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Capitol Hill Day 2010 Postponed
Because Washington DC is being impacted by one of the largest blizzards in the recorded history of this area, with snowfall levels expected to approach 30 inches in some areas, there is a substantial likelihood that all business in this area—including Congress—will be severely disrupted for several days. It is virtually certain that the federal government will be closed on Monday, and perhaps even Tuesday.
As a result, APTS has determined that Capitol Hill Day 2010 should be postponed at this time. We are exploring dates for rescheduling it or using alternative approaches, such as webinars or video conferences to provide timely information. At this point, APTS is asking Capitol Hill Day registrants to contact their airlines and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 1 (800) 241-3333 to cancel their travel plans. We believe this is the only prudent approach to take in light of the current circumstances.
APTS will be in touch with the station community as soon as we determine whether we will reschedule the meeting or whether we will use alternative methods such as webinars or video conferences. If we do not reschedule Capitol Hill Day, all of your registration payments will be refunded.
Capitol Hill DayFebruary 7-9, 2010
The Association of Public Television Stations invites you to join us on February 7-9 for Capitol Hill Day 2010, a time of important opportunities and challenges for public television. Public television stations are moving beyond broadcasting, offering community-focused news, information and public affairs that truly engage diverse audiences. With the advent of digital, stations are reaching audiences with high quality digital content distributed over multiple platforms, including over-the-air, through paid platforms, via the Internet.t Capitol Hill Day 2010, station professionals and lay leaders will play a major role in making the case to Congress to maximize Federal support for stations through the FY 2011 Appropriations cycle. The continued economic stresses confronting stations, including severe reductions in state funding, means it is essential for us to not only maintain, but grow our federal funding. We need you to tie our fiscal stabilization and other appropriations requests to the sustainability and growth of your stations and the services you provide.
However, your role at Capitol Hill Day 2010 will go beyond making our legislative case for increased funding. Our efforts are inextricably intertwined with the overarching issues confronting public broadcasting today: What is our future? How do we redefine ourselves with reference to revolutionary technological change and the erosion of the business models for commercial print and broadcast media? How do we craft a vision and a message relevant to a more diverse America, a more computer-centric America and an America actually craving a source of trusted information that we in public broadcasting are uniquely equipped by talent, history and commitment to provide. We need you to be a part of this critical discussion.
Public Broadcasting and Beyondis a high priority of the Administration and the Federal Communications Commission. We must seize this moment, because if we do not define public service media and the role public television and radio stations will play, we will find ourselves being defined by others. In the last month alone, a Knight Commission Report on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy and a Columbia University School of Journalism study have been quite critical of public broadcasting. At the same time, the Federal Communications Commission is actively exploring access to vastly more spectrum for advanced, 4th generation wireless broadband. One possibility being considered, as you all are aware, is the reallocation of broadcast spectrum. All of us at the national and station level will have to marshal the facts about public broadcasting’s use of spectrum and communicate effectively our vision for how we can use it in the public interest consistent with the deployment of broadband.
This is a brave and exciting time for all of us, and we need every station to be a part of this important discussion. We are so committed to having a strong station and lay turnout that we've maintained our early registration incentives that we adopted last year—reducing the early registration rate for a lay attendee to only $150 and freezing all registration fees at 2009 levels!
We need every station to work with us to energize our elected officials and help them to see the promise that public television holds for the communities we all serve. We've proven we can do this, and Capitol Hill Day 2010 is the time to work together to achieve it.
