Welcome!

Photo credit: Pablo Gato

Thank you for visiting the Washington DC Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. We're glad you're here!

The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) is the only organization devoted to the advancement of all levels and types of broadcast engineering. With more than 5,000 members and 114 local chapters, the SBE provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and the sharing of information to help you keep pace with our rapidly changing industry. The SBE amplifies the voices of broadcast engineers by validating your skills with professional certification, by offering educational opportunities to maintain and expand those skills, and by speaking out on technical regulatory issues that affect how you work.

SBE 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 media and broadcast related positions.

Our Chapter recently received Special Recognition from SBE National for hosting the Best Regional Educational Event - the 2020 NextGen TV Summit earlier this year.  The event was organized by our own Fred Willard along with the SMPTE DC Section and WETA.  In this image, the award was presented to Fred by Jorge Contreras, Chief Photographer, Univision DC.

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: 

• September 23rd (7:00 pm):  The Society of Broadcast Engineers 56th SBE Annual Membership Meeting and National Awards Presentation will be broadcast on the SBE YouTube channel. The program includes the induction of the newly elected officers and directors, including Wayne Pecena for his second one-year term as president. President Pecena will emcee the program and make opening remarks. Pending Board approval the previous day, it is anticipated that he will introduce the new SBE executive director, who will begin work in January 2021, following the retirement of current Executive Director John Poray. The program will include the presentation of national individual and chapter awards including the Robert L. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year to RJ Russell; James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year to Fred Baumgartner and Roland Robinson; SBE Technology Award to MultiCam Systems, and induction of two new SBE Fellows, James Leifer, CPBE, and Ralph Beaver, CBT. A special surprise presentation of the SBE John H. Battison Award for Lifetime Achievement will also be made. Awards recognizing chapters for chapter meeting attendance, chapter growth and chapter members that hold SBE certification will be presented.
• October 13th (6:30 pm):  The next Chapter 37 meeting will be hosted by guest speaker Bob Tarsio, President of Broadcast Devices Inc.  Bob has three discussion topics: RF Power measurement and issues surrounding accuracy; SNMP in the Broadcast Plant – a Primer; and Cable and termination management of FM Stereo Composite over AES3.  See our next meeting page for more details.    

SBE National News

Society of Broadcast Engineers Hires New Executive Director

In January of this year, the SBE announced that Executive Director John Poray would retire at the end of 2020. John has been the society’s executive director for 28 years. In March, the process began to find a candidate to fill the position. (That process is detailed below.)

After receiving and reviewing multiple applications, the field was narrowed to three people. From those three, one was recommended to the SBE Board of Directors, which was reviewed at a board meeting held on Sept. 22. The Board approved the appointment of James Ragsdale of Anderson, IN. Mr. Ragsdale will officially begin work on Jan. 1, 2021.

Most recently, Ragsdale was the VP for finance at Anderson University. Ragsdale also completed his undergraduate degree at Anderson. In that role, he managed the operational budget for the private, liberal arts education institution, participated as member of the university president’s leadership team, and oversaw the business office, human resources, physical plant, police and security, and auxiliary services.

Before his position with Anderson University, he was the senior financial analyst at Ascension Technologies, where he managed the operational and capital budgets for Indiana Market and St. Vincent Health system. Other career work includes treasurer and controller at Church of God Ministries and practice administrator at Anderson Family Practice Associates.

Ragsdale earned his bachelor of arts in business management and public affairs at (then) Anderson College, and his masters of business administration in finance from Indiana University.

On the announcement, SBE President Wayne Pecena said, “Following all the extensive work by many people to arrive at the final selection of Jim Ragsdale to be the SBE’s new executive director, I welcome Jim and look forward to working with him to continue furthering the goals of the SBE and providing superior services to our members. I also want to thank SBE Past President Joe Snelson for his work leading the Executive Director Search Committee, and all the efforts of the EDSC and the Executive Director Search Advisory Group members.”

The Selection and Review Process
In March of this year, SBE President Wayne Pecena proposed to the board that a five-person Executive Director Search Committee (EDSC) be formed with the goal of seeking out qualified candidates for the position and presenting a finalist to the board for approval. The tasks of the committee included writing a job description, establishing qualifications, proposing a fair compensation package, posting of the position, interviewing candidates and presenting a finalist to the board for approval.

To provide additional input to the EDSC, President Pecena formed an Executive Director Search Advisory Group to seek input on what should be expected from the SBE executive director in terms of duties and responsibilities, and the qualifications required to meet those objectives. This group of about 20 people consisted of SBE members and headquarters staff. Their input was used by the EDSC to finalize the job description of the executive director.

A field of 28 candidates was narrowed to three finalists, who were all interviewed in person by the committee. The Committee unanimously chose one finalist, James Ragsdale, to recommend to the Board.

Ennes Educational Foundation Trust Announces Five Scholarship Recipients

The Ennes Educational Foundation Trust has awarded five scholarships for 2020. The recipients were chosen from applications received by July 1, 2020, from the previous 12 months.
The Harold E. Ennes Scholarship, Robert D. Greenberg Scholarship, John H. Battison Founder’s Scholarship and newly created Gino Ricciardelli Scholarship are awarded to individuals interested in continuing or beginning their education in broadcast engineering and technology. The Youth Scholarship is specifically for a graduating high school senior interested in broadcast engineering as a career. Each scholarship awarded this year is for $2,500.
This year the Harold E. Ennes Scholarship recipient is Chris Gamelin of Middletown, CT. He says he knew he wanted to be involved with broadcasting since he was very young, whether it was playing music via the internet or broadcasting a basketball game at his school. His goals in broadcasting continue to evolve as he feeds his hunger to learn. He credits John Ramsey for teaching him the technical side, which is what Chris is pursuing. His professional work began with an internship at WQUN-AM. Since then, he has worked for iHeartRadio and Entercom Communications, and is now a maintenance technician for WFSB-TV.
Receiving the Robert D. Greenberg Scholarship is Jon Sanelli of Albertson, NY. Jon loves everything about broadcasting, and more specifically how it all works technically. He has worked on the engineering and production side in the New York City market at WRHU Radio Hofstra University, in addition to broadcast facilities in the five boroughs and the Tri-state. Jon knows that broadcasting needs technology, but more importantly, it is people that make the industry shine.

The John H. Battison SBE Founder’s Scholarship has been awarded to Ismail Otu, CRO, CTO, originally from the Bronx, but now living in Charlotte, NC. He graduated from The Broadcasting Production Technology Program at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in Charlotte. He served on Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society’s Vice President Committee, interned at WTVI PBS Charlotte, and earned the Most Outstanding Student Award at the Student Excellence Convocation on behalf of the CPCC’s broadcasting program. Ismail plays several critical roles during live events and concerts for CPCC’s performing arts and events facilities including sound board operator and stage/audio technician. While having extensive experience working as an audio engineer, he is devoted to becoming well-versed in other technical areas. Enthusiasm for audio fuels Ismail’s IT skill development focusing on networking technologies. He plans to attend The Cleveland Institute of Electronics and major in Broadcast Engineering/Wireless Communication Electronics to pursue a career in broadcast operations.

The Gino Ricciardelli Scholarship, created earlier this year in recognition of Gino Ricciardelli, an SBE Charter, Life and Fellow member who died in 2018, has been awarded to Sadie Levy of New York, NY. She currently attends Northeastern University in Boston, where she is majoring in electrical and computer engineering, with a focus on media production. Sadie graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she worked on various school productions as a Digital Media Department Intern. Also, while in high school, Sadie was awarded scholarships to study digital electronics in pre-college programs at both The Cooper Union and New York University. Last summer, Sadie completed a media internship in a New York City government office, and this summer she is completing a media/design internship at ATEM NYC. Sadie is looking forward to contributing to the field of recording and new media.

Isaiah Dickson of Brookhaven, PA, received the Youth Scholarship. Isaiah is entering his freshman year at Cabrini University. He will major in digital communication and social media. His work has been recognized by the Population Media Center and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. He has been a part of the creation of a short film titled Marvelon as well as being part of the CollegeXpress student vlogger program. In his spare time he enjoys filming and editing his own videos, writing poetry, writing music, and live streaming.

SBE President Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE, said, “The SBE has an ongoing focus on education, and the Ennes Scholarships are yet another piece of the overall education effort. We look forward to seeing the great progress of these five budding engineers as they further their education goals with the assistance of the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust.”