The WBA Student Seminar is set for Saturday, March 2 at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton. National Edward R. Murrow Award winning news reporter and UW-River Falls grad Boyd Huppert from KARE-TV in Minneapolis will present the keynote address. Huppert will also be featured on a panel in the morning and will hand out the annual “Student Awards for Excellence” during lunch. The four recipients of the WBA Foundation Scholarships will also be introduced at lunch.
The seminar begins shortly after 9 a.m. with introductions and a brief orientation. Students will choose from three from the options below during the morning:
- Individual Critiques Student News or Sports Packages are offered by Boyd Huppert in ten minute segments. Pre-registration is required.
- Dave Black from WSUM Radio in Madison will facilitate a discussion of Campus Radio Stations.
- Chris Shofner from UW-Stevens Point will talk about Campus TV Stations.
- General Manager of WMTV-TV in Madison, Don Vesely, and VP/GM of WCLO/WJVL in Janesville, Mike O’Brien, will look at Broadcast Sales and Marketing.
- Justine Stokes from UW-Oshkosh and Titan TV Station Manager Taylor Mueller will host a session on TV Special Event Productions.
- Joy Powers, Producer for Lake Effect at WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio, Fritz Brandon, podcast producer for Mythicist Milwaukee, Brian Edward, podcast co-host for Mythicist Milwaukee, and Pat Hastings from UW-Madison describe What Makes a Good Podcast Session.
- Jill Geisler, WBA Hall of Fame member, author, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University, Chicago, and former News Director at WITI-TV in Milwaukee outlines Power to the Intern which has some straight talk about how to rock your internship.
- Paige Lobdell, producer at Fox 9 in Minneapolis and Ed Reams, News Director at WKOW-TV in Madison explain Producing a News, Sports, or Entertainment Program.
- Josh Golberg, Sports Director, and Color Analyst and Bill O’Leary from WCLO/WJVL in Janesville will talk about Sports Play-by-Play and Reporting.
In the works are sessions on “News and Sports Reporting With Facebook Live,” and Engineering. Panelists were not finalized at the time of the writing of this article.
Prior to lunch two general sessions will run concurrently. The first explores Building a Resume with Randall Davidson from UW-Oshkosh, Jessica Laszewski, News Director at WMTV-TV in Madison, and a human resources manager. The second is Speed Networking featuring individual six minute “one-on-ones” with professionals in radio and TV news, production, sales, social media, and entertainment.
This outstanding program was made possible through the cooperation of the members of the WBA Education Committee and with the financial support of the WBA and the WBA Foundation.
Please check the WBA website for updates on panelists and speakers.
-Ken Beno
WBA Education Committee Chair
