Welcome!
Thank you for visiting the Washington DC Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. We're glad you're here!
Chapter 37 is a very diverse group, including a variety of media professionals in the Nation's Capitol. Our members include local radio and television engineers, national and international network technicians, consulting engineers, electronics manufacturers and Federal employees working in broadcast related positions.
Regardless of your area of broadcast interest, you are sure to find a warm welcome at the Washington DC Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Please join us at our next meeting and try us out for size. We hope you will enjoy your visit.
Upcoming Events
Please check out details of our next meeting. We hope to see you there! Future SBE meetings include:
- February 18, 2020 (6:30 PM): Liquid Cooled Transmitters and more. Brian Szewczyk of GatesAir will be on hand for this technology update.
- February 19, 2020 (12:30 PM): Baltimore Chapter 46 hosts Bob Tarsio of Broadcast Devices. The meeting will be held at WBAL-TV. Contact J.R. Richardson for details if you wish to attend.
- March 10, 2020 (6:30 PM): Chuck Barry, Vice President of Staco Energy Products, will address the use of lithium battery UPSs in the broadcast industry.
- May 13, 2020 (6:30 PM): Chris Imlay, SBE's General Counsel, will bring us his unique perspective regarding Rules, Regs, and the Broadcast Engineer.
SBE National News
SBE Leadership Development Course Set for Aug. 4-6, 2020
February 13, 2020The Society of Broadcast Engineers will hold the 2020 SBE Leadership Development Course Aug. 4-6, 2020, in Atlanta, GA. This three-day course is an intensive study of successful leadership and management, designed specifically for broadcast engineers.
The course explores the nature of leadership, the difference between being a manager and being a leader, how to build a winning team, the importance of attitude in the leadership position, communication insights and much more.
Instructing the course for the 12th year will be Rodney Vandeveer, professor of Organizational Leadership and Supervision at Purdue University. Vandeveer brings more than 30 years of experience in human resources management, training, development and manufacturing. Vandeveer also owns a leadership training business, VanTech Training. A previous course attendee said, “Rodney [Vandeveer] knows this stuff inside and out and makes it interesting as well. Plus the real-life examples from his careers help prove the points.”
To register for this professional development opportunity, go to sbe.org/ldc. The enrollment fee is $670 for SBE members and $725 for non-members. Questions? Contact SBE Education Director Cathy Orosz at corosz@sbe.org.
The SBE has presented the SBE Leadership Development Course since 1997. The NAB sponsored the course from 1965 to 1995. This intense course is designed specifically for broadcast engineers who have or aspire to have management responsibilities. Details on the course and registration information are available at sbe.org/ldc.
The 2020 SBE Leadership Development Course will be held at the Hyatt Place Atlanta South; 1899 Sullivan Road; College Park, GA 30337. The SBE has a block of rooms at $125/night. Room reservations can be made by calling 888-HYATT-HP or at hyatt.com. Use the reservation code G-SB20 as the group/corporate number. Make room reservations by July 20, 2020, for the special rate.
SBE Fellow Nominations Are Open
January 30, 2020There is still time to recognize a broadcasting peer who has contributed to the success of an SBE chapter or broadcasting. The membership grade of SBE Fellow is the highest in the society, and it honors those who have exhibited a dedication to the advancement of the broadcast engineer, the field of broadcast engineering and the Society of Broadcast Engineers itself. To date, 85 members have been recognized with the honor in the society’s more than 55 years of existence.
To nominate a member, candidates must be proposed in writing by a voting SBE member to the Fellowship Committee. The nomination must include a comprehensive professional history of the nominee and an explanation of why the candidate is deserving of this honor. The nomination must also include the written endorsements of at least five other voting SBE members. Nominations are confidential. No others besides the nominators and the members of the Fellowship Committee should be aware of the nomination. The nominee should not know that he or she has been nominated.
Nominations for 2020 must be received no later than March 27, 2020, for consideration. The Fellowship Committee will bring the names of nominees to the Board of Directors for consideration and election at the April 19, 2020, meeting. The SBE secretary will notify those elected. Recipients will be recognized at the SBE National Awards Dinner on Sept. 23 during the 2020 SBE National Meeting to be held in Syracuse, NY.
Submit your nominations in a single package to Fellowship Committee Chair Troy Pennington, CSRE, CBNT, at tpennington@sbe.org.
SBE Provides Educational Sessions in Las Vegas in April
January 28, 2020The SBE will bring two premier educational broadcasting events to Las Vegas in April at the 2020 NAB Show and the 2020 PBS TechCon. Both events provide opportunities for SBE broadcast and media engineers to expand their knowledge on a world-class stage.
Ennes Workshop
For the 26th consecutive year, the SBE is a conference partner with the NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference, the longest running and largest of the NAB Show conferences. Kicking off the BEITC on Saturday morning, April 18, is the Ennes Workshop, presented in conjunction with the SBE. Industry veterans Tom Mikkelsen and Stan Moote co-chair a cutting edge lineup, called “Multiplatform SuperSession.”
The Ennes program begins with Madeleine Noland, president of ATSC, who will provide an update on the progress of ATSC 3.0 and various market transition activities. Next up is a panel of experts in a supersession called Multiplatform is Key. It will include tangible examples and finish up with a panel moderated by IABM CTO Stan Moote to debate the various opportunities to simplify workflows.
Next Generation Audio is the next session, continuing on the multiplatform theme. The session focuses on Next Generation Audio (NGA) and how consumers will experience audio content in optimized quality, lining up with whatever platform they are using. The promise of NGA is to free producers from having to create multiple audio mixes by producing a multi-purpose audio package.
Then comes Understanding Internet for Video Transport, with Malik Kahn, former chairman of LTN Global. The Internet has become key for multiple platform delivery, backhauls and net distribution feeds. Malik explains how, where and why redundancy is essential.
IP/SMPTE ST 2110 Update and Implementations comes next with Karl Paulsen, CTO at Diversified. IP is vital for multiplatform operations. Karl will review some of the installs and how ST 2110 and SDI work in harmony.
BXF and TAXI Standards for Multi-Platform Distribution will be presented by Chris Lennon, president of MediAnswers. With recent developments in the fields of content delivery specifications, HDR, AFD, Proxies, Captioning/Subtitling and Automated QC have broadened the relevance of BXF (Broadcast Exchange Format). Chris will give an update on BXF and explain how the TAXI (Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification) initiative will provide an open, standardized means of tracking content across all forms of distribution. It will address many use cases, including audience measurement, ad insertion, second screen apps and a wide array of others.
The SBE @ PBS TechCon
After a successful partnership in 2019, the SBE is again providing a program for the PBS TechCon. Held at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, the SBE program will be presented on Saturday, April 18.
The morning of the day-long session focuses on audio quality. Most have a fair grasp of the basics of microphones and how to capture sound, but there are nuances in capturing the best possible sound. Steve Savanyu, director of education services at Audio Technica, has a penchant for clear and precise explanation of the most esoteric and technical aspects of transducer physics and technology. He is also an adjunct professor of audio for video at Kent State University. Audio Technica will facilitate and support the program with the equipment necessary to demonstrate and teach miking and mixing.
The afternoon topic is “Managing Modulation for NextGen Broadcast.” The program will focus on the decision points of ATSC 3.0 implementation. Experts will discuss the modulation/workflow profiles that are most realistic for various uses: datacasting, mobile file downloads, low and high resolution content, emergency communication and potential other uses of NextGen transmission.
How to attend
To participate in the Ennes Workshop at the 2020 NAB Show, register for the full BEIT Conference through the NAB Show website. BEITC registration includes all BEITC sessions (Saturday through Wednesday) and admission to the largest broadcast/media exhibition in the world. SBE members are eligible for a $100 discount off the non-NAB member registration fee by using the registration code SBE20.
To attend the SBE sessions as part of the 2020 PBS TechCon and Beyond, register through the SBE website. SBE members and employees of PBS and NPR member stations get discounted prices. Register for just the morning session, the afternoon session or register for both at a further discount.
Candidates Sought for SBE Election
January 23, 2020The SBE’s annual election of officers and directors to the national SBE Board of Directors will take place this summer. The SBE Nominations Committee seeks qualified candidates who are voting members (Member, Senior, Fellow or the designated representative of an SBE Sustaining Member) in good standing (dues paid). Candidates must hold an engineering level of SBE certification (CBT or higher or CBNE) and maintain it the entire duration of service on the Board, if elected. Candidates should have a desire to serve and lead as a member of the board and through service as a national committee chair or member. Members of the Board represent all members, not a specific region or chapter. It is suggested that candidates have previous experience as a leader in his or her local chapter, or other volunteer leadership experience, prior to running for the national SBE Board.
Members of the Board are expected to attend two regularly called meetings each year: in the spring, held during the annual NAB Show, and in the fall, at the annual SBE National Meeting. Other meetings may be called via conference call during the year.
The national SBE board includes 12 directors, four officers and the immediate past president. Directors serve two-year terms and officers serve one-year terms. Six director seats will be contested in 2020 as will all four officer positions. The SBE By-laws limits the number of terms for elected members of the Board.
If interested, contact SBE Nominations Committee Chair Jim Leifer, CPBE, at jleifer@sbe.org. A nomination slate will be assembled by the committee by May 1. Other qualified members may be nominated by SBE members no later than July 2 by letter to the SBE Secretary. Floor nominations require the endorsement of at least 10 SBE members.
The election runs from July 17 to Aug. 19. Those elected will be installed at the SBE National Meeting in Syracuse, NY, on Sept. 23.