03 Oct People Powered Media Fest: A Super-Charged Weekend
BY RASHEED Z. AJAMU
On Friday, October 20th, PhillyCAM’s People Powered Media (PPM) Fest will commence its third annual celebration of community media creators. PhillyCAM members and the public will come together for engaging conversations, insightful learning opportunities, and enjoyable experiences.
PhillyCAM Executive Director Gretjen Clausing is excited about the opportunity to celebrate the hard work of their membership by showcasing content created for their television and radio stations while inviting the public to engage. She says it’s an opportunity to “learn together, party together, and have fun celebrating people-powered media and community media.”
In previous years, the festival has focused on themes such as community care and building community power. However, this year they are reducing the emphasis on theme selection and instead highlighting the importance of collaboration, which is paramount for achieving their goals.
“We wanted to have this sort of convergence or conference kind of feel to it,” says Clausing. “That’s why there’s a lot of different kinds of activations that are both in-person [and] online and open to the general public, and not something that’s exclusively [for] PhillyCAM membership.”
PPM Fest will happen this year over four “super-charged” days filled with activities and engagement, unlike previous years when it spanned a month.
Friday will celebrate the Community Media Day Live and WPPM Anniversary. Festival goers can enjoy live broadcasts from 6-8:30 PM and a telethon-style fundraiser for WPPM, PhillyCAM’s radio station. Additionally, there will be a photo exhibition by local public media scholar Antoine Haywood called “Telling Our Stories,” a community portrait and oral history project that documents the usage and production of public access media by people of color from 5-7 PM.
Radio Production and Programming Coordinator Allison Durham also invites the public and members to come dance and celebrate live music with a musical performance by the unique and interactive Philly band Archpalatine at 7:30 PM.
Saturday at the PhillyCAM building from 10 AM to 4 PM will be the People Power Forum, which will have hands-on workshops, panels, and discussions addressing the media’s current state and PhillyCAM’s vision for the future.
On Sunday, they will hold the Mediamaker Celebration at the Lightbox Film Center. This event is a way to recognize everyone’s contribution to PhillyCAM and Philadelphia. Gretjen Clausing will be conversing with Anula Shetty, SEPTA’s first media artist in residence, alongside Erica Atwood, Senior Director for Philadelphia’s Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice & Public Safety, in a panel discussion. The conversation will revolve around the utilization of media-based storytelling within Philadelphia institutions to drive positive change in our communities. The celebration will include a viewing of collaborative media projects that were created over the past few years. Attendees can also enjoy food and drinks. Clausing hopes that this event will bring back a sense of pre-pandemic celebration.
The official PhillyCAM anniversary on Monday marks the end of the four-day festival. They’ll honor 14 years of operation with special programming on their channel. This will include a recorded People Power Forum conversation replay and four member-produced programs showcasing the impact of public access media. Shows included on the anniversary are Philly on the Rise, PhillyCAM Voices, The Zarinah Lomax Show, and Relax With Reiki.
PhillyCAM TV Programming Director Deborah Rudman says her favorite part of the festival is the celebration of the community. “People really do work so hard to do this kind of work. And the reward kind of is in itself, is in doing it together. It’s very different from the corporate culture and commercial landscape of media. So it’s just something that I really value and don’t take for granted.”
Laura Deutch, the Education Director, is most excited about creating new connections. She says, “Just the opportunity to introduce new people to what we do is always really exciting. I’m just kind of excited to see what new relationships get formed through that day.”
To learn more about the festival and the full scope of programming, visit the website here.
*Featured Image: Image from a recent PhillyCAM event. Courtesy of PhillyCAM.
Rasheed Z. Ajamu is a Black queer writer, content creator, and servant leader. They are a reporter at the Germantown Info Hub and curate content for the Phreedom Jawn Instagram page.
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