2027 ACM WEST CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS DESCRIPTIONS
*Preliminary as of 10-28-26
Are you interested in speaking at the conference? Fill out our Conference Speaker Interest Form by November 25.
PLENARY SESSIONS
AI in Media: Harnessing the Power while Protecting the Craft
Today, the most pressing questions surrounding AI are no longer primarily technical. They are human, institutional, and ethical. The challenge is less about what AI systems can do and more about how society chooses to integrate them into everyday life.
Use of AI has become controversial in filmmaking, journalism, and even community media storytelling. People create stories in different places, with different traditions, leveraging and shaping media to build narratives. Today, storytellers and filmmakers are using a variety of techniques and tools to tell stories.
Which stories can and should be told with AI? How should filmmakers, storytellers, and journalists invent, leverage, adapt, and resist AI tools? What fundamental questions does AI-assisted storytelling raise about aesthetics, craft, truth, expertise, knowledge, authorship, politics, persuasion, and accountability?
Staying Alive and Relevant in a Rapidly Changing Environment
It seems like every day there is a new challenge! Funding is shrinking. It’s increasingly difficult to involve volunteers. The local government doesn’t respect or value our services and programming. AI is creating new challenges to some of our core functions. Can CMCs stay relevant in their communities by following traditional access models, or must we pivot to a new paradigm? What does success and relevancy look like? What should community media centers be doing to address change? Hear from centers making change, and learn about what is and is not working.
CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
Pitching the CMC: Win Grant Funding and Build Lasting Partnerships
CMCs occupy a unique space at the intersection of arts and culture, hands-on skill building, and civic engagement. Because our work spans multiple sectors, finding grants tailored specifically to community media can be challenging. This workshop will show you how to approach nonprofits, schools, governments, foundations, and other potential funders, and how the CMC’s skills and expertise can strengthen a grant application. You will hear directly from CMCs that have successfully secured grant funding across diverse categories. You will learn actionable strategies to reframe your programs and services, tailor your proposals to varied funder priorities, stand out in competitive grant pools and position the CMC as a reliable partner in supporting important work throughout the community. Plus, learn how to build effective program surveys, capture evidence to demonstrate impact, and translate raw data into compelling reporting narratives.
Beyond Grants and Cable Funding: Diversifying CMC Funding
With cable franchise fees shrinking and grants never guaranteed, community media centers need multiple funding sources. This session explores revenue sources closest to home: production services, individual donors, local business sponsorships, and underwriting. We’ll cover how to build a production service rate card and market your services. How to develop a donor program from scratch or strengthen the one you have, how to package sponsorships and underwriting in a way local businesses and organizations will say yes to, how to serve as a fiscal sponsor for another organization’s grant, and how to stay true to your mission and editorial independence while doing it. You’ll see how these sources fit together alongside grants and other income so you’re not leaning on any single revenue source. Come away with practical ideas you can put to work this year.
Building Creative Partnerships
Sustainable growth depends on deep community connections. This session explores how CMCs can forge innovative partnerships with libraries, community centers, and local organizations to drive new audiences through your doors. Learn how to identify mission-aligned partners, co-create engaging cross-promotional programs, and turn community alliances into measurable increases in participation and civic reach.
Powering Civic Media: CMC Local Journalism Initiatives
In an era of social fragmentation, disinformation, and intense media consolidation, community media centers are uniquely positioned to foster local civic renewal as hubs for community-engaged news and information exchange. Our field already excels in community building, uplifting diverse voices, and sharing community information. In this interactive session, you will explore community news roles, learn about CMC-based local journalism projects that are already underway, and explore what resources you most need to embark on a local journalism-civic information initiative in your community.
From Cable Channel to Civic Ally: Practical Strategies to Win Local Government Support
Many elected officials and government administrators view public-access television as simply a cable channel or a service required under an old franchise agreement. They can be important partners in government transparency, public information, education, community engagement, and local economic development.
This workshop will explore practical ways to build relationships with city managers, county administrators, elected officials, emergency-services agencies, schools, and other public institutions. This workshop will examine how community media centers can demonstrate their professional and economic value while staying true to their public-service mission.
Rules of Engagement: Developing AI Policies for the Community Media Center
AI is already being used for writing, graphics, captioning, editing, research, and other everyday tasks—but many community media organizations have no policy governing its use. What happens when staff, volunteers, producers, or government partners enter confidential information into an AI system? Who is responsible for inaccurate or copyrighted material? When should audiences be told that AI was used?
This interactive workshop will examine existing AI policies from community media centers, local governments, nonprofits, and related organizations. Participants will work toward a practical baseline checklist addressing confidentiality, copyright, disclosure, accuracy, bias, records retention, human review, and acceptable uses of AI.
Building Accessible Public Meetings Using Digital Media Navigation
Accessibility requirements under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and California SB 707 are creating new challenges and opportunities for local governments, educational institutions, and community media centers. Together, these standards and legislation highlight the importance of ensuring that digital content, public meetings, and civic information are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities and residents with limited English proficiency.
Learn how to navigate these changes in real time, common implementation barriers, and practical, sustainable solutions to improve accessibility. Topics will include accessible digital content, remote participation, live captioning, descriptive audio, language access, and inclusive public communication. Whether your organization is already working toward compliance or just beginning the process, you’ll leave with a clearer understanding of the requirements, actionable strategies, and a path toward more accessible and inclusive public services.
One Media Center, Many Communities: Serving Small and Rural Region Without Losing the Local
Community media organizations are often structured around a single city, cable system, or government jurisdiction. But what happens when the community that needs service covers an entire rural county—or several widely separated communities?
This workshop would explore how shared staff, remote technology, centralized operations, streaming, mobile production, radio, and community partnerships can extend service across a rural region without erasing each community’s local identity. Participants would examine what to share, what to keep local, which services to introduce in phases, and how to avoid expanding beyond an organization’s financial and staffing capacity.
How Does Your Access Center Do It? Interactive Advice Workshop Session
We all have areas where our access center shines—and others where we could use some innovative ideas. This interactive session puts participants in both the teacher and student seats. Move between stations, swap ideas, and learn from fellow access professionals on topics like membership, outreach, revenue generation, youth programs, doing more with less, and the latest video tools. Come ready to share, learn, and connect!
Marketing & Outreach: Who, What, Where, and How?
There is no one size fits all approach to marketing and community outreach. Who are you trying to reach? Why are you trying to engage? What’s the message?
Learn from centers of different sizes: their stories and strategies, their budgets (costs and capacity), and where they see the most impact. See demonstrations and techniques from each panelist.
A.M.A.T.: Ask Me Anything Technical
A favorite session has returned again. This workshop is just what it sounds like.
A team of technical experts and engineers are here to answer your questions.
Solving PEG Issues at the State Level in California and Across the Country
This workshop will bring you up to speed on some state-level regulatory issues related to PEG in California and elsewhere and will take a look at what needs to be accomplished in the future to ensure funding for, and equal treatment of, local community and civic information.
For example, in California, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has been engaged in two cable-related proceedings for the past three years. One recently concluded proceeding concerns a request to approve a change of control/transfer of ownership of Cox and Charter cable systems in California. The second related issue is a rulemaking initiated by SB 28 to examine cable customer service standards. We’ll present an update and the next steps to protect and grow hyper local community media.
The workshop will also provide a profile of several states where changes in state regulation and law has resulted in addressing funding and other issues.
Building Successful Internship, Mentorship, and Workforce Development Programs
Internships, apprenticeships, and workforce development offer valuable real-world media experience, fostering creativity and professional growth for students at all levels and seniors while building partnerships and connections among the CMC, schools, local government agencies, and the community. This workshop will demonstrate how high school and college interns have gained hands-on experience in video production, community outreach, cable programming, and marketing.
*Workshops Subject to Change