Board Blog: Welcome Student Rep Evan Boyd

It’s been roughly two months since taking over the Station Manager position at WSUM. And I’ll be honest – it still feels kind of weird. But taking the challenge of running a college radio station not only is educational and a good thing to put on my resume, but I can’t think of a better way to enjoy my college career.

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Evan Boyd, CBI Student Representative

I actually started out in radio before even coming to UW-Madison. I joined my high school radio station, WLTL in LaGrange, Illinois, and soon radio became a big passion of mine (and I’m not even a communications major). I became the Chief Engineer for two years, helped rebuild the entire on-air and production studio, and helped us win the “Best High School Station in the Nation” award.

When I came to UW-Madison, I knew I wanted to do radio, and I knew that WSUM had a great program. But I did not expect to become the head guy three years later. When I was elected Station Manager, I had the credentials, but I did not expect, well, this. And, to be honest, I like this better.

So what is “this?” It is the idea that awards can mean one thing, but what is most important is setting an identity for your radio station. We are WSUM – we have a 16-student executive staff, each of us with different talents, but all for a passion for radio. We represent a student organization of over 200 members, each with different loves for music, talk, sports, etc. Together, we serve Madison as an alternative radio media outlet and a student organization to provide goods to the community.

As the Station Manager, I have to represent our identity as best as I can. I have done this by hiring the executive staff, working with the community, and getting to know the DJs so they find WSUM a fun place to be. And by doing this effectively, we have established ourselves as a strong team, as a place that the Madison community wants to work with, as a student org that sounds educational and entertaining to the student body. And for me, I have learned to become an effective DJ, a strong communicator, and I’ve met some of my closest friends here.

This weekend, we will be going to the Wisconsin Broadcaster’s Association Conference to talk about radio and interact with other radio/TV stations in Wisconsin. There is an award ceremony at the end, but that is not what I am most excited about anymore. Two years ago, it would have been. Now, I am most excited about sharing our story and helping others reach the goal of quality media for their students and community.

I would love to hear your story about your college radio station, and what being on your staff means to you. My email is studentrep@askcbi.org. Thank you very much for reading this, and I look forward to hearing from you.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]