JAG’s Annual Conference Taking Shape – April 2024

Posted: April 18, 2024 by Doug Seidel

by Geoffrey Belinfante, Conference Committee, Vice Chair

The clock is ticking, time is of the essence, you’re running out of time, you need to act now, we’re almost down to the wire, the deadline is looming (thanks to AI for the list)—but no matter which cliché you to choose, our 2024 JAG Conference is just a little over a month away so you should think about registering now at www.jagconference.com or go to the JAG website and click on the conference tab. What will happen if you don’t register? You’ll miss out on informative workshops, a chance to catch up on new technology, and an opportunity to network with your colleagues. The conference is at the Crowne Plaza in Edison, NJ n May 16, but no need to write it down now, you can be sure I’ll remind you again at the end of the article. I just thought I would mention it now, just in case you don’t make it to the end.

Your conference committee has spent quite a lot of time planning a slew of informative panels for your education and enjoyment. A complete list can be found on the website, but here are some that you might find particularly interesting:

This year JAG has added a special session on new technology that will allow PEG Channels to more easily interface with their town’s office of Emergency Management to bring citizens important real time update in case of an emergency. Panelists will include: Alex Joice, VP of Solution Sales Engineering, LiveU and representatives from OEM, fire, and police. This is a must attend for stations managers and OEM representatives alike so bring along the folks from your Office of Emergency Management so everyone on their team is up-to-date on the latest technology. This session is sponsored by LiveU.

Municipal OEM staff, fire and police officials can attend this workshop for free!

We’ve been talking about the need to add close captioning to our meetings for several years now and it appears that the time is rapidly approaching when all public meeting will have to be captioned. Interestingly, this year’s initiative is coming from the Justice department rather than the FCC. There will be two workshops on this topic, one on the legal rumblings from Washington and another on the technology available to implement captioning when required.
For those interested in improving the quality of their programs, you won’t want to miss the workshops on techniques to sharpen your storytelling and ways to improve your interviews from professionals who make their living interviewing people every day. Panelist include Kristina Behr, Emmy-Winning News Anchor and Host
For those who are interested in improving the on-air look of those interviews, there is a workshop on a new LED light kit that makes location lighting a bit easier and is lot lighter to carry then some of those old tungsten light kits that we all use to schlep around from place to place.
If you are responsible for getting information to your town’s citizens then you won’t want to miss our workshop on alternate ways to communicate with your citizens, and then you can attend a workshop on places to look for new programing ideas to send to those citizens.

The conference will also feature user group meeting sponsored by The TelVue Corporation and Varto Technologies to fill you in on what’s new with their products and to answer operational questions for those who may have a particular issue. If you want to see something specific, you can also visit many of our organizational members in our exhibitor room.

JAG will be presenting a number of recognition awards including the Legislator of the Year award to Senator Cory Booker and Municipal Excellence Award to Lisa Allen, Council President, City of Summit. There will also be awards presented to JAG members for their contributions in support of JAG’s mandate to include: JAG Member Recognition Award and the President’s Ovation Awards.

At our luncheon, we will explore the progress of the broadband expansion in our state and what it means the way PEG channels will be delivered in the future, and why you should care! Panelists to include: Robert Boyle, CEO, Planet Networks; Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media and others to help gaze into their crystal balls at the future of television delivery.

In the evening, there is a great opportunity to network with your fellow JAG members and participating exhibitors at a cocktail hour, followed by a banquet and our annual JAG Awards and some special presentation. Lighting to be supplied by Paul DeStefano, Northeast Regional Sales Manager, DeSisti Lighting.

Great information, great people, great food (OK maybe the food isn’t up to the quality of a Michelin star but it will be tasty}—you won’t want to miss the 2024 JAG Conference. Log on to jagconference.com right now to sign up, and we’ll see you at the Crowne Plaza in Edison on May 16.

Registration is now open at Shop – JAG Conference

For more information and session details, check out the conference tab on our website, jagonline.org/conference or log on to www.jagconference.com. Be sure to check back often to follow additions to the schedule. New events and sessions are being added all the time.

Thanks to the following JAG Organizational and Municipal members who will be participating as panelist or moderators and sharing their knowledge that will help to increase the quality of municipal TV stations in NJ.