State Media Swarm Island for Mackinac Policy Conference
Detroit Regional Chamber Visits for 25th Annual Convention
By Leslie Rott

Governor Jennifer Granholm and Channel 7 News anchor Stephen Clark in front of Grand Hotel following Mr. Clark’s interviewed with the Governor.

Broadcasts from Mackinac were prevalent when the Detroit Regional Chamber held its 25th annual Mackinac Policy Conference on Thursday, June 2, through Saturday, June 4. Along with the 1,700 attendees came more than 100 members of the media for the opportunity to interview state and national policy makers.

“Each year we have more and more coverage,” said Amy Hennes, Detroit Regional Chamber senior director of marketing and media relations. “It’s the biggest event in the state,” she added. “25 years later, it’s still working.”

Camera’s roll as Channel 7 News’ Stephen Clark interviews Republican Dick DeVos, who announced he is running for Governor at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.

This year, six radio stations covering the event included WDET, WWJ Newsradio 950, WJR News/Talk 760, WCHB, WTCM, and Michigan Talk Radio. Print journalists represented The Associated Press, The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press, The Oakland Press, Gongwer News Service, Mirs, The Grand Rapids Press , Booth Newspapers, and Crain’s Detroit Business. Television crews on hand were from Comcast Cable NewsMakers, Michigan Government TV, Detroit Cable, and WXYZ-TV Channel 7 News.

At right: Stephen Clark prepares for a live news feed. The broadcast van needs a special motor vehicle permit from the city to be brought to Mackinac Island for the Mackinac Policy Conference.

Ms. Hennes said it is most expensive for television and radio news media to travel here, because of the equipment they must bring with them.

The Channel 7 News crew even brings their own satellite truck with them, a feat that requires much planning and a special motor vehicle permit from the City of Mackinac Island.

Ms. Hennes said planning began in April, when the city council was approached. It cost the station approximately $600 to ferry the van to the Island and for the city permit, but Stephen Clark, news anchor for Channel 7, said the effort allows the station to broadcast live during the conference. The station, he said, understands the importance of reporting the conference to its viewers back in Detroit.

The conference is appealing to the media, Ms. Hennes said, because delegates discuss important local and state issues and because so many political leaders are collected in one place.

Mr. Clark agreed.

“So many of the movers and shakers are here,” he said.

The number of politicians he can interview in one weekend at the Mackinac Policy Conference would take him weeks to track down in Detroit. And, since most of his viewers are not able to come to the Island, his satellite broadcasts of the conference brings it to them downstate.

Technological innovations have also assisted other media, said Ms. Hennes, and newspaper reporters now file their stories using wireless Internet access from the Media Center at Grand Hotel’s Gerald R. Ford Conference Room.