Ten people attended the latest radio engineering class held by the Alabama Broadcasters Association Engineering Academy. Director Larry Wilkins shared pix at my request; see below.
You may recall that I’ve written favorably about this program, which I consider a model for state associations whose members need a deeper supply of good engineering talent. I mention it again because — let’s face it — sometimes a good idea is tried but doesn’t catch, or dies off because organizers discover that launching a program is easier than keeping one going. It looks the ABA academy will be sticking around.
Students came from Virginia, Florida, Alabama and even Alaska. Maria Dudzak from KRBD(FM), way up there in Ketchikan, wrote to Larry to thank him: “I’m excited to further my education and plan to sign up for some of the SBE online courses. I’ve been telling others about the course, and they are very interested.” She wondered whether ABA might even send someone up to Alaska for training more engineers in the future.
The Engineering Academy’s next TV class is this week. Both radio and TV will repeat in August, and Larry said they’re making plans for classes in IT for Broadcasting as well as TV Master Control Operators.
You can find current info on the ABA website.
The photos below show the class; a workbench with test equipment and other hands-on stuff; and instructor Frank Giardina of Cumulus Media.
