Image courtesy of CBI
Some of our KXSU team had the opportunity to attend the College Broadcasters, Inc. Conference in downtown Seattle a few weeks ago. CBI is a member-driven organization serving students and advisers of college and high school electronic media outlets. Through events, programs and a network of expertise, they provide members with educational and professional opportunities and facilitate advocacy in college radio!
KXSU members are passionate about college radio, media and writing, so we went to this conference to aid in our development as influential members of the radio broadcasting community.
We had four members attend this exciting event: Haley Witt (News Director), Haley Parsons (Senior Music Reporter), Lily Rodriguez (Music Director), and Jared Fontenette (DJ of “Afternoon Drive with Jared”). Each of them reflected on their experience at the conference:
“The CBI conference was a fantastic way to connect with student professionals in the radio and music communities. I was able to attend sessions about podcasting, developing an on-air personality, and bridging college radio to a career in the music industry. Conferences like this provide information and experience that the classroom environment is simply unable to replicate. This was a rare and delightful experience that I’ll be able to bring back to my team and apply in my role as KXSU News Director.” – Haley Witt, News Director
“I learned quite a bit at the CBI Conference. The biggest thing I took away from all of the sessions is the need for KXSU to become even more professional than it already is. I went to a session on In-Studios and realized that we need to reinvest some energy into getting in-studios going again. I’m proud of how far the station has come and how we have branched out towards putting on bigger events, but in-studios are a valuable way to develop relationships with local and touring bands. This goes along with making us more professional because if KEXP can contribute to nearly all of Seattle’s music festivals and other shows, plus put on in-studio events, so can we. Of course, this would be at a different scale than KEXP and we might have to put our own spin on it, but we should be creating more content and promoting awareness of the KXSU and SU missions. I think we could even put out a compilation mix of in-studio tracks that could be a way of generating revenue for the station. Overall, this would help us with booking for events like Winterfest and get our name out there in an even bigger way.” – Haley Parsons, Senior Music Reporter
“At the CBI conference, I was able to meet college students and professionals involved in the broadcasting and music industries and collaborate with them to learn new techniques and ideas to improve our radio station. I attended a number of workshop sessions on professional skill building and radio station collaboration, such as an FCC informational session where I learned the official regulations surrounding profanity and indecency on air. Additionally, I attended a panel where students were able to ask professionals in the music industry about their career paths and I was able to gain a deeper understanding of how to start getting involved in the industry. Another outstanding session I attended was facilitated by music promoters who taught me how to better communicate with them to get the most out of the relationship between our station and the music industry, skills that are directly applicable to my position as music director. Throughout the two days I was at the conference, I met a number of other staff members of radio stations across the country and was able to gain lots of knowledge about the diverse world of college radio!” – Lily Rodriguez, Music Director
“I got to attend a session at the CBI conference relating to FCC laws and their enforcement. What I found interesting was the lack of regulation and the ambiguity surrounding decency laws pertaining to media in the United States. Besides the infamous seven (now eight) dirty words, much of the enforcement on the FCC’s end only comes if someone files a report and complains against the station. I think because there isn’t a clear set legal standard it heightens the importance that as DJ’s we must ensure that we (and our guests both) are conscious of what we are saying on-air and how it can be perceived. Slur-words themselves are not prohibited by the FCC but again, just because the law doesn’t prohibit it doesn’t mean we should say it. Each of our shows has its own brand and character which is what makes KXSU so great, and with the reach KXSU is able to have we have a big platform. What we say matters and that session was a good reminder that if we aren’t careful there can be serious, unintended consequences (both legal and in terms of community impact) from what comes out of our mouths.” – Jared Fontenette, DJ Host of “Afternoon Drive with Jared”
The KXSU team feels very lucky to have had the opportunity to attend this conference right here in our home city Seattle. We want to give thanks to Student Government of Seattle University for funding some of our members registration fees! We look forward to bringing back what we have learned to the KXSU community.
