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Inside This Issue:
It’s a new decade and the 2010 Beacon Awards are revamping the industry’s highest honor for cable communications! With over 20 years of excellence, the Beacon Awards unveils a new face this year with a fresh look, innovative categories, and a twist on the annual awards ceremony. ACC reveals the first peek at the new Beacons next week with the release of the 2010 Call for Entries. Keep an eye on www.cablecommunicators.org for the updated publication and your first chance to enter the 2010 awards. Make sure to take note of changes to award categories! The Beacon Awards continue to offer you a chance to shine within your company and the cable industry! The revised category list is: · Community Relations Projects completed during the time span of April 23, 2009, to April 23, 2010, are eligible for submission to the Beacons. ACC offers you two opportunities to enter the Beacon Awards. To take advantage of the discounted early bird rate, have your entry delivered to the ACC office by April 9, 2010. Can’t make the early bird deadline? You can still submit completed entries until April 23. This year’s Beacon Awards will be presented at a luncheon ceremony during ACC’s FORUM 2010, September 15 and 16 at the New York Hilton Hotel. For more information, visit the ACC Web site. Back to Top Disney and Nickelodeon are partnering with First Lady Michelle Obama’s recently launched “Let’s Move” initiative to help eliminate childhood obesity within one generation. The networks will build on their existing juvenile health education efforts to support the First Lady’s initiative and are a part of the information distribution component of the initiative’s strategies to address the various factors that lead to childhood obesity. Disney will create a series of PSAs featuring the First Lady and leading Disney Channel stars to inspire healthier eating habits, physical activity and more. The messages will be featured across Disney's kid and family targeted media platforms, including Disney Channel, Disney XD, Radio Disney, and Disney.com and will begin airing later this year. Nickelodeon will also air PSAs and create special programming across its channels and Web sites. The network’s involvement will build on its “Let’s Just Play” campaign which aims to increase healthy schools and kids' physical activity, improve the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods, and empower consumers to make healthier choices in their lives. “Let’s Move” has also partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics to regularly monitor the body mass index of the nation’s children, the Food and Drug Administration to create consumer-friendly nutrition packaging, and the USDA to promote the food pyramid and to create a food atlas that charts healthy food environments around the nation. The initiative also features the Web site www.letsmove.gov to provide helpful tips, step-by-step strategies for parents, and regular updates on how the federal government is working with partners to reach the national goal. “Let’s Move” will also work to improve school lunches and increase physical activity. For more information, visit www.letsmove.gov. Back to Top ACC gives you the chance to strengthen your professional value and expertise with the 2010 Cable Communications Institute, June 13-16, in New York City at Syracuse University’s Lubin House facility adjacent to Central Park on 61st Street. This graduate-level program is designed for mid to senior level communications executives who would like to expand their knowledge base and advance their capabilities to the next level. Cable industry executives from programming networks, cable systems, industry suppliers and related associations are invited to register to enhance their expertise on the overall role and impact of communications and public affairs within an organization. “There is no better or more important example of ACC’s commitment to raising the level of communications work across the cable industry than our annual Cable Communications Institute,” said ACC President Jim Maiella. “This really is a rare opportunity for cable communicators to get in a room with industry colleagues and examine the state of the art when it comes to telling cable’s story, guided by a highly-qualified academic staff and real-world practitioners. This is one of the most important things we do every year and would encourage any ACC member interested in this kind of intensive and career-shaping experience to attend.” The upcoming Institute will review multiple communications techniques while still incorporating both public affairs and other government affairs activities. Participants will enhance practical skills that are completely transferable to their daily work. Although the program is not finalized at this time, expected topics for the 2.5 day academic program include: Strategic Communication Management Space is limited to the first 25 qualified applicants. Tuition for the Institute is $2,100 per individual on or before May 14, 2010. May 16 and after the fee is $2,300. Tuition covers all instructional materials and most meals. Travel and housing expenses are not included in this fee. For more information, call ACC toll-free at 800-210-3396. Back to Top ACC is looking for the best of the best cable communications innovators, and it’s up to you to make sure we find them! Every year ACC recognizes up to four cable communicators for their outstanding contribution to industry communications and public affairs. As an ACC member, this is your opportunity to honor your fellow communicators with a Cable Communications Achievement Award nomination. The Cable Communications Achievement Award will be given out at FORUM 2010, September 15 and 16 in the New York Hilton. This year’s educational event will focus on the issues facing communicators working for cable systems, networks, and technology providers in an increasingly competitive industry. Comcast honored the achievements of two Philadelphia-area high school students with this year’s Gustave G. Amsterdam Leadership Award. The award honors local students who opt to remain in Philadelphia, the operator’s hometown, for college or university. The recipients are awarded a one-time $5,000 scholarship and are chosen for their admirable high school careers. Comcast selects local students who have shown exemplary leadership, community service, and academic achievement. This year, the operator chose Raymond Boyd, a graduate of Franklin Towne Charter High School, and Hong Luu, a graduate of Academy of Philadelphia Charter School. Both are now attending Temple University. For more information, visit Comcast’s Web site. Back to Top Do you consider social media a strategy or a tactic? Arguements go both ways--some say social media should stand alone as a strategy; some believe it is just one tool in the communications arsenal. Should social media be considered a part of a bigger strategy? Or is it a strategy in itself? Share your thoughts and see what others are saying on ACC’s LinkedIn and Facebook discussion boards! Back to Top Four cable operators are collaborating to raise money for Haiti relief efforts by providing access to the “We Are The World 25 For Haiti” music video through their video on demand services. Bright House Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable will give subscribers the opportunity to access the long form version of the video until March 14 for $2.99 with all proceeds going to the We Are the World Foundation, a nonprofit committed to disaster relief in Haiti. The video is a remake of the 1985 philanthropic recording “We Are the World,” that benefited African famine relief. “We are The World 25 For Haiti” features 80 of the world’s top recording artists including Carlos Santana, The Jonas Brothers, Celine Dion, Kanye West, and Tony Bennett. It was produced by Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie. Back to Top ESPN’s 3rd Annual Jimmy V Week raised more than $911,000 for cancer research—a record amount for the event. In partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research for the Jimmy V Week campaign, the network incorporated fundraising and awareness initiatives into special programming across the network’s multiple platforms to support The V Foundation, from December 2-8, 2009. Various programs on the network contained mentions of the Jimmy V Week initiative as well as during men and women’s basketball, soccer and hockey games. The BottomLine scores and news crawl also featured information on donating to the foundation. Members of the sports world who have been impacted by cancer told their stories on air as well as chatted online to raise awareness. Back to Top Join and support ACC by becoming a 2010 corporate member. For more information on how your organization can join ACC as a corporate member, please contact Steve Jones at sjones@cablecommunicators.org or 202-222-2373. For membership details, go to http://www.cablecommunicators.org/cmember.php. Golden Benefactors Friends & Associates PO Box 75007 Washington DC 20013 · Phone 800.210.3396 or 202.222.2370 · Fax 202.222.2371 |
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The Beacon Awards: All New for 2010!