Recap: Stories for Change, A Summit for Northwest Media-Makers

March 31-April 1, Open Signal hosted Stories for Change, an independent media summit organized by the Alliance for Community Media Northwest Region (ACMNWR).

Stories for Change went extremely well, drawing representatives from community media and radio from all over the Northwest, including Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, as well as the ACM national board of directors.

Summit participants had a great time at our facility and there was a lot of excitement and interest in the changes Open Signal has made in the last year. The ACMNWR reported that we had 121 pre-registrations (with a few extra at the door), making this one of their best-attended regional conferences in some time!

Panel sessions included an inspirational presentation by Open Signal Executive Director Justen Harn, and MetroEast CEO Marty Jones on the topic of expanding the community media business model for future sustainability. Another thought-provoking panel on closing the technology gap for low-income people featured Andre Middleton, Open Signal Director of Equity and Digital Inclusion.

One of the high points of the conference was the plenary, "Community Media and Civic Engagement," which featured community media producers Lorena Connelly, Jim Lockhart and Nili Yosha. The presentation focused on the impact community media can have to educate and activate the community on important issues.

This event would not have been successful without the hard work and dedication of Open Signal staff and volunteers! 

We want to send a huge thank you to our amazing volunteers for their excellent teamwork that made this event so successful: Tony Brown, Maura Campbell-Balkit, Amy Chiao, Pamela Chipman, Alisa Christiansen, Elijah Hasan, Kelly Jensvold, Samuel Kidoguchi, Kevin Lynch, Jovan Miller, Aaron Miyashita, Alva Myers, Steve Naylor, PC Peri, Jim Thompson, Jo Thorpe-Buckmaster, Jack Tooson and Sarah Vitak. 

Thanks for being Open Signal ambassadors to the ACM NW region!

If you missed the media summit, don’t worry! You can watch the videos on Youtube. See photos from the event here.