Students from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater attended the yearly Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Student Forum this weekend, which was held at Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. They were members of the radio station 91.7 The Edge, the television station UWW-TV and the campus newspaper Royal Purple. They all gathered here for one reason: to learn more about broadcasting, particularly in the field of sports.

The event had an attendance of over 400 students from universities, colleges and even some high schools. The WBA Student Forum offered many different opportunities for students to further their knowledge in broadcasting. From seminars that students could attend to hands-on experience with broadcasting, there was a wide variety of events to be held.

“This is the third time I’ve gone, and it has just gotten better,” said senior journalism major Drew Best. “I like the experiences you get to have. I like to talk to employers and learn what they expect. It is a way to experience the world with the people you work with in a way you don’t really get when you are back in Whitewater. You meet professionals and get to talk to them with your peers, and it raises everything to a whole new level.”

The day started out with an introduction from Kyle Wallace, the program director for 101.7 The Truth in Milwaukee. Wallace, who is an alumnus of UW-Whitewater, spoke on the event and its past, along with introducing board members of the WBA.

After the introduction, students were able to attend seminars from speakers. The first set of seminars included “Careers in sports marketing,” a student roundtable and “Breaking down a news story.” Students were able to attend one of these seminars in separate rooms.

The second set of seminars included “Strategies in storytelling,” “AI and the use of emerging technology in broadcasting,” and “Producing a sports talk show.” One of the speakers for this session was Emmy-Award winning reporter Jen Lada, an ESPN reporter who recently won the Emmy for her short feature “Jump Around.”

“I went to the panel about AI, and it included a conversation from an anchor woman, two radio personalities, and then one guy in sales and marketing,” said freshman journalism major Bethseba Ramos. “It was a really insightful conversation about AI and the effects that it’s had on journalism, but also the benefits of it and how creative it is.”

After the seminars, all the students moved into one room to attend a keynote address by two keynote speakers. These speakers were Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren, Packers Radio Network Broadcasters and WBA Hall of Famers. They answered questions from the audience, which included topics about their style of play-by-play calling and chemistry.

After the seminars concluded, students indulged in lunch then had the opportunity to attend a job fair. At the fair, there were numerous companies there that were intrigued in talking to students about their goals. Along with these companies to talk to, there were some stations set up where students could get practice with what they are interested in. These stations included reading from a teleprompter, do a play-by-play analysis of a football game, interview celebrities and do the weather in front of a green screen.

The final event of the day was an awards ceremony, where students who won WBA scholarships received them in front of all the attendees. Along with those scholarships, a Student Leadership award was given out to a college student who exemplified student leadership in an organization. This award was given to UW-Whitewater’s own Drew Best.

“It’s as much of my group’s award as it is mine,” Best said. “I can only get so far until I need help with this, or I need help with that. My management staff is all delegating and people do a fantastic job helping me out with what needs to be done, and in return, I help them out. It’s not just my award, it’s UW-Whitewater’s award. It’s WSUW, it’s Royal Purple, it’s UWW-TV, it’s all our award.”

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association hosts this Student Forum annually, where students from all over Wisconsin can come and learn more about broadcasting from professionals. Whitewater students were able to come and talk to professionals and get their names out there. From sitting in seminars to being able to talk on the radio, there were a lot of great opportunities for them.