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PROGRAM

subject to change

April 11-12, 2024
Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel

Day 1

DAY 1:
Technology
Deep Dive

Thursday, April 11

All Sessions in Renaissance Ballroom I

8:00am – 9:00am:

Registration, BREAKFAST

9:00am – 9:45am:

Welcome & Opening Remarks
Marc Hand, President & CEO, PMVG
Mare Mazur, President & General Manager, Vegas PBS
Skip Pizzi, Senior Advisor, PMVG

PMVG and local hosts welcome TechConnect participants, and set the stage for the conference’s context and content.

9:45am – 10:30am:

Digital Evolution: Navigating the Transformation from Broadcast to Data-Driven Media
Debasish Mishra, CTO, WNET

Debasish describes WNET's journey from a broadcast-centric, low data maturity organization to a more data-driven organization, from a business and technology perspective. 

10:30am – 11:00am:

BREAK

11:00am – 11:45am:

Silver Linings
Albert Lai, Global Strategic Industries Director, Media & Entertainment, Google

The cloud shift from the VM Era to the AI Transformation Era: What, when, why & how?

11:45am – 12:30pm:

New Newsrooms
Kelly Campbell, Engineering Manager, Kentucky Educational Television
Thomas Edwards, Principal Media & Entertainment Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services

Design and operational ideas for a modern, local, public-media news operation, including the combating of fake news.

12:30pm – 1:30pm:

LUNCH (with remarks)
Joonyoung Park, representing Korean Radio Promotion Association [RAPA]
 

A brief report on the RAPA agreement and activities with PMVG.

1:30pm – 2:15pm:

Cybersecurity: Part 1 – Infrastructure & Policy
Heather Hankins, Information Security Manager, NETA

Public media thought leaders consider cybersecurity from a management perspective--including development of safe AI-usage policy.

2:15pm – 3:00pm:

Cybersecurity: Part 2 – The 5 Things You Should Do TODAY!
John Reilly, VP, Information Security & Technology, KQED

This session features the top 5 changes you should make to your IT environments ASAP to reduce cybersecurity exposure. The presentation will focus on those options with the greatest impact that are also relatively affordable, to accommodate stations with limited IT budgets and resources.

3:00pm – 3:30pm:

BREAK

3:30pm – 4:15pm:

Implementing New Facility & Infrastructure Design Elements
Joey Kloss, CTO, Rocky Mountain Public Media
Ian MacSpadden, CTO, Arizona Public Media
Chris Ostertag, CTO, Austin PBS

Big pipes; 12G-SDI; Redundant geo-diverse ISPs; Fiber/CAT6A on prem; Zero-trust switch fabrics; 10-40 Gbps networking; Firewall best practices; Virtualization.

4:15pm – 5:00pm:

Evolution Calling: The Emerging Tech Transforming Public Media
Chad Davis, Chief Innovation Officer, Nebraska Public Media

There is a “mediamorphosis” happening on the horizons of our industry. Technology is changing the means to both create and consume content. “Creation” is becoming “generation,” and “consumption” is becoming “experience.” This session will look at three key technologies that are helping evolve public media as we race toward 2030.

5:00pm:

PUBLIC MEDIA TECHNOLOGY RECEPTION

Day 2

DAY 2:
Technology Management Advisory

Friday, April 12

All Sessions in Renaissance Ballroom I except where noted

8:00am – 9:30am:

BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLES (Renaissance Ballroom III)

Join selected presenters from the TechConnect program and others for conversation over breakfast on topics listed here.

9:45am – 10:30am:

Shared Technology Platforms for Public Media

Marc Hand, CEO, PMVG

Les Levi, CEO, HC2 Broadcast Holdings

This session will present conversations underway with a group of public media organizations focused on the shared operating, distribution and revenue-generating platforms for public media that reflect the scale required in today's media landscape.

10:30am – 11:00am:

BREAK

11:00am – 11:45am:

New B2B Services: Enhancing Mission, Advancing Revenue
John Contestabile, Director, Public Safety Solutions, Skyline Technology Solutions

Erik Langner, CEO, Information Equity Initiative

Alp Sezen, CEO, Peak3

Moderator: Vinnie Curren, Senior Advisor, PMVG

DTV datacasting offers opportunities to enhance the service and revenue profiles of public media; hear from pioneers in the field. 

11:45am – 12:30pm:

New Features Coming to ATSC 3.0
Mark Corl, SVP Advanced Technology Development, Triveni Digital
Madeleine Noland, President, Advanced Television Systems Committee

The ATSC 3.0 suite of standards continues to grow; learn the latest status on emerging features like Tower Networking, LDM & MIMO, Audio-only / Radio Services, Advanced Emergency Services, and Automotive Implementations.

12:30pm – 1:30pm:

LUNCH (with remarks)
Zandra Clarke
, Content Transmission Specialist, Warner Bros. Discovery / SMPTE

An update on recent changes at SMPTE.

1:30pm – 2:15pm:

ATSC 1.0—Not Dead Yet
Tom Barbeau, VP Engineering, Comark Communications
Jim Stenberg, Principal Engineer / Co-owner, Over The Air RF Consulting

Ling Ling Sun, CTO, Nebraska Public Media
Moderator: Skip Pizzi, Senior Advisor, PMVG

In this session, you will learn how to optimize late-stage ATSC 1.0 performance while readying a 3.0 transition, as well as gain insight into the strategy, approach, and execution of Nebraska Public Media's 'Road to Next-Gen TV'.

2:15pm – 3:00pm:

Technical Briefing on 5G Broadcast
Mark AitkenPresident, ONE Media; SVP of Advanced Technology, Sinclair Broadcast Group
Parag Naik, President and CEO, Saankhya Labs 

Denise Willsey, Director of Sales & Business Development, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Moderator
: Skip Pizzi, Senior Advisor, PMVG

A survey of the technical aspects of the 5G Broadcast system for television delivery in the U.S.

3:00pm – 3:30pm:

BREAK

3:30pm – 4:15pm:

Master Class with Doug Lung: Analyzing TV Coverage – ATSC 1.0, ATSC 3.0 and 5G Broadcast
Doug Lung, VP of Broadcast Technology, NBC/Telemundo Stations

An analysis of methods for determining ATSC 1.0 broadcast coverage, with examples of how ATSC 3.0 improves coverage, and a comparison to 5G broadcast coverage.

4:15pm – 5:00pm:

Developing a Digital Transformation Strategy for Public Media
Tim Bischoff, CTO, KET
Eric Hyppa, CEO, NETA
Debasish Mishra, CTO, WNET
Brant Wells, Senior Director of TV & Digital Operations, WKAR

Moderator: Skip Pizzi, Senior Advisor, PMVG

A diverse panel of experts considers public media’s holistic migration to a fully multi-platform delivery environment.

5:00pm:

CLOSING REMARKS and ADJOURNMENT
Vinnie Curren
, Senior Advisor, PMVG
Marc Hand, CEO, PMVG

With gratitude to this year's sponsors

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