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Convention What : "A Community Media Odyssey: the End of the Century Access Bash" Who : Rogue Valley Community Television and The Alliance for Community Media. When : Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Where : Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Cost : Conference, $60 members, $65 nonmembers. Friday only or Saturday only, $20 and $25. Information : Pete Belcastro, conference coordinator, SOU, (541) 552-6393, e-mail: [email protected] Community TV conference Producer will speak at three-day event at SOU By BILL VARBLE A talk by independent television producer Nancy Pearlman is one of the highlights of a community television conference that's expected to draw some 150 community television advocates from around the Northwest to Ashland late this week. Dubbed "A Community Media Odyssey: the End of the Century Access Bash," the three-day event is being hosted by Rogue Valley Community Television, the Southern Oregon Central Labor Council and the cities of Ashland and Medford. Pearlman produces "Eco News," a long-running TV program that's been seen on RVTV for years. RVTV, based at Southern Oregon University, broadcasts a variety of noncommercial programming on cable channels 9, 30, 31 and 33. "We're really excited to have her," convention coordinator Pete Belcastro said Monday of the Los Angeles-based Pearlman. "We thought we had Michael Moore, but he pulled out." Moore is the independent filmmaker best known for "Roger and Me," a scathing study of General Motors during a time the giant automaker was eliminating jobs, and is the host of television's "TV Nation." Other speakers include Bunnie Reidel of Washington, D.C., executive director of the Alliance for Community Media; Alan Bushong, the director of a Salem community TV station; SOU President Stephen Reno; Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw; and Medford Mayor Lindsay Berryman. The alliance is a nonprofit organization that advocates for public access to electronic media. Founded in 1976 as the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers, it represents community, religious and other groups that use public, educational and government (PEG) access cable TV channels. There are almost 1,000 PEG groups in the country. The alliance won a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant in 1995 with which it produced a five-minute video called ``Access: Building Communities Through Media," which it distributes free. The Alliance's Web site is www.alliancecm.org The Ashland event comes at the 10th anniversary of RVTV, which is based at Southern Oregon University. Community broadcasters such as RVTV typically broadcast city and county government meetings, educational programming and a mix of community access programs running the gamut from yoga shows to 12-step programs to travel updates to car repair. Scheduled workshops at the conference include sessions on video production techniques, fiber networks, mass media and public culture, cable radio, grant writing, lighting, youth programs and balancing First Amendment rights with questions of community taste. Other highlights of the convention include: A discussion with RVTV producers at 6 p.m. Thursday at SOU will be aired on channels 9 and 31. A Campaign for Media Democracy Rally at 5 p.m. Friday at Lithia Park includes a barbecue with music provided by Rogue Valley rhythm and blues favorites Broadway Phil and the Shouters. An awards show takes place at 6 p.m. Saturday at SOU's Music Recital Hall, recognizing Joe Brett, Suzi Aufderheide and Pete Belcastro of RVTV, SOU Communication Professor Mark Chilcoat, SOU student Aaron Torres and SOU's Society for Creative Anachronism. For more information, call (541) 552-6393. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA