Saturday, April 21

First Time in Las Vegas & First TIme @ the BEA

I'm recovering from BEA fever as the Broadcast Education Association converged with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)/Radio-Television News Directiors Association (RTNDA) Conventions in Las Vegas this week. I served as BEA panel presenter on Saturday afternoon talking about "Convergent Projects for Student Media Groups."

My presentation was titled "Convergence as Part of the LIberal Arts Mission." My panel was nearly the last to present on the last day of the convention so the crowd was spread a bit thin. We had about 15 in the audience.

I did bump into one of my instructors from the University of Kansas. Max Utsler presented on "Turning Pracitcal Newsroom Experiences into Practical Pedagogy." Utsler spent a summer working as a reporter at an NBC affiliate in Peoria, Illinois, as a way to get back to his roots in teaching broadcast journalism. I also attended a number of other presentations and panels including one on the "VJs, One-Man-Bands and the Realities of 21st Century Television News" chaired by Greg Stuart Smith of Hofstra Univerisity.

Max Utsler introduced me to Greg Smith and here's the twist-- Utsler taught Smith while Smith was a grad student at Mizzou. The Mizzou-KU journalism connections have always seemed to follow me since I am married to a Mizzou graduate.