Your WBA is in the fortunate position of getting to not only see but also share the great work that you, our valued radio and TV broadcasters, are doing each and every day across Wisconsin. The WBA Awards Gala gives everyone a chance to see the amazing work and dedication you bring to your communities, particularly in 2020. You can see a long list of those award-winning examples here.
Thank you to our Awards Committee and everyone who contributed to putting on this year’s online award galas. And while they were successful events, we greatly look forward to celebrating the awards in-person, radio and TV together, as we’re accustomed to, at the Madison Marriott West in 2022.
Summer Conference agenda released
We are most proud to bring you the agenda for our WBA Summer Conference coming up Aug. 25-26 at the beautiful Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan. You can find the full rundown here. Registration is open. We’re excited to finally recognize the Local Broadcast Legends and Hall of Fame inductees we announced in 2020. And we get to give a giant thank you to our friend, Senator Gordon Smith, NAB President and CEO, who recently announced his retirement at the end of this year. He’ll be there to deliver our keynote.
Thank you to our Conference Committee for the effort you put into this important first in-person event since the start of the pandemic. We hope to see you there!
Diversity Committee hard at work
Our WBA Diversity Committee, which you’ve read about in recent issues of the newsletter, is now meeting monthly and looking to turn words into actions. Your first chance to see it in action will be at our Summer Conference where the committee will be hosting a roundtable session with Binnu Palta Hill from the Wisconsin School of Business ahead of her EEO session. Binnu was a WBA favorite when she spoke to us a few years ago at a WBA Conference and we’re excited to have her act as moderator.
Committee members will be leading discussions at the tables about diversity in broadcasting with the aim of giving attendees actionable ideas to make sure their stations reflect more voices in their communities. We hope you can join the Diversity Committee for this important session.
Broadcasters meeting with lawmakers
The pandemic hasn’t kept broadcasters from connecting with lawmakers through your WBA. While our annual WBA DC trip didn’t happen in person this year, we’re organizing a virtual visit to Capitol Hill with calls and video conferences with Congressional offices over three days in May. We expect to talk to our Wisconsin Congressional delegation about preserving local journalism and the tremendous work that you, Wisconsin’s Broadcasters, put in to help their constituents during the pandemic.
Announcements coming soon about Broadcasters Clinic
Our Broadcasters Clinic Committee is nearly done setting the agenda for the Broadcasters Clinic to be held Sept. 8-10 at the Madison Marriott West. This is another return to normal for us, albeit earlier in the year than the Clinic would typically happen.
We’re hearing there are many out there interested in attending but waiting to get the all-clear because of the pandemic. We’re hopeful for continued success in the vaccine rollout so broadcast engineers, vendors, and experts can again share the same space at the Clinic.
Watch your inboxes for the Broadcasters Clinic agenda and updates on all the other events we have in the works. Your WBA knows you’re ready to get back to networking with your fellow broadcasters. We absolutely can’t wait to see you again too.
Meanwhile, keep up the great work and stay safe!
