SCMA | Southern Community Media Association

The CEO of the SCMA has announced that as part of the ongoing commitment and development of the association’s internet presence that the SCMA has acquired a new faster Australian based server to locate its IT services on.

Web Master for the SCMA Mr Brad Ward said “The introduction of this new server will see a significant and noticeable increase in speed for both the SCMA’S websites and also for the PDS”.

The new server was brought into service earlier this week after some extensive testing to ensure that it would provide the association and it’s membership with a reliable faster way to get information out to the membership of the association.

The most significant improvements will be in upload and download time for programs available on PDS with the new server providing a faster and more stable platform for the system to operate on.

The Associations web presence is constantly being updated and developed to provide the SCMA membership with the best possible information and support.

If you are interested in finding out more about the services that SCMA have available to it’s membership please feel free to contact the associations via the contact us page on the SCMA’s web site http://www.scma.org.au/contact-us/ or simply have a look at the SCMA’s website www.scma.org.au

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More information or comment on this release by contacting SCMA’s Web Master Mr. Brad Ward
via webmaster@scma.org.au or phone Geek Internet 03 9014 9815.
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Rob Stewart, Treasurer of 3BBR-FM, got the surprise of his life when he was announced as the recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship.

This is Rotary’s way of recognising appreciation for a substantial contribution to its humanitarian and educational programs.. Recipients are presented with a certificate, a medallion, and a lapel pin, which identifies them as advocates of the Rotary Foundation’s goal of world peace and understanding.

From what we have seen of Rob’s work at 3BBR-FM, it is a well-deserved accolade. Rob led a small team of workers to transform the drab bathroom, turning it into a light, bright, disability friendly facility, installed a ramp at the entrance and persuaded the shire to put up finger signs to the station. And those are just the major achievements.

We were delighted to be able to join the long list of organisations which recommended Rob for the fellowship.

Yes the Melomaniacs have over come all of the drama of the past few months and have shown their deep commitment by putting their show onto PDS effective immediately.

As of right now Melomania is available via the PDS and is waiting to be added to your stations playlist.

The show is broken into around 7 segments allowing plenty of time for you to insert sponsorship announcements and other promotional materials.

So what is Melomania all about ……………

Meaning Of Melomania is A Singular passion for music that is beyond all reason, hence the name of the show.

Melomania has been on the Airwaves since AUGUST 2008 and has already had talented national and international artists from many styles of music from Country through to mainstream as well as all places in between. The Melomaniacs also interview local guests not just for them but also locals from around Australia.

Melomania is about letting you know what is charting, what the celebs are up to, even a bit of gossip as well as what’s new.

We also like to introduce bands and artists that you wouldn’t usually hear even if they are from the same town or city as you. We love to discover new artists.

Basically Melomania is just a few hours of fun, great music and a little bit of craziness all rolled into one great show that your listeners will just become addicted to.

Melomania it’s young, it’s vibrant it’s entertaining … and who doesn’t like music?

Want to know more go to www.melomania.com.au and take a look

Peter Weeks from member station UG FM was the MC for the reopening of the Marysville SES HQ following the Feb 7th fires. As well as Peter’s involvement with UG FM he is also an SES volunteer and SES Media Liaison Officer with the Alexandra Unit.

The majority of the SES Building was badly damaged and Marysville lost much of their equipment and primary rescue vehicle that has been replaced. The Victorian Historic Racing Register Club raised $28,000 to replace road accident equipment and that was also handed over. The SES Long service Medals for 10 and 30 years of services were awarded by the Premier to Marysville volunteers.

UG FM decided to broadcast some of the activities on the day with their new Tieline outside Broadcast Equipment funded by the Bendigo Bank Community Fund to the tune of $17,000 and talked live via NextG IP connection back to their Alexandra Studios and across their network of 5 transmitters.

Peter advised they were fortunate that, at late notice, the Premier of Victoria and the following day the Prime Minister both payed a visit. Both were more than happy to have a chat live on UGFM together. That’s something you don’t see too often.

The Prime Minister appeared to really enjoy the day. It was her first official function in Victoria as Prime Minister.

The quote of the day goes to the Prime Minister. Peter Weeks reported that following the largest media conference he had ever seen the PM told them all “Ok we have to go and talk on Community Radio now”

And they did, on UGFM!

Apologies for the small images pics taken on phone

Monday 5th July 2010

Voice FM announces the release of their new website – www.voicefm.com.au

An exciting addition to not only Ballarats own community broadcaster but a great community resource for all.
www.voicefm.com.au is designed as a resource and information portal as well as a contact point for all things relating to the Ballarat community.

The site features a myriad of information including an events guide, a comprehensive gig guide, local news, community information and dynamic links for all things Ballarat. This valuable community asset has been a long time coming and aims to improve community access to information our community demands.

Tully Smith the Chairman of Voice FM said “We at your community station 99.9 Voice FM have been undergoing significant change in recent months with a real focus on the needs of the Ballarat community. Voice FM believes the Ballarat community deserve a website that truly reflects the happenings and events within our community”.

We encourage all parts of our community to actively participate in this vital communication portal and the website will facilitate quick easy access to local information, news and events.

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Media Contact: Brad Ward (Web Master) – 0488 616 924

Great News!  Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders music program – DEADLY SOUNDS has joined forces with the Program Delivery System to provide member stations of the SCMA another great programming option for their stations. Deadly Sounds is a weekly national indigenous music, interview and information program that runs for around 59:00 and provides stations with the opportunity to add more variety and information to their format.

The President of the SCMA Helen Bath said “I welcome Deadly Sounds to PDS.  It is great to see another quality program added to the PDS and it will prove to be a great asset to SCMA Members”

Also added to PDS in the last day is the newly developed CSA bank that has a variety of CSA’s available for member stations.  Once you have subscribed to this, any new CSA’s will automatically be downloaded to your station.

There are a lot of new programs about to be added to the PDS system as well as an ever increasing and evolving website, mySCMA site and so much more happening within the SCMA.
Not yet a member of SCMA? http://www.scma.org.au/join-scma and find out what a Can do Association can do for you

A federal election could be called at anytime, and the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is concerned that over 300 000 Victorian are ‘missing’ from the electoral roll. With only months to go before an expected federal election the AEC is urging everyone to check their enrolment today!

State Manager for Victoria Jenni McMullan says “The AEC is urging all Australian citizens aged 18 years and over to enrol now, it is very important that everyone is enrolled and ready to go for the upcoming federal election”.

“Even if you think you’re enrolled, if you’ve moved house in the past three years, you may not be. You’ve got to update your address on the electoral roll every time you move to avoid the risk of losing your vote” Jenni said.

Younger Victorians aged 18 – 39 years make up around 70% of the missing and are the main target of AEC enrolment campaigns to encourage awareness.

If you need to check your enrolment, update your details or enrol for the first time, you can do this by visiting the AEC website www.aec.gov.au or calling 13 23 26. You can also pick up an enrolment form from any Australian Post office or find out more by visiting your local divisional office and talking with AEC staff.

The Australian Communications Media Austhority (ACMA) has releaseed the Community Broadcasting Participation Guidelines after the Draft Guidelines which some of our members and the SCMA made submissions towards.

The ACMA has released the final guidelines with a message:

We hope that the guidelines will facilitate community broadcasting licensees’ understanding of the licence conditions, enabling them to continue to represent the community interest.

If you have any questions about the Guidelines please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the SCMA.

>> Download The Community Broadcasting Participation Guidelines

SCMA Trade member Australian Independent Radio News (AIR News) is constantly on the look out for talented people that wish to make the transition to “professional” news presenter.

We always have openings for people that wish to sharpen their skills and develop not only a portfolio, but also a national profile.

AIR News delivers to over 40 stations on over 100 frequencies across the country.

There are a few ncessary items to the deal.

1/ Access to Broadband Internet
2/ Your own Home studio (which we can assist with)
3/ The Talent and Drive to be successful in News.

So far over a dozen of our people have gone on to Commercial Radio and Television careers.
In the first instance do not phone. Send your Radio related CV (I don’t want to know if you worked at McDonalds) and a mono mp3 demo of your news presentation skills to artie@airnews.com.au

See our website www.airnews.com.au

Details of Home Studio requirements on www.airnews.com.au/homestudio.shtml

The SCMA continue to meet their commitment to the entrants of the 2010 National Award for Excellence in Community Broadcasting “The X Awards”

The X Awards have been an integral part of the National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference for years. As part of the SCMA’s commitment to the entrants and attendees of the 2010 Conference the SCMA has released the winning audio grabs for the X Awards.

Take some time to have a listen to the winning entries of the 2010 X Awards. Visit the SCMA’s website www.scma.org.au or go directly to the awards audio by following this link http://www.scma.org.au/scma-annual-conference/2010-conference

The X Awards are National awards recognising excellence in community broadcasting. The awards are presented every year at the National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference annual dinner on the Saturday night of the conference. The X Awards are open to any members of the SCMA and any non member station who attends the conference. Full details of the awards including categories can be found on the SCMA’s website www.scma.org.au of by following this link directly to X Award information http://www.scma.org.au/scma-annual-conference/x-awards

Entries to the 2011 X Awards will open as of the 1^st of July 2010 and as part of the SCMA’s commitment to its members will now be done online through mySCMA. In the first instance only member stations will be able to enter the X Awards on line with the non member portal opening for entries subject to conditions on November 1^st 2010.

If your station wants to be involved in the 2011 National X Awards consider becoming a member of the SCMA http://www.scma.org.au/join-scma/ or make sure your station attends the 2011 National Regional Rural and Sub Metro Broadcasters Conference in Wagga Wagga.