President's Message | July 9, 2019

#ACMPDX - New Paths Conference this week in Portland, OR

We’re already beginning the action at the ACM National Conference with the Emerging Leaders Institute kicking off this morning. Toni Tabora Robets and Paula Manley are leading a two-day intensive workshop with twelve emerging leaders from around the country today and tomorrow here in Portland.

The Board of Directors of the ACM and the Foundation of ACM will be meeting today, and then we will start the conference in earnest 9:00am local time on Wednesday, July 10th. 

We’ll capture the Opening Session, Plenary and Award Ceremonies with the help of the Open Media Foundation – they’ll post video updates at acm.open.media. 

And be sure to check out updates on social media about the conference with hashtag #ACMPDX 

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FCC Updates on Cable Franchising Rules

Representatives Jim Costa (CA) and Denny Heck (WA) have written letters to the FCC opposing the proposed rules on cable franchising. That makes 25 members of the House of Representatives and 15 Senators in opposition!

Please keep reaching out to your Congress members this week. Keep promoting the ACM Petition to your viewers and volunteers at tinyurl.com/SavePEG.  We have almost 9,300 letters to Congress on the petition, and every voice matters at this point in the process.

I want to thank everyone who’s been pushing the issue asking Congress to voice their opposition.  Jay April at Akaku got a statement from Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz about what the FCC is trying to do: He calls it “procedural violence”.  You can see the video here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wjq908f82CV0-WT78sMRb6GGAB3BueRN/view?usp=sharing.

Thanks,
Mike Wassenaar
ACM President & CEO