Over 2,000 Attendees plus hundreds of exhibitors, speakers
and civic leaders convene at conference hosted by the country’s most diverse
media networkPhotos from
NCM
EXPO (1) & the
NCM
Awards (2)San Francisco – November 25 – On November 18th and 19th,
more than 200 media outlets serving California’s millions of ethnic and minority
residents gathered to mark New California Media’s annual EXPO and Awards. They
were joined by representatives of ethnic media from Houston, Miami, Atlanta and
New York, as well as over 2,000 representatives of mainstream and youth media,
advertising and multicultural marketing agencies, elected officials and NGO
leaders who came to meet the communicators of California’s new majority
communities.
“Such a rich collection of ethnic media I have never seen
in my life, and everyone was enjoying it. The oneness of the EXPO was something
to see,” said Vivek Sharma, senior manager of the New York-based publication
India Abroad.
For this year’s heavy turnout from the business and
advertising sectors, “the exuberance and diversity of the EXPO was eye-opening,”
said PG&E ethnic media outreach coordinator Claudia Mendoza. As the
country’s largest event showcasing ethnic media, the NCM EXPO & Awards offer
one-stop access to the publications, broadcast stations and websites serving a
dizzying range of audiences from Afghan to Vietnamese, and constituting the
fastest-growing sector of the media landscape today. “The [EXPO] leaves me even
more convinced than ever that we are on the edge of an enormous change,” said
Lawrence Wilkinson of the corporate and venture strategy firm Heminge and
Condell.
The NCM Awards, dubbed “the Ethnic Pulitzers” by the News Hour
with Jim Lehrer, were presented at a gala banquet at the Westin St. Francis
hotel on November 18th. Emceed by ABC7 news anchor Thuy Vu, the ceremony honored
19 ethnic media journalists in categories ranging from investigative reporting
to health and environmental coverage. The NCM Awards constitute the first
multi-ethnic awards program in the country to recognize journalistic excellence
in non-English language media. Tavis Smiley of The Tavis Smiley Show on National
Public Radio also received a Special Communicator Award, along with Bill Imada
of the Asian American advertising and public relations firm IW Group and Sandra
Hernandez, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation. “I was in awe of the size,
passion and intent of attendees and award recipients,” noted Melissa Bradley,
founder and president of the New Capitalist, a business development and
consulting firm.
The NCM EXPO itself was an all-day event on November
19th that combined general sessions and workshops with over 150 ethnic and youth
media exhibitors. Guest speakers included Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Schwarzenegger aide and spokesperson Sean
Walsh, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, California State Senator Jackie Speier,
Radio Unica vice president and Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate Jose Cancela,
national multilingual pollster Sergio Bendixen and civil rights veteran Dr.
Benjamin Chavis. Many of them addressed the vital role that ethnic media play in
stimulating civic participation and diversifying communications in the
U.S.
During a panel discussion on the new media ownership rules that the
FCC approved this year, Commissioner Adelstein noted that there was a general
lack of understanding at the federal level of how ethnic media operate, and was
congratulated for reaching out to this sector by addressing the EXPO. Along with
Schwarzenegger aide Sean Walsh, Mayor Brown discussed ethnic media’s ability to
reach swing voters, as proven by his own experience in San Francisco, and
Senator Speier addressed a group of women in ethnic media, emphasizing their
role in encouraging civic participation at a time when voter participation among
minorities is weakening. During a discussion on the future of Hispanic broadcast
media, Cancela, who is a former top executive at the Telemundo and Univision
Spanish-language television networks, said that the Hispanic media should be
regulated by the FCC as a separate market from English-language media. Dr.
Chavis and Russell Simmons’ Hip Hop Summit Action Network hosted a special
reception for representatives of over 30 youth media organizations from Los
Angeles to New York. Other workshops addressed issues ranging from multilingual
polling to the future of multicultural advertising.
“What distinguished
this fourth EXPO was not only the great diversity of exhibitors – we had more
national representation than ever before and representatives from key American
Indian and Pacific Islander media, for example – but the significant increase in
participation from business, social marketing, investment and philanthropic
sectors – as sponsors, speakers and attendees,” said NCM executive director
Sandy Close. “From giant national companies like Boeing, Valassis, Hewett, Eli
Lilly, Pfizer – to government agencies like Flex Your Power and the Peace Corps
to major funders like The James Irvine Foundation, The California Endowment, The
Community Technology Foundation and The Ford Foundation – we believe these
attendees will be vital in spreading the word about ethnic media and growing the
advertising pie.”
“It was overwhelming,” said Jinx Macabenta of the
recently founded Filipino Ang Panahon Newspaper. “The sheer number of ethnic
media out there came as a big surprise to me, and the networking opportunities
that this event provided are invaluable to publications like ours.”
“It
is clear that through NCM a spirit of dialogue and community is beginning to gel
among these outlets,” noted Pete Mackey, director of public affairs at the Jack
Kent Cooke Foundation. “The more organization they develop, the more clout they
will inevitably gather. Indeed, their energy and passion remind me of the buzz
of the dot.com companies: innovative, driven, specialized and entrepreneurial. I
expect that from this fresh media community will arise outlets and individual
leaders who will help shape U.S. media in decades to come—not least because they
represent and serve a burgeoning cross-section of the new America.”
“NCM
is deeply grateful for the powerful show of support from our corporate sponsors
– especially Bank of America, Southern California Edison, PG&E, Kaiser
Permanente and The Boeing Company – and to our media partners who devoted time
and resources to put on the EXPO” said Close. “It’s a huge boost for NCM that I
know will pay off not only in new contracts for our network but in more
inclusive communications overall.”
Photos from
NCM
EXPO (1) & the
NCM
Awards (2)Additional Attendee Quotes:“Sessions and
exhibitors included everyone from a managing partner of Ogilvy Worldwide to Ben
Chavis, formerly of the NAACP and now of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, to
the heads of national Latin American-oriented television and radio networks.
While many of the outlets are small, serving distinct populations such as
immigrants from one country living in a particular city such as San Francisco, a
number of them started out that focused and have since attained national reach.”
– Pete Mackey, director of public affairs, Jack Kent Cooke
Foundation
“Congratulations on another successful New California Media
EXPO. I regret that my schedule did not permit me to participate, but was glad
to know that State Senator Jackie Speier addressed the guests at your Women as
Civic Communicators breakfast. Thank you for your publication, the NCM National
Ethnic Media Directory. These directories have been an invaluable resource to my
offices.” – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
“Congratulations on an outstanding
EXPO. It was well-run, well-positioned and well-attended. It was by far one of
the best EXPOs I have ever been to. Let me also commend you on the relationships
you have brokered to make ethnic media viable and sustainable. It was quite
inspiring to see the number of investment heads, sponsors and advertisers in
decision making positions present.” – Melissa Bradley, founder and president of
the New Capitalist
“The EXPO was a phenomenal event. My dream is to
become a newscaster, and attending the EXPO opened a lot of doors toward my
future plans. One thing I loved was that everyone wanted to, and were willing to
listen to your dreams and hopes to see how they could help. It made me very
happy to see that someone would take time to listen to me.” – Krystal Sipp, 16,
The Beat Within (a publication produced for incarcerated youth)
“I very
much enjoyed the opportunity and look forward to the EXPOs in the years to come.
You are really doing some groundbreaking work, and it’s an honor for our
foundation to be supporting this vital work.” – James Canales, CEO of the James
Irvine Foundation
“The EXPO was great, as usual, only bigger and better.”
– Robert Deen, managing director of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
“It
was truly an honor to learn from the ethnic and youth press. The entire event
was exceptional!” – Meghann Mulherin, program director, The McCormick Tribune
Foundation
“I felt honored to be appointed an [NCM Award] judge, and very
proud to see those journalists I voted for win. NCM makes dreams come true for
so many young talented people-as anyone could see during the ceremony!” – Emma
Krasov, freelance journalist
“The ethnic media challenged corporations to
do more inclusive marketing and communications. So too, the ethnic media has a
responsibility to its audience to provide hard news coverage. The more you cover
hard news, the more relevant it is in the eyes of the companies you become, and
together our collective issues are advanced.” – Guillermo Rodriguez, senior
director, Public Affairs, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Humor for the
day: “And now for the 500th award of the evening,” – Frank Quevedo, Sr. vice
president of Southern California Edison while presenting an NCM award on Nov.
18th.
Over 2,000 Attendees plus hundreds of exhibitors, speakers and civic
leaders convene at conference hosted by the country’s most diverse media
network
Contact:Catherine
Black
415-503-4170
[email protected]