Converge 2019 Recap!
The CMTO team attended CONVERGE, the national conference for First Nations Media Australia co-hosted by CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) . Starting from the 26th of November 2019 and ending with the First Nations Media Awards night on the 29th of November 2019, the week featured important talks, wonderful showcases and an abundance of informative sessions. The conference was based around the notion Apurte Irretye-Ke Iwerre Anyente-Le (Meeting Together- Moving in One Direction)
Over 150 delegates representing 48 organisations gathered for the conference and, like the Remote Indigenous Media Festival on Waiben, delegates shared the common thread of celebrating culture and nurturing & multiplying media skills across the numerous talented Indigenous communities in Australia. Meeting together and moving in one direction.
Over the course of the week CMTO team and trainers, John Maizels, Mikaela Ford as well as Charlotte Bedford and Giordana Caputo provided intensive workshops and sessions around Tech for Non-Technical, Developing Leadership Skills and Creating Social Media Content.
Technorama CEO and CMTO Trainer John Maizels, assisted by Giordana Caputo, Mikaela Ford and Benjamin Erin (8CCC) delivered the Station Tech for Non-Technical pre-conference workshops to 18 participants. The workshops were held at the CAAMA studios hub on Todd street and ran from Tuesday 26th– Wednesday 27th of November. The workshops aimed to focus on both the tech inclined and eager tech learners to help them find out what they don’t know and leave them knowing just enough. Lead by John, the two days covered block diagrams, phones, studios, transmitters, air conditioning and a heap more. In conjunction with in-class learning the participants were lead through the wonderful studios at CAAMA and a station tour at the wonderful 8CCC (with some delicious coffee and cakes) the participants engaged in tech talks and concluded the workshops with a tech masterclass.
On Friday the 29th the brilliant Jodie Bell (Goolarri CEO) facilitated the Developing Leadership Skills session, a partnership between Goolarri Media and CMTO. Along with Jodie there was a stellar panel of extraordinary leaders in the Indigenous media sector: Dot West (Chairperson of First Nations Media Australia), Karen Patterson (General Manager of Brisbane Indigenous Media Association) and Bernard Namok (Senior Broadcaster and Remote Trainer for Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association). The session focused on the skills involved in supporting and mentoring staff and volunteers in your media organisation with real life examples presented by the panel. The CMTO’s Charlotte Bedford represented the CMTO and discussed a new initiative in the Take It On program.
Followed by the leadership session, CMTO Assistant Pathways Trainer Manager Mikaela Ford, lead a hands on session in Creating Social Media Content. The session also featured talks from 2 extraordinary woman in the sector, discussing how they use social media to reach their communities: Molly Hunt (Youth broadcaster and Social Media extraordinaire from TEABBA) and Tangiora Hinaki (Station Manager and videographer/photographer wiz at Ngaarda Media). Mikaela guided participants through how to use free digital tools to spread messages to their communities and practice different ways of packaging content for distribution online on an array of platforms. The session concluded with a hands on activity- creating Instagram stories. Check them out on our CMTO Instagram HERE.
The conference concluded with a dazzling night at the Old Quarry in Alice Springs, home to the First Nations Media Awards night. A number of awards were given to remarkable and very well deserving individuals and organisations. The highlights of the night were the presentations by First Nations Media, a Lifetime Achievement award was gifted to the remarkable Freda Glynn the founder of CAAMA and then Imparja television and another award gifted the brilliant Daniel Featherstone (Former FNMA CEO) as Recognition of Contribution for his selfless work in the Indigenous media sector for over 12 years. The CMTO would like to congratulate all of the winners and those nominated, your work is astounding!
The CMTO are proud to have partnered with First Nations Media Australia in delivering sessions at CONVERGE 2019 and would like to acknowledge the traditional owners, the Arrernte people for welcoming us to their home and sharing such an extraordinary and special experience.