Sponsor the AMC!

The 20th Annual Allied Media Conference

Twenty Years of Content that Creates, Connects and Transforms

Over the lifespan of the conference, we have explored media-based through hundreds of Tracks, Practice Spaces and Network Gatherings. This year, the AMC major areas of content are:

• Resourcing and Sustaining Our Movements Track• Radical Libraries, Archives, and Museums Track• Indigenous Rising: Media as Resistance Track• Shaping Stories, Shifting Power Track• Magic as Resistance Track• Digital Futures of Consent Track• Learning Liberation Track• Let’s Play! Kids Track• Healing Justice Track• Movement Journalism Track• Design Justice Track• FERMENT Food Track• Poetry and Storytelling for Freedom Track• RAD Care Beyond Social Justice Track• Research Justice Track

About the AMC

What is the AMC?Held every summer in Detroit, the Allied Media Conference brings together a vibrant and diverse community of people using media to incite change: filmmakers, radio producers, technologists, youth organizers, writers, entrepreneurs, musicians, dancers, and artists. Our definition of “media” includes all forms of communication, from videos and websites to theater, dance, design, and interactive technology.

Since moving to Detroit in 2007, the AMC has become one of the most important hubs for creative social change in North America.

A Brief Timeline of the AMC 1999-2017

1999Allied Media Conference founded as the “Midwest Zine Conference” in Bowling Green, Ohio.

2002The Midwest Zine Conference is renamed the “Allied Media Conference”(AMC) and Allied Media Projects is founded as the umbrella organization that coordinates the AMC.

2007The AMC moves to Detroit.

2008The AMC begins using “Tracks” to organize sessions that focus on a specific theme.

2009The AMC surpasses 1000 attendees.

2015The AMC surpasses 2,500 attendees - our largest attendance number to date. “AMC @ Night,” a five-day music festival during the AMC, showcases local and national musical talent.

201719th annual Allied Media Conference held in Detroit

2012“Practice Spaces” and “Network Gatherings” are introduced as new ways for attendees to engage at the conference. 2016

The tenth anniversary of the AMC moving to Detroit!

About the AMC

What we do at the AMCThe Allied Media Conference is a collaboratively-designed event curated with care every year by 100+ volunteer coordinators. Conference content explores the intersections of media and communications, art, technology, education, and social justice.

Every year, the AMC takes on a new, different shape as it develops thematic focus areas called “Tracks,” “Practice Spaces,” and “Network Gatherings.” These are the content areas that structure the 350+ sessions of the conference.

About the AMC

• hands-on workshops

• panel discussions

• film screenings

• Detroit tours

• Media-making spaces

• art and music events

• strategy sessions

• karaoke

• bowling

• youth gatherings

• collaborative art projects

• community dinners

• and more!

About the AMC

Who attends? Over the 20 years of it’s existence, the AMC has grown from several hundred to several thousand participants, volunteers, presenters and coordinators. In 2017, 58% of attendees were first-timers. 19% of participants come from Detroit. AMC attendees come from 224 different cities and towns all over North America, and internationally from countries such as Mexico, Germany, Brazil, and the UK. AMC participants are as diverse as the content. In 2017, 54% of participants identified as a person of color and 46% as LGBTQ. 25% of AMCers are under 25 years old. From artists to organizers, technologists to entrepreneurs, the AMC convenes individuals representing a wide range of fields and backgrounds.

Who is following?

Beyond the 2600+ participants of the conference, Allied Media Projects reaches an online network of over 30,000 people through our social media networks, and email marketing.

The AMC:A space for learning, connection, andmovement-building

About the AMC In 2017, the AMC:

• Presented first-ever AMC plenaries that featured dynamic voices in media-based organizing, including Crissle West (The Read Podcast), Jenni Monet (Center for Investigative Reporting), Malkia Cyril (Center for Media Justice), Sameer Gardezi (Trevor Noah Project).

• Welcomed a record number of Network Gatherings, including the Detroit x Puerto Rico Solidarity Exchange, Media Action Grassroots Network, and the return of the Intergalactic Conspiracy of Childcare Collectives.

• Partnered with the Detroit Institute of Arts to host the Opening Ceremony event in the Detroit Film Theatre for the first time, which accommodated twice as many people as previous years. Approximately 1,200 people attended.

• Partnered with Foodlab Detroit to host a tour of local food businesses that are building a grassroots network of food entrepreneurs and growers all over the city.

• Hosted our first annual Kids Party in collaboration with Detroit’s Cumbia Poder and midtown’s New Center Park, bringing together over 300 local participants and their young ones for an evening of celebration, community and dance!

• Offered more in depth resources for AMC fundraising efforts. From an increase of registration and housing support to grassroots fundraising webinars, we have deepened our commitment to ensuring that those who want to attend can be supported.

Sponsor AMC2018 Help us bring the 20th Annual Allied Media Conference to life! Benefits range from complimentary conference registration, prominence in marketing materials, tabling in the exhibition area and more. Your sponsorship contribution will help us make this year’s AMC more impactful, inclusive, and dynamic.

Photos by Ara Howrani

Ready to become a sponsor? Email amc@alliedmedia.org for Sponsorship Levels and perks.

The 20th Annual Allied Media Conference

The 20th Annual Allied Media Conference

The 20th Annual Allied Media Conference will take place June 14-17, 2018 on the Wayne State University campus in Detroit.

The 20th Annual Allied Media Conference

Why is the AMC important right now?Media-based organizing for social change. Recent dramatic shifts in politics and culture are powerfully influenced by online media. The AMC is the most important national convening for exploring how grassroots communities can harness the power of media and communications to affect change.

Young people in tech. The Allied Media Conference is majority young people of color and LGBTQ. It is a tremendous opportunity to reach young people eager to participate and contribute to innovations in digital media technology.

The importance of social equity in a changing Detroit. While there are more and more events in Detroit focused on art, media and technology, the AMC is the leading annual event that focuses in on these topics through the lens of social equity and social justice.

Who supports the AMC?While the AMC generates more than a third of its revenue from attendees, the AMC continues to rely on the generous support of sponsors who help sustain our growth and success. Fifteen organizations generously sponsored the AMC in 2017, including Race Forward, The California Endowment, and the Detroit Creative Corridor Center. The Allied Media Conference is additionally supported by the Ford Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“AMC and Adobe Project 1324 share the same core values: creating innovative media that pushes society forward. We are proud to partner with such an exceptional organization that mobilizes communities to support, connect and amplify emerging creatives for positive impact.”

- Michelle Posadas, Adobe Project 1324

“Detroit Creative Corridor Center has supported Allied Media Conference for several years because we believe in its mission of media-based organizing and empowering people worldwide through creativity and design. Allied Media Conference and the Design Justice Network are using design and creativity to foster sustainable development in communities and cities worldwide. These networks exemplify what it means to be a UNESCO City of Design, and we are proud to support them and the outcomes of their work.”

- Ellie Schneider, Detroit Creative Corridor Center

The 20th Annual Allied Media Conference