It was a fun experience.
Great advice, leadership, and networking opportunities!
Phenomenal learning opportunity.
Those were just a few of the comments from more than 140 students who attended the 2022 WBA Student Seminar on Saturday, March 5 at the Madison Marriott West.
Another successful event can be attributed to the hard work of the WBA Education Committee in putting together an outstanding program, which featured, Dan Shelley, Radio Television Digital News Association Executive Director, presented a compelling keynote. I have the pleasure of being the chair of this active and hard-working group of educators and commercial broadcast professionals. Another contribution to the seminar’s success is financial support from the WBA and the WBA Foundation.
Students chose to attend three of nine panels in the morning. Topics included:
Value of Diversity for Content Creators, Improving and Protecting Your Social Media Brand, How to Improve Your Networking Skills, Business of Broadcasting: The State of The Industry, Finding and Targeting a Podcasting Audience, Careers in Sports Reporting, Anchoring, Play-By-Play, New Technology in News Coverage, Student Radio and TV Roundtables, and TV and Radio Air Checks.
In addition, a Job Fair was part of the seminar for the first time. Students also participated in Speed Networking, which was patterned after the speed dating concept. Twenty-four broadcast professionals met individually in six-minute intervals with students who could ask questions about any topic.
The afternoon luncheon concluded the seminar and was highlighted by Dan’s inspiring keynote address, the presentation of the WBA Foundation Scholarships to four recipients, and the 19th annual Student Awards for Excellence, which had 217 entries in 35 categories. Students from Union Grove, Pulaski, Notre Dame Academy, and Bay Port, Green Bay won awards in the fourth year of the high school competition. Future broadcasters from UW Madison, Oshkosh, Stevens Point, Whitewater, Eau Claire, Milwaukee. Stevens Point, River Falls, Green Bay, and Marquette and Beloit College took home honors in the college competition. In addition, this year’s Leadership Award was presented to Aimee Galaszewski from Marquette. The award is given to a broadcasting or broadcast journalism student of junior standing or above who attends a Wisconsin college or university and who has most noticeably developed and exercised effective and creative skills in leadership.
Thanks to the panel moderators: Nancy Stillwell, Madison College; Brian Lucas, UW-Whitewater; Cary Elza, UW-Stevens Point; Kelsey Brannan, UW-Madison; Justine Stokes, UW-Oshkosh; Ganga Vadhavkar, UW-Eau Claire; and Pat Hastings, UW-Madison.
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 seminar in 2023!
-Ken Beno, WBA Education Committee Chair
