It was wonderful to see so many of you at our WBA Summer Conference at the beautiful Hotel Retlaw in Fond du Lac! What a terrific venue! We hope you enjoyed your time in downtown Fond du Lac, and that you’ll join us again next year at the La Crosse Radisson!
We know from our many conversations with broadcasters that you’re all thinking about the future, and specifically, how the next generation will shape the industry. Of course, it’s impossible to know what the future holds, but some young, aspiring broadcasters are giving us some compelling reasons for enthusiasm.
In the last year, I’ve gotten to know Eliza Martin, a teenage Monona resident who first appeared at our State Legislative Day. She has her own program on WVMO, Monona’s community radio station, and was encouraged by WVMO founder and WBA Hall of Famer, Lindsay Wood Davis, to get involved.
State Legislative Day is an impressive place to start.
Your WBA encouraged our regular State Legislative Day attendees to bring a young person with them, with the hope that they would sit in on meetings to see what the process was all about. Eliza went a huge step further to get involved directly in advocacy during her calls with local lawmakers. She had done her homework on the issues and was a confident advocate for broadcasters.
I later learned that Eliza was also helping broadcasters through a business solutions project she produced for WVMO, which she entered into a DECA competition. She competed in the international DECA competition in Anaheim, California in late April.
Eliza said she got her start being around WVMO with her dad, who hosted a show. She did an interview segment with her friend when she was in third grade. She now hosts her own show.
She’s interested in writing and journalism and is still working out her potential career path.
“I just love talking to people,” Eliza said. “I love getting to hear about other people’s interests and getting people to leave their shell and share what they’re interested in.”
Eliza is an exciting example of the young people who are out there and already leaving their impression on broadcasting. I can’t wait to see her future!
The early bird deadline to register for our Midwest Regional Broadcasters Clinic is coming up July 12. If you haven’t already checked out the agenda, please be sure to do so. In addition to many other changes to the Clinic this year, we’re adding a job fair on Sept. 11! You can find out more here. We hope to see you there.
For now, enjoy the rest of our Wisconsin summer!
Michelle Vetterkind
WBA President and CEO
