ASU Radio-TV students to attend 71st annual convention of National Broadcasting Society in Washington, D.C.
JONESBORO, Ark. — Six Arkansas State University students in the Radio-Television department will forgo the surf and sand usually associated with spring break, and attend the 71st annual convention of the National Broadcasting Society in Washington, D.C. The convention, which draws representatives from colleges and universities from all over the country, convenes March 20-24.
The six include Cody Dertow of Houston, Texas; Vontari Rogers of Sturgis, Miss.; Oriri Osayomore of Nigeria; Crystal Foster of Los Angeles, California; Lauren Lawson of Tupelo, Miss.; and Lisa Brown of Hyde Park, Illinois.
Dr. Michael Bowman, assistant professor of Radio-Television, will accompany the group.
“We’re proud to have the opportunity to represent ASU at a national convention, especially when some of our students are up for awards,” said Dr. Bowman. “This is a great opportunity for students to meet and network with media professionals in the arena of broadcasting. Students will also be involved in focus groups and interact with the other student participants.”
All six of the Arkansas State students attending the conference are national finalists in their respective categories, along with three other ASU students that were not able to accompany the group.
Students from all over the country entered their projects in different categories such as video program opener, video drama program, video sports package and audio commercial and will learn the winners at the awards dinner. Several of the ASU participants won awards at the National Broadcast Society Southeast Regional Competition in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas in November.
Chapter President Cody Dertow, who attended last year’s convention in New York City, says the value of the conference is beyond words.
“The opportunities afforded by the networking sessions and tours are just unbelievable,” he said. “Meeting fellow students, some of who could be future coworkers, and exchanging experiences and ideas about common passions are things that other spring break activities just can’t match. We won four awards last year; this time, we are confident that we can capture all 10 we are nominated for.”
As part of the convention agenda, plans are for the ASU students to attend several tours in Washington, D.C., including Black Entertainment Television (BET) offices, Congress, museums, C-SPAN, the National Press Club, and the Newseum.
The Newseum is called Washington, D.C.’s most interactive museum and features several permanent exhibits including The Great Hall of News, The News History Gallery, NBC News Interactive Newsroom, Getting the News Electronically, Chronicling an Attack on America (9/11), Pulitzer Prize Photo Gallery, First Amendment Gallery, and others.
The National Broadcasting Society-Alpha Epsilon Rho is a student and professional society of over 85 chapters on college, university, community college and high school campuses.
This competition was founded in 1962 to recognize those students who excelled in radio and television production and programming. Now, the competition encourages and rewards students for accomplishments in audio, video, scriptwriting, web development, as well as academic research and writing.
The purpose of NBS-AERho is to encourage and reward scholarship and accomplishment among students of broadcasting, to establish meaningful communication between student and professional broadcasters and to foster integrity in the use of the instruments of radio, television, film, cable and its many associated businesses and industries.
