Candidate Statements: President

Please see statements from two candidates for CBI Board President (Jon Carpenter and John Morris), presented in alphabetical order:

Jon Carptenter

I am the instructor of two radio classes and an adviser to WVCW Radio at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

My first exposure to college radio occurred when I stumbled into the WVCW offices as a college freshman in the fall of 1997. Once I stepped into the studio for the first time, I was hooked. I stayed at the station throughout my undergraduate years, working my way from DJ to General Manager. During my time as General Manager, I oversaw the station’s transition from analog to digital and helped to move the station from carrier current to online broadcasting. After graduation, I worked in commercial radio in Richmond, working mainly in on-air and promotions positions at several stations and formats in the market. In 2008, I returned to VCU to teach radio classes and serve as an adviser to WVCW. It was in this role that I discovered a passion for helping students grow as broadcasters and helping them navigate the challenges of running a radio station. I was a National Finalist for the 2017 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Award for Best Faculty Adviser, and I completed the College Media Association (CMA) Adviser Certification in summer 2018 at the Mega Media Workshop.

CBI Presidential Candidate Platform

In addition to building upon the work of the current CBI Board, my goal as President would be to find new ways to promote the work that CBI does in serving both students and advisers. We do a great job communicating with each other via the listserv, but we have the power to do so much more and reach a wider audience. One way that we can improve our branding would be a better utilization of social media for the organization. Over the past year, the social media channels have been primarily used to promote the conferences and workshops for the organization. But we could also use these channels to highlight some of the important resources for members that are available through CBI. As a newer member, the website is a bit overwhelming, and it isn’t always easy to find out all of the great things that CBI offers. Highlighting resources on social media would help members discover some of the features that they may have otherwise missed. Additionally, we should explore utilizing the social media platforms that the students use, such as Instagram and Snapchat.

I would also like to continue to find new ways to help get members, both student and faculty, to become more active and connected outside of the conventions and workshops. One way that this can be done is by highlighting members and doing a featured member of the week/month.  That member group would be given a spotlight on the CBI blog and social media platforms. It could even include a social media takeover — where that member organization is given control of one of the CBI social media platforms for a week in order to highlight their organization and what they do. This could be a great way to promote not only the different student media groups, but also CBI overall to show how vibrant our members are.

The conventions are excellent learning and networking opportunities, but I think that we can reach out and provide additional opportunities for learning outside of conventions and workshops. We can provide videos and/or lunch-and-learn webinars that can further assist members with important information, such as handling your FCC public file. For the past 12 years, I have worked with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Human Resource Management to take their classroom training courses and redevelop them for e-learning as online courses or webinars.  That experience has shown me the benefits and opportunities that expanding learning outside of the classroom/conventions can provide.

It is an honor to be nominated for President of College Broadcasters Inc. College media has given so much to me over the course of my life, and this opportunity is a chance for me to pay it forward and help grow CBI for the future.

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John Morris

I have been honored to serve as CBI president for the past two years and hope to continue with a second term leading this outstanding organization. Since I’ve been president, CBI has had two incredibly successful conventions (San Antonio and Seattle) and look forward to St. Louis this year and Baltimore in 2020. In addition, the summer MegaWorkshop has developed into an outstanding leadership training opportunity for CBI student members entering management positions at their student radio/audio outlets. I hope to grow this by 1. expanding our offerings at the conventions for our TV and video members, 2. continuing to evaluate our awards competition and look at categories where we can expand and 3. Looking to areas where we can bring in more new technology and training.

 To get input from media professionals, this year I have created a Professional Media Advisory Committee. This consists of TV, radio, social media and allied field professionals from across the nation, including small and large organizations. I, and any board members who want to join, will be meeting with the committee every quarter via conference call. My hope is that this committee will help us better understand how to serve our members, assist in convention planning, while also preparing our students for their post-graduation career. These connections should also help us finding professionals to present at fall our conventions.

 I have served as the faculty advisor for the University of Southern Indiana radio station 95.7 The Spin since 1999 and have been an active member of CBI for 15 years. Through both I have seen the importance of CBI and how it can and does serve our memberships. I ask for your vote to another term to complete some of the vision I/we have for CBI.