Truly a great experience!
This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
It was a valuable amazing experience.
Those were just a few of the comments from approximately 400 students who attended the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Student forum on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Lambeau Field.
The success of the Forum can be attributed to the hard work of the WBA Education Committee in putting together an outstanding program and the WBA, WBA Foundation, and sponsors. The Keynote address featured Packers Radio Network broadcasters Wayne Larivee and Larry McCarren. Kyle Wallace, with 101.7 The Truth in Milwaukee, and the 2023 WBA Young Professional of the Year, was the event’s MC.
Students chose from panels in Sports Marketing; Student Media Roundtables; Storytelling; Technologies in Broadcasting; and Producing a Sports Talk Show. The hands-on portion consisted of interviewing celebrities on camera, experience in front of a green screen, reading from a teleprompter, reading on the radio, and calling a game.
In addition, a Job Fair was part of the seminar for the third time. Students also participated in Speed Networking with broadcast professionals from across the state.
The Forum concluded with the presentation of the WBA Foundation Scholarships to four recipients, and the 21st annual Student Awards for Excellence, which had 274 entries in 34 categories. Students from Union Grove, Notre Dame Academy, Oregon, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin Rapids, and Bay Port, Green Bay won awards in the sixth year of the high school competition. Future broadcasters from UW- Madison, Oshkosh, Stevens Point, Whitewater, Milwaukee, River Falls, Green Bay, and Milwaukee Area Technical College, Beloit College, and Madison College took home first place honors in the college competition. In addition, this year’s Leadership Award was presented to Drew Best from UW-Whitewater.
Thanks to the panel moderators: Nancy Stillwell, Madison College; Rob Snyder, UW-Platteville, Ganga Vadhavkar, UW-Eau Claire, and Mark Zoromski, Marquette (retired).
On behalf of the Education Committee, I would also like to thank Kyle, Michelle, and Liz for helping to ensure the seminar’s success.
We look forward to another outstanding Student Forum in 2025!
