2026 Central States Region Community Media Conference

October 27 - 29, 2026
Grand Rapids, MI

Hosted by the Grand Rapids Community Media Center

Gold Sponsor: Tightrope Media Systems
Silver Sponsor: TelVue Corporation
Bronze Sponsor: CKS Service, LLC

Registration is now open: Register Here

Schedule Overview
October 27: Evening Welcome Reception
October 28: Morning tour & workshops at WKTV, Lunch & Membership Meeting at Wealthy Theatre, Workshops, Philo Festival for Media Arts
October 29: Morning workshops, Lunch

Hotel Information

Hampton Inn & Suites Grand Rapids Downtown  
433 Dudley Place Grand Rapids, MI 49503 –  
 
Available Dates: 10/27/2-10/29/26
 
Room Type/Room Rate:   Standard King or Two Queen - $124 plus tax  
 
Reservations Due by: 9/27/26
 
Phone Reservations: 616-456-2000, please specify group code GRC when making your reservation.  
 
Online Booking Link: Simply copy and paste the URL below into your browser to access the preferred group rates that are available.    
 

Conference Schedule (Subject to Change)
 
 
October 27 (GRCMC, Bridge Street)
 
5:00 pm - Welcome Reception, GRCMC, Bridge Street
 
October 28 (WKTV in AM, Wealthy Theatre in PM)
 
9:30 am - Tour & Sessions at WKTV
 
  • Local News Models: Lessons from WKTV
  • Roundtable Discussion: Strategic Ideas to Manage and Reduce Costs

12:00 pm - Lunch & Membership Meeting, Wealthy Theatre

1:30 pm - Tech on the Floor & Sessions

  • Local News Models: Lessons from the Rapidian & Documenters
  • The Revenue Mix: A Civic Information Consortium Model

2:30 pm - Networking Break

2:45 pm - Tech on the Floor & Sessions

  • Building Discovery Engines: CMS and Community Archive Tools for your website
  • TBA

3:45 pm - Networking Break

4:00 pm - Tech on the Floor & Sessions

  • From Tape to Terabytes: A Practical Model for Video Archiving
  • TBA

5:00 pm - Break

6:00 pm - Philo T Farnsworth Media Festival Reception

7:00 pm - Philo T Farnsworth Media Festival Awards Presentation

October 29 (Wealthy Theatre)

9:30 am - Networking

10:00 am - Tech on the Floor & Sessions

  • The Revenue Mix: Government Funding
  • TBA

11:00 am - Break
 
11:15 am - Tech on the Floor & Sessions
  • The Revenue Mix: Sponsorships & Underwriting for local media
  • TBA
12:15 pm - Lunch & Networking
 
1:00 pm - Event Ends