The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Broadcasters Clinic, 2013 edition, will be held October 8–10 at the Madison Marriott West Hotel in Middleton, Wis. For radio personnel there will be many sessions worth taking in.
Tuesday, Oct. 8, Mary Ann Seidler of Tieline will open the convention with a session entitled, “Audio Compression: Are We Squeezing the Life Out of Radio?” Then at 9:45, Wisconsin Public Radio’s Steve Johnston will explore “Program Associated Data Implementation at Wisconsin Public Radio.” Bob Surette of Shively Labs will lead a presentation on “Filters, the Building Block of Combiners” at 10:45 a.m. For those interested in AM, at 11:30 a.m., Andy Laird of Journal Broadcast Group will discuss “IBOC and Digital AM Updates.”
In the afternoon, Frank Foti of the Telos Alliance will cover “MPX-Direct: Digital Connectivity for FM-Stereo,” starting at 1:15 p.m. Comrex’s Chris Crump will then explore “Benefits of Migrating the Radio Call In Show to Wideband Audio” at 2 p.m. Tony Peterle of WorldCast Systems will speak at 3 p.m. about “SNMP in the Real World: An Ancient Protocol in the Modern Broadcast Facility.” Wrapping up the day’s sessions, Nautel’s Jeff Welton will cover some “General Transmitter Maintenance and Troubleshooting Tips” at 3:45 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 9, will kickoff at 8:30 a.m. with Wisconsin Public Radio’s Kevin Trueblood speaking to the transition of “IP to/from the Transmitter via Unlicensed WiFi.” Next, starting at 9:15 a.m., Mark Allen of Rohn Towers will explore “Practical Considerations for Aging Broadcast Towers.”
After lunch, Jeremy Ruck of Ruck and Associates will cover information about “Translators/LPFM” at 1:30 p.m. Steve Lampen from Belden will go over “How Wire Fails” at 2:15 p.m. while at 3:15 p.m. Jim Klas, Wisconsin Public Broadcasting/ECB, will do the math in “Finance for Engineers.” Rounding out the day at 4 p.m. Cavell Mertz & Associates’ Dan Ryson will discuss “The Crowded Broadcast Auxiliary Spectrum.”
The SBE meeting will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m., and Bryan Jones of the Telos Alliance will give an interactive presentation and demonstration about “SIP/VOIP Addressing, a World Without POTS.”
There’s an abundance of TV-oriented sessions on Thursday, Oct. 9, but at 10:15 a.m. Perry Priestley, Comark, discussing “Improving Transmitter Efficiency,” and the 2:30 session, “A Social Media Workflow for Broadcasters,” with Allan Pepper of Ross Video, might be nice crossover classes.
Not to be forgotten is an exhibit floor. Exhibitors of interest would include: BE/Commotion, Broadcasters General Store, Comrex, Continental Electronics, DoubleRadius, ERI, Full Compass, Gorman-Redlich, Harris Broadcast, Logitek, Nautel, RAM Systems, RCS, SBE, Shively Labs, Sony, Sound Device, Tieline, V-Soft and WorldCast Systems.
Early Bird registration — two day attendance is $115, while all three days costs $130, ends Aug. 15. Regular registration is $130 for two days while all three days costs $150.