Public media’s broadcast landscape is shifting. The future depends on our ability to adapt and expand audiences.
PMDMC is your catalyst for transformation. It’s the must-attend conference for public media leaders and revenue-generating professionals from organizations of all sizes. This is where we make plans that drive industry innovation and secure a sustainable future for our vital public service.
When you attend, you’ll join colleagues from inside and outside public media to explore strategies to:
- Leverage existing loyal audiences to increase major and mid-level gifts, even as broadcast audiences decline.
- Dramatically increase our audience-building capacity and non-broadcast engagement/impact.
- Imagine a future where our organizations are no longer media companies, but media-enabled community builders.
You’ll gain the insights, inspiration, and connections you need to build a thriving future for public media in your community.
The PMDMC Experience:
- Conference sessions that are problem- and solution-centric, focusing on business outcomes and concrete takeaways, instead of processes or roles.
- Transformational learning experiences that cultivate wisdom, insight, and increased sharing.
A culture of shared learning that involves the appreciation of differences, openness to new ideas, and time for reflection. - Keynote experiences that deliver an emotional high that will carry you into the year to come.
It’s the best conference all year for your entire development and marketing teams:
- Public media leaders will access valuable strategic steps designed to increase untapped or under-explored revenue.
- Development professionals will obtain actionable ideas and strategies that can immediately drive more revenue at your station.
- Marketing professionals will discover strategies to connect with and serve new audiences so we can best reach our broader communities.
- All attendees will access connections to other system professionals who are tackling the same complex industry problems that you are.
- All attendees will leave feeling energized and more passionate than ever about the mission of public media.
Make the Case to Your Organization
You will return to your organization with valuable action steps designed to:
- Increase revenue
- Build audience
- Strengthen your organization
Before you sit down to talk to your supervisor, create a written proposal.
Your proposal should include:
- Specific Benefits: Details about how the conference will specifically benefit your work and your station’s goals.
- Highlight how attending PMDMC will fuel your commitment to your station’s success and demonstrate your station’s presence as a system citizen and thought-leader.
- Emphasize the opportunity to meet colleagues at other stations who can be called upon for ideas and data, fostering collaboration on multi-station opportunities.
- Spotlight the exchange of ideas and strategies included in the conference content. Some topics that are promised to be covered at the conference are:
- Membership: sustainer/monthly donor programs, on-air fundraising, new donor acquisition
- Philanthropic fundraising: major giving stewardship, planned giving strategies, accessing grants/foundations
- Corporate support: FCC guidelines, digital sponsorships, new revenue opportunities
- Marketing and Audience development: reaching new audiences, social media strategies, engaging communities
- If applicable, mention the potential to recruit talent on behalf of your station, advertising openings and meeting potential candidates face-to-face.
- Knowledge Sharing Plan: A plan to share your newfound knowledge with station colleagues when you return from the conference. Consider these creative suggestions to spark ideas for how to disseminate your learning:
- Deliver a “Conference Key Takeaways” presentation.
- Host “Lunch and Learn” knowledge-sharing sessions.
- Instead of a full presentation, share short “Knowledge Bursts” during regular team meetings.
- Contribute a series of articles or posts to your organization’s internal newsletter or intranet.
- Structure a plan to check in with colleagues at other stations to learn about their progress on shared challenges. Present a plan to share your collaborative findings throughout the year.
- Instead of a standard presentation, create small-group “Innovation Incubator” workshops to “incubate” and adapt PMDMC strategies to teams’ specific projects.
- Implement a “Reverse Mentoring” program where you share your PMDMC takeaways with senior leaders or other departments.
- The Cost: The cost of the event, including estimated travel expenses.
- Highlight the opportunity for attendees from Greater Public member stations to save $300 by registering as an early bird (by April 25, 2025).
- Attending PMDMC is an investment that pays for itself. The conference provides actionable revenue-generating strategies that can be implemented at your station right away.
