Color Me Officially Excited About PEG's Future

Last week I attended NATOA's annual conference in Atlanta. It was a fantastic experience, with tons of enthusiastic attendees to have great conversations with and a host of interesting speakers to learn from, really one of the best events I've been to in a while.

There's lots to share about my experiences there but the biggest thing I came away with was a newfound excitement over the future of PEG. There are just so many intriguing projects and trends underway. Here's a overview of some of the major ones:

- While not happening everywhere, many PEG stations are beginning to utilize social media tools. The focus of Web 2.0 too often seems to ignore physical proximity, yet those tools hold tremendous potential for strengthening the bonds between neighbors in a community. If PEG is going to achieve that larger goal of enabling local community media, finding innovative ways to use them is essential. I'm eager to learn more about this space.

- Wish I could give greater detail but for now all I can say is that there are some interesting projects afoot aimed at improving the ability of PEG channels to share and collaborate. What makes this so powerful is that individually most PEG stations are minuscule, but taken as a whole they represent the largest TV network in America.

- Reconnecting with Tom Spengler, CEO of Granicus, I learned that their government webcasting solution has been going gangbusters this past year, with communities all across the country coming to realize how the use of online video can strengthen the democratic process.

- On another front that I unfortunately have to keep a bit under my hat, there was some talk of highly intriguing experimentation going on in the coming months surrounding redefining what PEG can mean, especially in a big bandwidth environment. I don't think I'm yet supposed to share any details, but know that as soon as I can I'll be doing so as I'm a fervent believer that PEG has an opportunity to be at the center of an incredible amount of innovation over the next few years, both in the delivery on online content and the evolution of TV.

- The final thought I'll share stems from a sense that while we can't just drop the contentious issues surrounding protecting PEG's present as it comes under attack from cable operators not wanting to pay franchise fees and not treating PEG fairly, there's also a growing hunger to move the discussion forward to focus less on the passing paradigm and more on figuring out how PEG can be establishing a new paradigm for itself in the 21st century.

Needless to say, I couldn't be more excited about PEG's future. While there are most definitely bumpy roads ahead, the promise of what's possible seems closer than ever and the energy of the people who are working to reach those goals is infectious.

I'm now more eager than ever to continue my exploration of what PEG can mean in the 21st century as the more wonderful people I meet the more I learn the more possibilities I see for PEG to continue its role at the heart of America's democracy and public discourse.