Your NAMIC Maven... Signing off...

It’s a wrap! The 21st Annual NAMIC Conference has come to a close, but the buzz surrounding the events of the past three days is still escalating! Dynamic and insightful, the conference was bolstered by record-breaking attendance with nearly 800 professionals on-hand. Diversity 2.0: The New Protocol will go down in history as one of the most interactive and engaging programs in conference history. You’re invited to review the Annual NAMIC Conference Blog to recapture many of the exciting moments such as Anderson Cooper, host of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” the 2007 Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award recipient as he accepted his honor, Author and Journalist, Mariane Pearl’s inspiring keynote address, presentation of the latest Excellence in Multi-cultural Marketing Awards, highlights of NAMIC’s inaugural Television Writers’ Workshop, General and Educational Track Sessions, which featured an impressive roster of top executives, business leaders, media icons and more. On behalf of NAMIC, thanks to all that attended the 21st Annual NAMIC Conference. I look forward to bringing you the up-to-the-minute conference news and highlights when we reconvene in one year, September 14-16, 2008 in New York City at the Marriott Marquis. Until then… remember… Embrace Diversity. Embrace Success!

-NAMIC Maven

2007 Career Expo

NAMIC Continues to Open Doors

The East Coast installment of NAMIC’s Career Expo will be held today presented in partnership with VarietyCareers.com. Attended by more than 1,100 job seekers in 2006, the Career Expo is free of charge and open to the public. “The NAMIC Career Expo is an excellent live recruitment forum where companies can gain direct access to qualified professionals of every level during the Annual NAMIC Conference,” said Kathy Johnson, president, NAMIC. The 2007 Career Expo will feature an impressive roster of entertainment and media companies such as A&E Television Networks, Cablevision, CN8 – The Comcast Network, Comcast, Cox Communications, Discovery Communications, ESPN, MTV Networks, NBC Universal, New England Sports Network, The New York Times, Scripps Networks, Starz Entertainment, LLC, The Weather Channel, Time Warner, Time Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., VarietyCareers.com, Warner Bros. Entertainment and more. Not only is NAMIC promoting diversity… they are presenting wonderful opportunities! Professionals looking to start or advance their careers should not miss out!

-NAMIC Maven

Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award Luncheon - "CNN's Anderson Cooper"

NAMIC Honors CNN’s Anderson Cooper

Veteran journalist Anderson Cooper, host of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” was presented with the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement Award today at a luncheon during NAMIC’s 21st Annual Conference. An Emmy award-winning journalist, author and television personality, Cooper has covered major world events such as post-Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast, the Afghanistan War post-September 11, South Asia tsunami, the Iraqi elections in Baghdad, the funeral of Pope John Paul II in the Vatican City and the famine in Somalia for which he was awarded a Bronze Telly. “It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by NAMIC and to honor the important work they do promoting diversity in the communications industry,” Anderson commented, “I am humbled to be receiving an award that pays tribute to Congressman Leland’s legacy, and will do my best to live up to it in all my journalistic endeavors.”

-NAMIC Maven

Attendee Perspective: Anderson Cooper

There wasn’t an empty seat in the house as NAMIC members and conference participants alike sat to network and celebrate NAMIC’s Diversity 2.0 and Anderson Cooper’s Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement award.

Before he went to the stage to receive his award we heard of how “Anderson Cooper refused to let America look the other way.” He was thanked “for being more than an impartial observer” and as Andrew Heller, Turner, President and Honorary Co-chair said, “He covers the stories no one else wants to cover.” And “I can’t think of a more fitting award for him to win.”

It was inspiring to see the on-camera journalist be so humble in his speech as he spoke of going to Africa more than 20 times. His intro video showed a passionate Anderson sternly speaking directly into the camera when he speaks of the Tsunami and the images aired on CNN in the days after the disaster. He says, “We’ve received your emails that the images on the Tsunami are too graphic but look at them we should or it will be like they never existed.”

As he stood at the podium, I just thought to myself, humanitarian is the right word to describe him even as he says “words and pictures are all I have to offer.”

I beg to differ and am sure Mickey Leland would have agreed.
Once again, NAMIC has shown me that they have it right and they did in choosing Anderson Cooper for the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement award.

-Jean-Michelle Lopez, MTV Networks

Attendee Perspective: Keynoter Mariane Pearl

The room was abuzz with excitement with anticipation of Mariane Pearl’s arrival. Mariane, journalist/author of A Mighty Heart gave a compelling account of her husband, Daniel Peal’s life and work. She talked about her diverse background growing up as Afro/Cuban/Dutch roots. Mariane learned to appreciate diversity at a young age having been influenced by her poor black Cuban grandparents and her affluent white grandparents in Holland. She developed an ability to navigate between these vastly different worlds. She and Daniel were journalists. She was immediately attracted to him when she entered his office at work and he had a beach ball and a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini in his cube. Daniel, like Mariane was interested in world events, traveling and expanding knowledge without making judgments of others.

Mariane talked about the responsibility of being a journalist and the fact it allows you to enter another person’s perspective. She also noted the way in which they convey the world is essential. With this responsibility, you must go where the people are which is the reason Mariane and Daniel moved to India. They were forced to assimilate into a culture with which they had no experience. Mariane and Daniel faced this experience as a couple which strengthened their relationship. When you explore and understand the world you become more powerful. She often tells young people they cannot relate to the world by what they see on television. Diversity must be tied in with curiosity and an appetite for the world.

Daniel and Mariane moved to Pakistan to investigate Al-Qaeda and the spiritual leader for Richard Reid (the shoe bomber). At this time there was a great deal of fear in the United States. While staying in Islamabad in a hotel with other journalists, Mariane noted there was not enough self- reflection among her fellow journalists. Mariane stated: “It doesn’t matter who gets the story first. The only thing that matters is who get’s the story right.” She recapped the events of Daniel’s capture in Karachi. Being a Jewish American journalist the need for concern was justified. At this difficult time, Mariane called in all forces to help search for Daniel. Race, color or religion did not matter at this time. What Mariane needed was strong individuals. She went on instinct and assembled a team of people, which included Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Christians. Everyone worked together to overcome the boundaries. The FBI and ISI, Pakistan intelligence agency, agreed to work together, while journalists joined forces with police officers, and men worked with women as a team.

Shortly thereafter Mariane learned of Daniels death. She stated: “It’s easy to kill enemies you hate. Spreading tolerance and respect is the best force against terrorism." Mariane wrote A Mighty Heart to tell her story at a human level. Mariane summed it up best when she stated: “It doesn’t matter what religion you are. What matters is what kind of human being you are. Human behavior is what’s important." In my opinion this statement translates well to the theme of this conference – Leadership 2.0 “we should look beyond our differences and look at the quality of the human being when developing our leaders, workforce, and programming.”

-Janet Uthman

Tuesday's General Session: The Media and the Minds of The Masses: Cultural Awareness vs. Cultural Wariness

The Media and the Minds of the Masses: Cultural Awareness vs. Cultural Wariness

Award-winning Journalist and Author, Mariane Pearl delivered a keynote address at today’s General Session titled The Media and the Minds of The Masses: Cultural Awareness vs. Cultural Wariness. Designed to examine the impact of the media’s representation of ethnic groups and to what extent it reflects the revered cornerstones of journalistic integrity: independence, balance, and objectivity, Pearl’s address did just that. The Walter Kaitz Foundation was the Presenting Sponsor of Pearl’s keynote address with iNDEMAND Networks as co-sponsors. “Mariane Pearl’s unique experiences will enhance the discussion on the roles that race, ethnicity and culture play in the media,” said David Porter, Executive Director of the Walter Kaitz Foundation. “We’re proud to work with NAMIC in broadening this vital discussion by inviting a wide range of participants to raise awareness of the need for more diverse voices in all forms of media.” Today's General Session panelists included Angela Burt-Murray, editor-in-chief, Essence Magazine; Jose Diaz-Balart, co-anchor, Cada dia, Telemundo; Parisa Khosravi, senior vice president, International Newsgathering, CNN Worldwide and Larry Wilmore, The Daily Show, Comedy Central. The session was moderated by Robert Simmelkjaer of ESPN.

-NAMIC Maven

It’s Day #2… and the excitement is building!

The NAMIC Conference turns 21 and continues its “coming of age” with record-setting attendance and sponsorship support. Today’s agenda is a remarkable one. Kicking off with the Multichannel News Breakfast, an appearance by NAMIC’s young leaders on the CBS “Early Show,” and a most anticipated General Session with Keynote Speaker Mariane Pearl set to give the opening address. Fast-forward to this afternoon and award-winning journalist Anderson Cooper, this year’s Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award recipient will be honored at a special luncheon. What is arguably the most memorable three-day NAMIC Conference to date, rolls on… Stay tuned for more… the NAMIC Conference is making big moves!

-NAMIC Maven

Media Bling?

Not just conspicuous consumption, digital media has graduated into the media industry’s gold standard.

When digital media first emerged on the balance sheet of media conglomerates, nobody really knew how the freewheeling world of online media would translate into actual profitability. Those days are long gone.

As I sat in today’s panel entitled: “Digital Media and Ad Sales-Blogs to Broadband: New Media is Changing” at the NAMIC Annual Conference (www.namic.com), one thing came across loud and clear: new media was bringing in serious value in the form of ad dollars at a faster rate than its more traditional cousin. Also, we know that web producers/editors should work en tandem with their more traditional counterparts. And, finally, we have learned that media conglomerates offering free, online – yet high quality – content results in higher traditional media sales for magazines and newspapers. In short, the uncertainty of the digital media beast is quickly being tamed.

And who exactly are these lion tamers of the digital media realm?

In addition to being a traditional journalist, they may also be a serial blogger. In addition to being the VP of Ad Operations, they are also computer programmers. …And what is emerging is not only the highly discussed “media convergence” of content, but the convergence of employee functional roles in the workplace. And does one keep pace in this new competitive environment? The panelists also had the answer to that as well: embody these cross-functional skill sets and always continue learning about the new, new media.

-Volunteer 365

Excellence in Multi-Cultural Marketing Awards (EMMA)

This year’s NAMIC Excellence in Multi-Cultural Marketing Awards (EMMA) were presented today. Recognizing the cable industry’s commitment to developing strategic and creative approaches to ethnic-targeted marketing, entries were judged within two groups: cable companies/distributors and networks/industry suppliers. Additionally the program was comprised of two categories: case studies/campaigns and marketing tactics. Judged against a standard of excellence and not against other entrants, which deviates from the traditional “best of” competition method, these candidates reigned supreme. Rogers Cable Communications received four first-place wins to lead all first-place winners in the cable companies/distributors group. Comcast received three first-place wins and five second-place acknowledgements. Cablevision and Cox Communications were also among the cable companies/distributors recognized.

BET Networks led the network/industry suppliers with a pair of first-place honors, one of which included a tie with TuTv in the Grassroots category. mun2 garnered two wins, which included first and second-place awards. Networks that earned single first-place wins include: Discovery Networks, HBO, Nickelodeon, SiTV, Telemundo and TV One. Ameredia finished second-place in three categories. CNN and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. also garnered recognition.

The NAMIC Excellence in Multi-cultural Marketing Awards were sponsored by ESPN Deportes and presented in partnership with CableWorld, a publication of Access Intelligence’s Cable Group. The NAMIC Multicultural Marketing Committee, a consortium of the industry’s leading multicultural marketing experts, produced the awards competition. Campaigns developed for the cable and telecommunications industry and submitted for entry were comprised of one or more cultural segments, such as the African American, Asian, and Hispanic markets. Entries were evaluated on elements such as sound and innovative strategy, strength of creative execution against the strategy and evaluation of results. Congratulations to all award recipients! The spotlight is yours!

-NAMIC Maven

Monday's General Session - Leadership 2.0: A New Paradigm

Progression is the name of the game and NAMIC is on point! In today’s Opening General Session titled Leadership 2.0 A New Paradigm, a progressive discussion on the changing pace and landscape of leadership in the communications industry took place. David Cohen, executive vice president, Comcast Corporation addressed the standing room only audience with opening remarks. Cohen also serves as Honorary Co-Chair for this year’s conference. Highlighted by a special presentation on the digital transition presented by Daniel Brenner, senior vice president, Law and Regulatory policy, NCTA; the session was moderated by Monica Bertran, host of Bloomberg Television’s “Market Movers.” Panelists included Bob DeBitetto, EVP & GM, A&E Television Networks; Peter Firestone, managing director, US, Media & Entertainment Consulting, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Scott Mills, president & COO, BET; Christina Norman, president, MTV; and Evan Shapiro, EVP & GM, The Independent Film Channel. The panel addressed the notion of leadership keeping pace with the velocity of change in the communications industry, while addressing competitive, political, community, and technological challenges facing the industry today. NAMIC is leading the pack into a diversified future… jump on board!

-NAMIC Maven

Television Writers’ Workshop

Up-And-Coming Scribes Score with New Addition to the NAMIC Conference!

NAMIC will hold its first-ever Television Writers’ Workshop today! Only a chosen few of the most talented and brightest up-and-coming writers will have the opportunity to attend. Let me break it down for you… a judging panel of television executives, selected by NAMIC, chose 15 writers to participate in today’s private session based on review of their previously written works. Score! The daylong workshop is designed to give experienced writers of color the opportunity to hone their craft. Led by Kermit Frazier, noted television writer, playwright, and producer, participants will learn the essentials of creating, packaging, and selling a television script. It is truly a progressive educational event. I’m sure the lucky ones will agree… the newest addition to the NAMIC conference lineup will be a huge success!!

-NAMIC Maven

Your NAMIC Maven is back with this years’ 411!

The Hilton New York in Manhattan will set the scene for today’s opening of the 21st Annual NAMIC Conference. The cornerstone of Cable Diversity Week, the theme for the 21st Annual NAMIC Conference is Diversity 2.0: The New Protocol. Capitalizing on the success of its 20th Anniversary held last year at the Waldorf Astoria, NAMIC has put together a dynamic program for this years’ conference. What’s on today’s agenda? Compelling General Sessions, award presentations, a Mentoring Luncheon, the launch of a Television Writers’ Workshop, the day is going to be jam-packed. Energy is high and excitement is in the air. There’s no doubt about it… the NAMIC conference is the place to be during Cable Diversity Week!

-NAMIC Maven