Events & Workshops

PMCC offers a series of intensive workshops for a variety of skill levels that will help you and your content teams to deliver the very best public service to audiences. PMCC also provides virtual learning opportunities and convenings that make it easy and cost-effective for you to get the training you need.

Workshops

Crossroads Summit

Join PMCC for the Crossroads Summit, Wednesday, July 8 at the Hilton Chicago alongside the Public Media Growth Conference, presented by Greater Public. This one-day convening is designed to build collaboration and innovation between content and revenue disciplines, helping to grow reach, impact and relevance that achieves long-term sustainability. The event will bring content, programming, development and marketing professionals together for shared learning that leads to deeper collaboration and more successful outcomes.

Thank you to our sponsors for helping to make this unique event possible – American Public Media, New York Public Radio, Car Talk Vehicle Donation Program and The Radio Research Consortium.

Crossroads Summit schedule:

8:30 – 9:30 am            General Session: Content Sponsorship that Doesn’t Break the Firewall

                                    Public media has long held the belief that audiences will mistrust our content and our brands if sponsorship is tied too closely to content. There are ways to approach content sponsorship that provide outstanding service to our audiences and to our sponsors. In this session, we’ll talk about content sponsorship that serves audiences without sacrificing the trust of our audiences.       

9:30 – 10:00 am         Roundtable Discussion – How can your organization create content sponsorship opportunities that serve audiences and corporate partners alike.  

10:00 – 10:30 am       Networking Break

10:30 – 11:30 am       General Session: Live Events that Drive Audience Growth and Revenue

                                    Live events can generate ticket sales, merchandise sales, opportunities to engage with major donors and interest from funders and potential members, but they also provide visibility in the community, touchpoints for audiences and the in-person engagement that people are craving. In this session, we’ll talk about all the different ways that live events can benefit your station. SPEAKERS: Lulu Miller – Host, Radio Lab (moderator),  Sarah Sandbach – EP, Radio Lab,  Donna Tam – Executive Director, Growth & Development – Marketplace

11:30 am – 1:00 pm   Lunch with NFCB – Break bread with our community broadcasting colleagues

1:00 – 2:00 pm            General Session: New Approaches to On-air Fundraising

                                    Broadcast audiences now rely more on digital on-demand content than ever before, which changes the playing field for how we use our air to fundraise. Even with the groundswell of support that many stations have experienced recently, we know that marathon on-air program interruptions with little planning, coaching or feedback will not carry us into the future. In this session, we’ll look at different approaches that lead to success.  SPEAKERS: Christina Shockley – Shockley Radio (moderator), Rob Risko – VP, Development & Membership, LAist. David McKay – On-air Fundraising Manager, WBEZ

2:00 – 2:30 pm            Roundtable Discussion: What new approaches to on-air fundraising has your station tried? What is holding your organization back from trying new tactics?

2:30 – 3:00 pm            Networking Break

3:00 – 4:00 pm            General Session: Managing Inventory Across Departments and Platforms

                                    Your on-air and digital inventory is a limited resource that must be managed carefully. Having a shared understanding of the best use of that inventory across platforms is critical for everyone in content, programming, marketing, and fundraising. In this session, we’ll talk about the effective use of inventory to get the results you desire, whether that be increased engagement or meeting revenue goals.            

4:00 – 4:30 pm Networking Break

PRICING

$200 Early Bird Rate (March 4 to May 1)
$250 Standard (May 2 to June 19)
$300 Late Registration (June 20 to July 10)

Go back and watch educational webinars you may have missed on a variety of topics, from audience research presentations to training sessions on how to coach talent. Find our webinar archive below.

Upcoming Events

An Introduction to PMI – Public Media Infrastructure

Wednesday, March 25 – 3:00 pm ET/Noon PT

Since the announcement last fall of the formation of Public Media Infrastructure, many questions have been asked about its role, its services and its benefits to public media organizations. Public Media Infrastructure (PMI) is a nonprofit coalition formed by five leading public media organizations through a five-year grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Its goal is to steward modern tools for content distribution, audience measurement, and revenue generation to support more than 1,300 public media stations serving communities nationwide. As PMI takes shape, we’re learning more about what it will offer in the months and years ahead. Join us for an introduction to PMI and learn about this new venture and how it will benefit your station and all of public media.

Content and programming professionals from across the country get together regularly to spend time with their peers and talk about their shared challenges and solutions. Virtual cohort meetups for News/Talk and Classical programmers are scheduled monthly with other groups meeting less frequently. Don’t work alone, find a cohort group to build up your professional network.