtain the required permits. When Governor Murphy re-instituted the tax incentives for film and tv producers, the amount of production in the Garden State began to soar and now, with two major production facilities planned for the future, it will only continue to increase. Charles Riccardi, Operations & Creative Director & Elizabeth Parchment, Chief Marketing Officer from the commission emphasized the potential economic impact of a large film shoot for local businesses. One of the things that the commission recommended in their presentation was that a municipal employee be appointed as the principal point of contact for any producers interested in shooting in their town. It was suggested that it might be helpful if that person was someone who understood the needs of film and television production. What better person then someone involved in running the local access channel. As you can imagine, that got the attention of all those in the room.
For several years now, we have all expected to face the fact that the federal government will require that all forms of public meetings be closed-captioned. Those days are drawing closer as the Justice Department, rather than the FCC, begins to look to enforcing closed captioning under the Americans with Disabilities act. We presented two workshops on the subject, one by Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media and Jeff Bayne, partner, Spiegel & McDiarmid, that covered the activities of those in Washington who are charged with enforcing the ADA. The take away from this panel was that the mandate from Washington is coming, but it’s hard to predict exactly when. It’s likely that there will be a two-to-three-year grace period before the mandate kicks in.
We also presented a session to discuss the technical choices available to help stations to comply. Jesse Lerman, President/CEO, TelVue Corporation, took those present through the various ways to caption a live meeting. He also went into some detail about the solutions that TelVue offers to complete the task. Once again, those who attended understood what is require and how much it will cost when they have to comply.
Some stations may be facing the renewal of franchise agreements in the near future and that can be a stressful time for a municipality. Panelists Ken Fellman, Esq., founder and partner, Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman and Jeff Bayne, partner, Spiegel & McDiarmid were able to update station managers as to what to expect when they and/or their bosses sit down to negotiate with the various cable companies that service New Jersey. This also included a discussion about the statewide franchise agreement and what is included when a carrier opts for this kind of contract.
Simultaneously panelists Gina Forbes, Station Manager, Woodbridge TV; Jesse Lerman, President/CEO, TelVue Corporation; Joe Fernandes, Assistant Supervisor, Woodbridge TV; Brandon Uhlig, Station Manager, Metuchen Media, explored how to provide content to different distribution platforms. This provides new opportunities to enhance their programs. The session could have easily gone on for another hour as there were a number of questions that couldn’t be addressed and led to a rush to the panelist after the session ended.
Thanks to Don Smith’s contacts at News 12, we were able to present a very informative session on interviewing techniques featuring a former colleague of his, Kristina Behr, an Emmy award winning anchor and news reporter. The attendees had a number of questions relating to problems they had encountered that effected the quality of their program. They went away with some new tools and a better understanding of how to control an interview.
My last session concerned the unlikely places to look in your municipality for story ideas to enhance your local programming. Thanks to fellow panelists Anthony Pagliuco, Station Manager, East Brunswick TV; Gina Forbes, Station Manager, Woodbridge TV and Abby Wilson, Production Manager, C-NET, State College, PA, we presented sources of programming ideas that are readily available in most towns. While none of the ideas presented were particularly revolutionary, those who attended found it useful to see all these opportunities in one convenient place.
The final panel of the day discussed the availability of new and smaller equipment for use on remote shoots. Panelists Ed Cologna, Cologna Productions; Paul DeStefano, Northeast Regional Sales Manager, DeSisti and Yervant Keshishian, Sales Engineer, Varto Technologies addressed streamlining your workflow in the field by minimizing gear to significantly enhance efficiency and make your work more manageable.
What an afternoon. My head is still processing an amazing collection of information. The committee deserves a round of applause for providing a diverse array of sessions with knowledgeable panelists.
The end of the day brought a raffle for all those who stayed for the duration, a cocktail reception with some tasty passed hors d’oeuvres. Thanks to Cologna Productions, TelVue and Varto Technologies for providing items. This was a great time to network with attendees and vendors and relax after a full day of sessions. But there was still the final event of the conference to attend. Soon we would celebrate the work of the members of JAG.
The Banquet
And of course it was soon time to celebrate and recognize outstanding achievements and the presentation of the JAG Awards. First the “Serving Community Media Award” was presented to Ken Fellman for his years of assistance as counsel to JAG. This award consisted of an engraved cake serving set that Ken used to ceremoniously cut a cake that was then served to the community media representatives that were present.
Next, JAG presented the “Legislator of the Year Award” to Senator Cory Booker for his continued help in supporting the survival of local access TV. The plaque read:
Although Senator Booker could not attend, he sent a wonderful video message about JAG. https://youtu.be/Mba7WMrhSOY
JAG also presents a Community Recognition Award to recognize a local official whose effort in New Jersey strengthens JAG’s value. This year JAG recognized Lisa Allen, Council President, City of Summit for her many years of support. The Plaque read:
Nick Besink received the “JAG Members Recognition Award” for all the great work he has done to spread the importance of JAG membership to towns all over Bergen County.
The award read:
The President’s Ovation Awards were given to Dave Garb for the work he’s done as chair of the Legislative Committee including visiting NJ legislative representatives in Washington on behalf of all JAG members; and finally to yours truly for my work as the chair of JAG’s External Relations Committee I am truly grateful. The award read:
The JAG Awards followed and I am always impressed by the quality of the productions that win the Awards of Excellence. This year was no exception. The 25 awards spanned the largest group of stations ever, a clear indication that local access is growing in New Jersey. While it came and went faster than I would have liked, this year’s conference was a great success. Thanks to all our loyal sponsors: TelVue, Varto Technologies, LiveU, Planet Networks, DeSisti and Cologna Productions for their continuing support. If you missed it this year, be on the lookout for the details of next year’s Conference. Don’t miss it!
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Category: Conference Reviews, Latest JAG News