Baltimore session highlights

Join us in Baltimore, Oct. 26-29, for these sessions and more at the National Student Electronic Media Convention!

Use Sound Design to Transform Your Storytelling
Learn how to layer natural sound, music and ambiance to craft scenes of interest that elevate your storytelling. By changing how you think of audio production, you can learn how to storyboard and outline so that you can direct your vision and not just produce content. 

Finding Your Voice with Audio and Radio Production
This workshop session provides a unique identity-centered approach for students to create audio content that matters to them. This innovative approach has not been presented elsewhere and is informed by my teaching of radio production at the undergraduate level for over two decades. This session offers a practical approach to creating audio content, a toolkit that invites students to take an interest in the world around them and to work with others who are on the same journey of self-discovery. They will learn how to use sound to express themselves in a variety of ways, and by doing so, find their own voice.

Spinning Vinyl: Using Vinylthon as an exciting event for your radio station
Now into its 8th year, Vinylthon is the day when college radio stations go all-vinyl to raise money for student scholarships. The event takes place on over 150 radio stations and this session will provide information and advice on how to best run the event on your radio station and maximize the excitement of the event for the benefit of your listeners and those involved in your station and community. Get ready to drop the needle and spin some wax!

Radio Imaging: A How-To
Learn the approach to and steps to produce great radio station imaging. Make your station name stand out through the use of voice, music and sound effects.

SPINITRON featuring special guest David Klann
Acclaimed soloist David Klann joins Eva Papp of the SPINITRON trio in an interactive Q&A jam. Bring your questions to see if they can answer on topics including playlists, web, charts, automation, webcast live streams and archives, music licensing and reporting and recognition, and broadcast engineering.

Rebuilding College Radio in the Audio Revolution
University radio stations around the world are powering down or relying on a skeleton crew of members due to budget cuts and low enrollment. One of the biggest problems these media outlets face is a lack of funding and lack of interest in “traditional” radio. At SRU, WSRU-FM was on the brink of closure as the previous station management left the station in shambles, and barely FCC legal. Today the station boasts a new streaming service, free mobile app, updated wireless remote equipment, and a new podcast studio. This presentation seeks to provide recommendations and strategies for rebuilding student media and boosting recruitment efforts for university radio stations in the audio revolution. 

Vendors Are People, Too!
While we all have preferred vendors we may work with because of pricing or ease of purchasing, many advisers aren’t fully utilizing their vendors beyond the quotation. Vendors build relationships with manufacturers and other clients similar to us. In other words: they work with the companies our students are trying to get a job with! This session will be presented by an adviser and two vendors, and will explore how vendors can help with internships, networking, job opportunities, and more. Discussion is welcomed, so please come with questions and share your experiences!

I’m in Charge. Now What?!
You’ve become a manager at your student-run media outlet. Congratulations! Now what do you do? How will you set and meet goals? Can you manage a friend without ruining your friendship? Your station’s success, and yours, depends a lot on how you manage others and yourself. This session will cover basic management techniques for student media, from running an effective meeting to establishing priorities to time management. No matter your background or experience, you can be an effective station leader.

Improving your Personal Image for your Media Outlet
Student media members not only have a lot of pressure to perform on air, but also act as the faces of media outlets to their university and community. Get a crash course in everyday professionalism skills to make sure you’re not misrepresenting your station outside the studio. Actions you think are acceptable may actually be a disservice to your outlet. Come willing to accept frank advice and learn from the missteps of other student leaders. 

Be fresh and relevant: Why creating distinctive content is critical to the future of radio 
Audiences today have 24-7 access to an infinite amount of customizable audio and video content through their phones. Developing distinctive programming is not only important to the growth of your college station, but it’s also critical for the survival of commercial radio. Come learn what it means to engage your audience in 360 °, tell us about innovative content you’re currently producing and brainstorm ideas that can help your station stand out!

Producing a Sports Talk Show
Discussion will include assigning roles, forming an outline, assigning/reviewing interviews/packages, social media engagement, post-show (uploading as podcast).

The Next Generation of Broadcast Engineers
Not every student has the skills or the talent to be on-the-air. Even if they did, there are not enough on-air jobs available to accommodate recent graduates. However, the broadcast industry is in desperate need of graduates who have the passion and technical aptitude to join the engineering profession. How do colleges attract and educate the next generation of technical professionals? How can students pursue broadcast engineering careers without getting an engineering degree? What can happen in traditional media programs for students to follow this pathway?

Coaching Radio On-Air Personalities
With the disappearance of small market opportunities and the prevalence of voice tracking, a student must leave college with more polished skills than ever before to start an on-air career in a medium or larger market. The presenters will explain how they coach performance and what a student who is passionate about being on the air needs to know to become a professional air personality.

Play-by-Play Preparation: What you do before the game matters!
Calling games on radio, television, or the web is a lot of fun. Those who excel can make play-by-play announcing into a career. But just like the players who work all week leading up to the big game, it’s the preparation for the broadcast that may determine success. Learn how to obtain the information you need from a variety of sources to sound like an expert and how to put it all together into a usable format, so everything is accessible at the right moment.

The Radio On-air personality: What happens and how to get the job
There are still jobs available in the radio industry. If you want to be an on-air personality and work in commercial radio, attend this session featuring Amelia, a veteran Baltimore radio personality with experience in morning and mid-day drive.

How to Make it and Break it — Then Make It Again — in Hollywood
Hollywood Veteran Rick Dunkle (University of Indianapolis) teaches you exactly how he went from flipping burgers at Dairy Queen in an Indiana town of 16,000 residents to writing and producing for one of the most successful franchises in television history (Criminal Minds) in America’s second largest city. He’ll tell you what to do to get there, what not to do to stay there, and how to pull yourself back up if you stumble along the way.

Screenwriting 101: Learn How To Write Your Script Today
Veteran Writer-Producer Rick Dunkle (“Criminal Minds”/“Deputy”) presents the basics on writing for the screen — finding a great premise; developing stand-out characters; the fundamentals of scene structure, and how to execute your script in a timely — and coherent — fashion. Recently appointed Assistant Professor of Practice in Communication and General Manager of UIndyTV at the University of Indianapolis, Rick breaks down everything you need to know to get that great idea out of your head and onto the page!

Content Analysis: Teach Yourself To Write Any Genre in TV, Film or Beyond.
Hollywood Writer-Producer (“Criminal Minds”/“Deputy”) and College Professor (University of Indianapolis) Rick Dunkle offers his insights on how you can break down any script or piece of content to figure out the essential elements to creating content in a similar vain. Whether you’ve always wanted to learn how to write a crime show, or you don’t know how to turn your idea into the next Star Wars, this seminar will teach you how to emulate the greats while making content that’s uniquely yours.

Networking in a Digital World
This panel will help students really fine-tune their networking skills, or help them learn the craft. Networking was a lot easier before the pandemic, but now in a world where there’s still some hesitancy to meet in person, how do you connect deeper? The panel will explain how to reach out to hard to reach people, how to “meet” with them, and how to network creatively in general! This panel will also be open to questions about the industry, how to get your foot in the door, and how to prepare while you wait for that “big break!”

AMA: About the Industry
Topics will include preparing for your future, networking, how to capitalize in college, what to do after graduation, how to make a name for yourself while starting from zero, and branding — which is wildly important right now.

On Demand: Celebrating Your Voice through Podcasting
Ever wonder how your favorite podcasters come up with their unique premise? Some of the most successful podcasts celebrate the specific passion and purpose of hosts, producers while building a loyal audience interested in those subjects. Creating a “uniquely you” show is not always the easiest to do. In this session we will work through a process to help you find your podcast idea and create some potential segments to build a loyal audience.

Theater of the Mind: Setting the Scene (Audio Storytelling)
Want to produce quality audio stories like those you hear on the radio? This session focuses on the techniques which utilize the audio medium to its fullest extent. By incorporating sound elements, music, a visual narrative, and securing the right subjects to explain the issues, producers and reporters will create unique, relevant content.

Engaging Podcasts Using College Knowledge
How utilizing the unique knowledge and talent of your college or university community? This session goes beyond simple promotion by exploring ways to develop creative partnerships across departments to develop successful topic driven podcasts which showcase both the college and leaders in an area of expertise.

Records Are Meant to be Played … And Broken
In February 2022, students from WJCU conducted the world’s longest radio interview, garnering worldwide attention and media coverage in the process. The panel will cover planning for a Guinness World Record attempt, how to gain traditional and social media attention, how two students managed to talk to each other for 25.5 hours, and how you can use a world record attempt to benefit your station

Play-by-play Basics
From game prep to making the game come alive for your listeners, enhance your play-by-play skills with tips from this seasoned MLB pro.

Care and Feeding of Your Alumni
Your alumni can be a reservoir of knowledge and help for your current media operation, but only if you choose to use them. This session will help with ideas from initial contact to regular communication and dive into reunions and a Hall of Fame.

Getting Started in Public Radio
I will deliver an overview of all the jobs available in public radio, and how the system works for students who may be interested in joining. I’ll try to give the skills and qualifications needed to get your foot in the door, and advice on how to make a good impression. 

How To: Membership Drive Panel
Join us for a panel discussion with students, staff, and faculty from Streetsboro High School 88.9 FM and University of Kansas KJHK 90.7 FM discussing their new and old tactics for implementing a membership drive fundraising campaign. They will cover all aspects of a membership drive with topics like marketing, goal setting, on-air pitching, donation software, thank you gifts, customer service etiquette and more

50 Promotions Ideas in 50 Minutes
How do you promote your media operation? Looking for ideas that have worked for other schools? Bring ideas to the session and take home a few new ones!

Resume and Reel Reviews
One-on-one resume review and career goal strategy with Glenn Schuck .. morning drive reporter for America’s most listened to all news radio.

Plus roundtables, legal experts and more!