As Public Media Connect (Think^TV/CET) heads into the second half of our March Membership Drive – our biggest membership drive of the year – we know everyone is torn on what to watch each evening and which organizations to support annually. We want you to know that Public Media Connect is working to make sure the money our members donate is spent wisely and in ways that positively impacts our communities.

Check out these quick facts:

1. Public Media Connect is the most widely used non-profit educational, cultural and informational resource in the Cincinnati/Dayton area reaching more than 2.3 million viewers on air and thousands more online.
2. Workshops for caregivers and parents are available year-round to offer guidance and education on everything from reading readiness to asthma awareness.
3. Public Media Connect was born out of a 2009 decision that combined CET and Think^TV into one regional non-profit public broadcasting and media corporation. This merger allowed both stations to continue to provide quality services and programs while cutting administrative costs and remaining fiscally responsible.
4. Our organization hosts on-site and virtual learning labs to help teachers and other educators in a variety of topics, including using mobile technology in the classroom and using video games to engage children in learning. This year we’re expecting to reach about 500 educators.
5. On-demand services on thinktv.org and CETconnect.org provide access to thousands of videos from throughout the PBS system and more than 250 local productions you can watch anytime.
6. CET was the nation’s first television station, the first to go HD and the first to carry a 24-hour arts channel.
7. Think^TV produces “Our Ohio” for stations across the state. This show, which airs on Saturdays on Think^TV and CET, introduces people around Ohio’s people, communities, festivals, farms and other special features of the Buckeye State.
8. Public Media Connect is continuously involved in educational projects for the community such as Facing the Mortgage Crisis, American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen and Speak Up! for the Arts.
9. In addition to our on air and online presence, Public Media Connect hosts and is involved in a number of free community events including A Day at the Park, the Think^TV 5k, Clifford’s 50^th Birthday, The PBS KIDS GO! Writing Contest and more.

Public Media Connect is eternally grateful for the support of our members, whose contributions help us to ensure we can continue to provide quality programs and services to the Dayton and Cincinnati communities.

If you’d like additional information on any of the mentioned above, please contact Kellie May at kmay@cetconnect.org.

If you’d like to learn more about becoming a member, renewing your membership or making a general contribution of any amount, please visit www.CETconnect.org/support or call 513-345-6582 for CET or visit www.thinktv.org/support or call 1-800-247-1614 for Think^TV. Our March drive runs through Sunday, March 17. Thanks for your support!

Every day women – known and unknown – are making impacts across the globe. They’re fighting to end inequality; they’re serving as the first women leaders of major organizations and companies; they’re groundbreaking authors, comedians and actors and they are proud of the work they are doing.

Next week, CET and Think^TV16 will be airing Makers: Women Who Make America to highlight stories just like these. This three-hour comprehensive and innovative series chronicles women’s advancement over the last 50 years through the tales of the women who lived it.

Makers is narrated by Meryl Streep and features commentary from Hilary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric, Gloria Steinem, Phyllis Schlafly and others. The program will air at 8pm Tuesday, Feb. 26, on CET and Think^TV16.

Makers and PBS have put together a really cool website for the program that includes the personal stories and interviews of the women in the show as well as many who aren’t. Check out www.makers.com for the background stories of Danica Patrick, Dusty Roads, Nichelle Nichols, Judy Blume, Erin Brockovich and many many more.

Let us know about the strong, innovative women in your life in the comments!