“Great to meet with possible contacts.”
“Thought it was great overall”
“I learned a lot.”
”Great experience that stretched me out of my comfort zone.”
“This is my third year attending, and it’s always fantastic.”
”Thankful I have this outstanding and incredible experience.”
Those were just a few of the comments from over 150 students who attended the 2019 WBA Student Seminar on Saturday, March 2 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 Boyd Huppert, KARE-TV, Minneapolis. 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 ten panels in the morning. Topics included: Individual Feedback (TV), Campus Radio and TV Stations, Broadcast Sales and Marketing, TV Special Event Productions, What Makes a Good Podcasting Session, Power To The Intern, Sports Play-By-Play and Reporting, Producing a News, Sports, or Entertainment Programs, Engineering—Demonstration of Technical Gear, and News and Sports Reporting with Facebook Live.
At noon, students participated in a session titled Building a Resume or 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 Boyd Huppert’s outstanding keynote address, the presentation of the WBA Foundation Scholarships to four recipients, and the 16th annual Student Awards for Excellence, which had 286 entries. Union Grove, Lakeland Union, Minocqua, and Bay Port, Green Bay won awards in the second year of the high school competition. In addition, this year’s Leadership Award was presented to Tara Schumal from Marquette University. 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.
In addition to Boyd Huppert, I would like to thank the following broadcast professionals for being panelists: Russ Awe, WHA, Madison; Nick Beversdorf, WJFW-TV, Rhinelander; Dave Black, UW-Madison; Fritz Brandon and Sean Fracek, Mythicists, Milwaukee; Randall Davidson and Justine Stokes, UW-Oshkosh; Dave Dewes, Red Star Pictures, Madison; Andrew Felix, WEAU-TV, Eau Claire; Justin Garcia, Milwaukee Bucks Radio Network; Jill Geisler, Loyola University, Chicago; Mike O’Brien, Josh Golberg, and Bill O’Leary, WCLO/WJVL, Janesville; Sarah Gray and Heather Sahr, WSAW-TV, Wausau; Cori Haugh, Weigel Broadcasting, Milwaukee; Andrea Stegman, Jessica Laszewski, Amy Pflugshaupt, and Don Vesely, WMTV, Madison; Taylor Mueller, Titan TV Station Manager; Joy Powers, WUWM, Milwaukee; Ed Reams, WKOW-TV, Madison; Tyah Sartler-Williams; Lindsey Slagle, Mid-West Family, Madison; Doug Russell and Jay Sorgi, WTMJ Radio, Milwaukee; Chris Shofner, UW-Stevens Point; and Jeff VerVoort, WISC-TV.
Thanks to the panel moderators: Mike Schmidt, UW-Green Bay; Nancy Stillwell, Madison College; and Pat Hastings, UW-Madison.
On behalf of the Education Committee, I would also like to thank Linda, Kyle, Michelle, and Liz for helping to ensure the seminar’s success.
We look forward to 2020 and another outstanding student seminar!
Ken Beno, WBA Education Committee, Chair
