Issue-based Advocacy Consultant, Philadelphia Community Access Media

Posted by Philadelphia Community Access Media on December 01, 2014

The Philadelphia Public Access Corporation DBA as PhillyCAM, the non-profit designated by the City of Philadelphia to operate the public access television channels since 2008, seeks a consultant experienced in issue-based advocacy and organizing to work with its staff, board of directors and members to ensure the organization is in the strongest possible position in negotiations between the City of Philadelphia and Comcast over a franchise agreement between the two parties that contain provisions for public access.

How to apply
Deadline & Information Session

Responses to this RFP are due no later than December 5, 2014, but early responses are strongly encouraged. The work is expected to begin immediately upon selection of a qualified consultant and continue through spring 2015.

Brief Background and Context

Per provisions in the federal Communications Act, a franchise agreement exists between the City of Philadelphia and Comcast Corporation that allows the video service provider to use the public rights of way to deliver its product and in return, offer public benefit to the residents of Philadelphia. The existing agreement contains provisions that led to the creation of PhillyCAM, its primary source of funding, and the cable channels on which it distributes community-created content. The franchise agreement between the City and Comcast is set to expire in 2015, and a new agreement is now being negotiated. PhillyCAM seeks to ensure that the new agreement continues and deepens the City’s and Comcast’s commitment to our critical work.

The City of Philadelphia will soon release a Needs Assessment that it has been developing over the last year by conducting stakeholder interviews, surveys of cable subscribers and input from PhillyCAM members. It is expected that this Needs Assessment will articulate the view of the Nutter Administration on what community needs the new franchise agreement with Comcast should aim to meet.

Following the release of the Needs Assessment, the City will hold a public hearing on its content, and engage in negotiations with Comcast around provisions of the new franchise agreement. It is anticipated that an agreement will be reached between the Nutter Administration and Comcast, then presented to the City Council of Philadelphia for its approval by ordinance. City Council is expected to hold its own public hearings once that ordinance is transmitted from the Mayor to the Council and before approving the agreement.

We anticipate this process will begin in November or December 2014, and continue for the next 10 months or longer. However the scope of the work of the consultant will be for a shorter period of time, with the possibility of renewals or extensions.

Statement of Work

PhillyCAM seeks a consultant that will help organize and coordinate PhillyCAM stakeholders – including the board, staff and members – to execute a campaign plan and strategy. Specifically, the consultant will:

• Coordinate and organize PhillyCAM stakeholders to respond to the City’s Needs Assessment and participate in the public hearing.
• Coordinate and organize PhillyCAM stakeholders to educate members of City Council about the value of the organization and our priority needs in the franchise agreement.
• Coordinate and organize PhillyCAM stakeholders to effectively advocate for our needs with Mayor Nutter and key members of his Administration playing a lead role in the negotiations with Comcast.
• To successfully complete the above tasks, develop and help execute a communications plan to articulate the value PhillyCAM provides to Philadelphians.

PhillyCAM Stakeholder Resources

The consultant will have access to a strong corps of PhillyCAM stakeholders and resources to assist in their work. The board of directors is a group of 18 individuals with experience in advocacy, coalition building, media production, community organizing and other valuable skills. The organization has over 500 members that have been trained in video production and are motivated to participate in a campaign to strengthen this community resource. The facilities contain state of the art equipment and software that can be used to create video and audio that tell the story of PhillyCAM. An experienced and skilled consultant should be able to easily leverage and organize these stakeholder resources to achieve the campaign goals.

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