Mike Wassenaar
Alliance for Community Media President & CEO
Non-Profit Media Executive with thirty years of experience in radio and television production; Expertise with community media practices across the United States; Active community volunteer with non-profit board experience.
A Legislative Discussion on what is currently happening National, at the FCC and here in New Jersey.
Hear about the latest changes, proposals, and actions happening nationally and at the state level that could affect our stations and municipalities. Discuss first hand with our panel of experts on issues such as policy changes, regulatory adjustments, and newly introduced bills that might impact our world as we currently know it. Where do things stand with Closed Captioning and learn about the latest undertakings of the FCC regarding broadband, net neutrality, and spectrum allocation. Panelists: Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media; Gerry Lederer, Partner, Best, Best & Krieger LLP; Moderator: Dave Garb, Legislative Committee, Chair
Broadband Deployment in New Jersey and The Federal Incentives Funding Them Them Sponsored by Best, Best, & Kreiger
Clearly broadband access is not just necessary but required for so many things: information, education, employment, and entertainment. Now that federal money is being distributed to township to provide broadband service to everyone, we at JAG need to understand how this money is being used at the local level and what it means for our stations. There are a variety of programs that are supposed to feed money to New Jersey Municipalities—the BEAD Program, Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), Universal Service Fund, H.R.278 - BROADBAND Leadership Act, H.R. 339 - Broadband Resiliency and Flexible Investment Act. We will find out where things stand with them, how it could affect us directly, and how changes in our nation’s capital might affect NJ’s broadband efforts. Panelists: Robert Boyle, CEO, Planet Networks; Joe Rivera, Manager of Broadband Access, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities; Gerry Lederer, Partner, Best, Best & Krieger LLP; Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media; Moderator: Brian Wahler, Mayor of Piscataway
Partners Dinner Sponsored by Switchboard
JAG realized early that we needed to partner with as many towns as possible to deal with all the obstacles that were keeping stations from reaching their potential. That concept of partners continued to be a main focus in developing JAG. This included JAG joining organizations that were battling legislative controls that would have a negative impact on community media distribution in NJ. We also recognize the need to develop relationships with vendors for assistance in building and updating our facilities. This evening key representatives responsible for JAG’s development will share their thoughts about their partnership with JAG and our future together. Thank you to our guests for their support and believing in JAG’s mission. Welcome: Bob Duthaler, President of JAG; Host: Rich Desimone, Managing Director, JAG; Guest speakers: Jesse Lerman, President/CEO, TelVue Corporation; Rudy Ellis, CEO, Switchboard, Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media, Paul DeStefano, Northeast Regional Sales Manager, DeSisti Lighting; Varto Keshishian, Owner, President, Varto Technologies