[cma-l] Creativity, Diversity, Wellbeing – what’s behind our conference theme

[Dom Chambers]

To CMA members,

I welcome Lucinda’s call to attend this year’s Community Media Conference and the themes she has outlined. Bringing us all together to inform and learn is what the CMA does best and I very much look forward to attending my 7th conference. The buzz of inspiration that came out of the Bath, Leicester and Luton conferences is memorable. With the proposed agenda I am sure the Birmingham conference will follow suit.

The CMA has been undergoing a strategic review. This process began back in 2013 when the then CMA chair, Andrew David, set up a sub group of council to assess how we were going about our operations both internally with council and employees and externally with members, stakeholders and the wider public. Interestingly this arose out of that year’s conference in Manchester, when I, with the approval of the chair, led an unscheduled session to ask CMA members what they wanted of their representative body. A lot of work has been done on this since and I look forward to hearing about the collaboration between the CMA and the Foundation for Social Improvement that has underwritten the latest phase of the review. I am pleased to see an hour of conference has been given to member’s consultation. Community media in the UK needs stronger representation. We need the CMA to be better resourced and on a firmer business footing because in the fast changing media landscape, and the rising list of social challenges, there are opportunities for us out there that need to be realised. Those of us who have been following developments look forward to the recommendations of the strategic review and the accompanying business plan. Lucinda is leading this section of conference and I am sure there will be many of us who want to support her with this process so that the CMA is in a strong position to recommend a five year plan at the AGM scheduled for December.

There is much to be done and sometimes it can seem the mountain is too high. However there is one essential development that I think is readily achievable. It returns us to Lucinda’s point about changing public perceptions of community media. We need a user friendly, academically sound, report on what we achieve as a driver for social change. This could, and I think should, establish credible statistics which offer the government and other key organisations a tangible social worth of community media. This work needs to be collaboratively achieved through a partnership of representatives, academics, practitioners and beneficiaries. The CMA are well-placed to be a keystone of this needed project. Much of the work has already been done and it is a question of a final collaborative push to achieve what effectively becomes a vital tool to all of us delivering community media.

With the launch of the inaugural Community Radio Awards taking place on the same day I am sensing there is a gathering excitement about this year’s conference. See you in Birmingham on 10th and let the conversations flow.

Best wishes to all,

Dom Chambers


From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk [mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of CMA-L
Sent: 01 September 2016 18:38
To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Subject: [cma-l] Creativity, Diversity, Wellbeing – what’s behind our conference theme

By Lucinda Guy, Chair of the Community Media Association

Over the last year, discussions at CMA Council meetings have often been about how we could help to change public perception of community media. Are we amateurs, playing at radio, TV and print? No! We are professionals, working in community development. We have found the ‘magic bullet’ for transforming the lives of individuals, and improving things for our town or area – it’s getting people together to create and distribute their own media. We all see the incredible changes that take place, and dedicate our lives to making it happen, often underpaid, under appreciated and over worked.

As the Council has worked on a new strategy for the CMA, with the tag line ‘Community Media Changing Lives’ we’ve thought about how to get the message across to stakeholders and the general public. Thinking towards this year’s Conference, we wanted to take time to celebrate what is really amazing about community media, whilst acknowledging the problems, challenging those with influence and improving our skills to help all of our organisations become more sustainable. We need everyone to be part of this conversation – those rooted in community media, and representatives from the BBC, Ofcom, PRSfM/PPL, funders and others.

I’m not the only person who has felt underwhelmed by talks delivered by someone high up in their profession in mainstream media. They may not really understand what we do, and no-one likes being talked down to. Let’s avoid those situations, and instead, invite all kinds of people to discuss things together, and share skills. Our annual conference can be a place where new ideas are generated, new connections made. Moving to a mix of panel discussions and workshops will help this to happen.

Our theme of ‘Creativity, Diversity, Well-being’ sums up all that is best about what we do. Creative risks can be taken, with people making content that wouldn’t be found anywhere else. Some of these amazing ideas gradually seep into mainstream media. Diversity here isn’t just tokenistic – some of the most marginalised and misunderstood groups have real ownership and control of media platforms. And the well-being of many people around the UK is being transformed by locally owned, non-profit, grassroots media outlets.

My hope is that the Conference itself not just looks at these points but lives them. Let’s have a creative event, where we are buzzing with ideas. Let’s have a good range of people speaking, diverse in every sense. And let’s look after one another on the day. Take time to welcome new people, listen to one another’s points of view, and have a positive shared experience that helps us to thrive over the coming year.

http://arts.commedia.org.uk/news/creativity-diversity-wellbeing/

Conference tickets available here: http://bit.ly/2016CMAConf

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Book your tickets now for the Community Media Conference 2016: http://bit.ly/2016CMAConf

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