SCMA | Southern Community Media Association

Greetings One and All,

As some of you have rightly pointed out to me the 31^st of January is a Sunday and have requested that entries now close on 1/02/10. As a result of your constant requests it has been decided to extend the closing date for the X Awards to 1/02/10.

There will be no further extensions for the award deadline

So please make sure you have submitted your entries by the 1/02/10 entries received after that date will not be entered into the awards.

Best Wishes to all those stations that have already entered the X awards.

Remember if you are not in it you cannot win it.

Gotta get an X award………………….more information and entry forms available at here [Follow Link To 'X' Awards...]

Plenty of rooms Available for the National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference

There have been rumors circulating that there are no accommodation available at the 2010 conference venue or within the township of Wangaratta. Having just been in touch with the conference venue and tourism Wangaratta I can assure you that the rumor is far from the truth.

When booking at the conference Venue “The Wangaratta Gateway” please ensure that you tell them that you are booking in for the conference. The Gateway has rooms put aside for conference delegates and there are still more than 20 rooms available for both Friday March 12^th and Saturday March 13^th. We recommend that if you wish to stay at the conference venue you book in as soon as possible.

There is also a wealth of alternative accommodation available close to the conference venue. If you visit the associations website here there are links to both the Gateway and Tourism Wangaratta to see what accommodation is available.

The 6^th National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference is shaping up to be the best yet with members and non members alike registering for this years conference.

It’s not too late to grab an early bird special or a member’s special. For more information on these go to the website and check out the conference page. Entries are also still open for the prestigious X Awards

The 2010 National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference is a great opportunity for your station to learn, network and enjoy the social side of community broadcasting in an open and friendly atmosphere.

Take a few minutes to have a look at the conference schedule and information and then make your booking to be in Wangaratta Victoria on March 12^th to 14^th 2010.

We will make you welcome!

See you in Wangaratta

The Southern Community Media Association as part of it’s continued efforts to better inform it’s membership and the sector as a whole has established a presence on the social networking system Facebook. The page will be used to inform subscribers of events that are happening within the association as well as within the sector.

To an extent it will also be used as an information portal and events program for the association.

I encourage you all to subscribe to the Southern Community Media Association Facebook page. It is all about getting the information out to as many people as possible. You don’t have to be a station manager or a member of the board at your station. In fact you don’t even have to be involved in a station just have an interest in supporting community radio.

Anything that increases information flow and creates an opportunity to promote what is happening within community broadcasting is a bonus to us all.

The great thing about Facebook as opposed to blog sites and web pages is it is interactive and we encourage you all to be involved and have your say about what you would like to see the SCMA doing such as training opportunities, the Conference and anything else you can think of. It’s all right there on Facebook

Here is the link that will take you to the SCMA Facebook site go ahead and join up as a friend and get interactive with your association. You don’t have to be a member of the association to use Facebook but it’s great if you do join after all it’s all about community broadcasting.

http://www.facebook.com/myscma

SCMA Press Release – Date: 19-01-2010

National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference schedule released on the Web

Following on from the relaunch of the Southern Community Media Associations new website yesterday the Association has released the schedule of events for the 2010 National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference.

Some of the featured speakers at this years event will be the ACMA speaking about the code of conduct and sponsorship guidelines, David Wilson will return to speak about succession planning and marketing your station, Michael Mcfeeters will conduct a session on Technical made simple, the CBF have two workshops plus many more speakers on many topics will be at the conference. There will be all the usual features of the conference such as drinks with the trade, the welcome BBQ and the Conference dinner and X Awards.

All of this and a whole lot more and all included in the affordable conference registration fee. There are no extras and no hidden costs for delegates.

The 2010 National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference is a great opportunity for your station to learn, network and enjoy the social side of community broadcasting in an open and friendly atmosphere.

Take a few minutes to have a look at the conference schedule and information and then make your booking to be in Wangaratta Victoria on March 12^th to 14^th 2010.

We will make you welcome!

See you in Wangaratta

It’s here!

The 2010 SCMA Conference Schedule is now available for download. It’s packed with all the information you’ll need for the upcoming Conference. Don’t forget the deadline for conference registration and X Awards entry is 31st Janurary 2010.

Download

2010 Conference Schedule Download [ Word Document]

Below is the schedule itself without detailed information download the above document for detailed information.

Schedule

Conference Schedule Friday March 12^th 2010

The conference Welcome B.B.Q starts at 1900 and runs through to 2100. The BBQ will be hosted by 3 OAK FM Wangaratta. Studio Tours will be conducted.

Conference Schedule Saturday March 13^th 2010

Conference Schedule Sunday March 14th 2010

It is with great excitement that I announce the launch of the new and improved Southern Community Media Association website. By now you would have noticed the new website and logo, but that’s only the start……

We’re working on some innovative features for the website, that will include access for SCMA Members, Australian Music Artists as well as the general public. We’ve planned a range of  features for the new website over the next few months, and I hope you’ll stay with us as we go places no one has ever been.

The new website is designed to provide a basic information portal for SCMA members as well as non-members, and at this stage serves a fairly basic purpose, however you should expect a considerable amount of changes and additions to the website that will launch at the upcoming conference in Wangaratta including a great new way for Aussie artists to get their music out to the Community Broadcasting sector by using SCMA’s Program Delivery System and the soon to be announced Artists platform.

I’m looking forward to the conference myself as I will be presenting an Internet Technology workshop, focusing on using the Internet to provide an additional outlet for your radio station to connect with your listening audience. I’m very keen to demonstrate that the power of engaging your audience off air and online can be a great benefit to your station.

Anyway I should not give it all away about what I’ve got planned for the workshop or the website, I do like to offer surprises, so come along and let me surprise you!

Cheers,

Brad Ward
SCMA Webmaster

Greetings Members of the Southern Community Media Association,

This is preliminary official notice of the 2010 Annual General Meeting of the Southern Community Media Association. The Southern Community Media Association’s Annual General Meeting will be conducted in accordance with the association’s constitutional requirements on Saturday March 13^th 2010.

The meeting will be conducted as part of the Annual National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference 2010 in Wangaratta.

The exact location and time along with the meeting agenda will be sent out to all stations closer to the day of the meeting.

All stations that receive this notice will be posted a membership invoice, membership application and a nomination form in the near future to give you the opportunity to become financial members of the Southern Community Media Association and have voting rights at the AGM.

This is a formal notification that nominations are now open for the following positions on the Board of Management of Southern Community Media Association.

Nominations are called for the Position of President.

This is a twelve month term of office.

4 Directors of the Association for a term of 2 years

Nominations must be on the prescribed nominations form and must be moved and seconded by a financial member station as well as signed by the person being nominated.

All Completed Nominations forms must be in the possession of the appointed returning officer of the Association (Mr. Ray Hazen) by no later than 10 pm on Friday January 29^th 2010.

Nominations will only be accepted if they comply with the nomination procedures of the Southern Community Media Association as set out in the association’s constitution section 15

Attached to this notice is the prescribed nomination form.

You are also reminded that you must be a member of a current financial member station or a current financial individual member to nominate. You can check on your membership status by contacting the returning officer via our contact form here or calling 0409 533 891

Member stations can vote at the meeting or by postal voting there is one vote per Member station please note that while individual members are eligible to stand for positions they do not have voting rights.

Postal votes must be applied for in writing (Email) to the returning officer of the association via info [at] scma1.com before 10pm Friday February 19^th 2010. Postal votes must be received by last mail Friday March 5^th 2010.

Late Nominations or late applications for postal votes will not be accepted or processed.

Kindest Regards

Ray Hazen

CEO & Returning Officer
Southern Community Media Association

Link Attached: SCMA Nomination Form 2010

SCMA Press Release

After the devastation of Black Saturday last year, the Whittlesea Country Music Festival is back bigger and brighter in 2010.

The festival will run from the 12th through to the 14th February 2010.

As part of the festival, Plenty Valley FM is proud to be broadcasting nationally the Victorian and National Country Music Awards. The broadcast will come to you “LIVE” from the Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre on Saturday February 13^th from 8 pm EDT.

Join us for a night of awards, interviews & live performances by some of the best established and up and coming talent in Australian Country Music.

These awards are now regarded second only to Tamworth and are gaining in stature year by year.

We would love to hear from SCMA stations who will be taking the awards, drop us a line at b4king@live.com.au, so we can give your station a “shoutout” during the broadcast.

Join us on CRN or NIRS satellite service from 8pm EDT till Midnight on SATURDAY 13th FEBRUARY.

NOTE: Stations already taking AMRAP music that night will automatically get the awards program from 8pm.

Festival Website: http://www.whittleseacountrymusicfestival.com.au

Make your comments about this press release below. Members can publish comments immediately, non-members comment’s are subject to review.

Dated: 7-12-2009

We are now in the final testing stages of the program delivery system. Thanks must go out to the stations that have taken on the task of assisting us in this final test for the system.

The short answer is we wanted to make absolutely certain that the system was 100% ready for release instead of rushing it out there and having to play catch up to keep it ticking over

PDS is one of the most secure delivery systems on the internet today and as such we will be exploring every avenue to get the most data transfers available to our member stations as quickly as possible.

So what is the PDS and what can it do for your station

What is the PDS I hear you ask. Well PDS stands for Program Delivery System and program means your programs on air at your station. PDS is now capable of more than that as a result of it’s evolution and development.

What started out as a simple program exchange system evolved into an upload down load system that will allow stations to upload material into the system without the need for it to be sent to a central location and uploaded by a specific person.

This will mean that you can distribute programs and information on a one to one basis or a one to many basis. This will allow stations to exchange programs without any need to apply for permission to upload or down load other than from the stations concerned.

The development of the system has also seen the introduction of a document exchange section for the system as well as a document bank and a library developed for on-air programs and information.

All of this has been achieved while at the same time giving the system the best possible security encryption to protect information and material to above accepted standards. The system can be many things to different users as well as multi tasking capabilities. The system is administered via SCMA but also has the capability to provide a one to many service that can circumvent involvement from the SCMA thus providing individual distributors a safe secure and reliable delivery system that they have the majority of control over. This means that sensitive material can be delivered to the locations the distributor desires it sent without it having to be processed by anyone other than themselves, this will provide a higher degree of security for the distributor.

System set up is made as easy as possible for the end user, the system has a simple download component that must be verified by the SCMA thus ensuring that it remains secure and cannot be breached or distributed to other users without authorization.

The big features of the PDS system is the ease of set up and the extremely high security protection the system provides, the ease of use for the end user and the simple interface all means this system will be a stress free secure system that will provide SCMA member stations with a great way to share on-air programs and much more.

PDS will be openly available to all community broadcast stations regardless of their membership to the SCMA. There are levels of control and there will be information that is exclusively for members of the SCMA delivered through this system but it has the capacity to deliver information to anyone or every one.

The user interface is designed to be as simple to use as is possible and will provide users with access, information and upload capabilities at the click of a mouse button