Author: Marcos O'Rourke

For those who didn’t go to NAB or those who didn’t get to see everything, Jeff Williams will be giving us a quick recap on the happenings at NAB.

• As a vendor, what did I expect and what actually happened at this year’s NAB show?
• What was the gossip in the hallways?
• What does Yellowtec bring to the media marketplace? – I’ll be really short on this
• What would those in attendance of this dinner like to see NAB improve upon to get them to attend a future show?
• Have you heard about The Next Best Thing Tour? I will talk about how this is a traveling show which goes to many markets where the engineers and staff don’t go to NAB.

This will be an IN-PERSON meeting at the Denny’s at Atwater Village.

3060 N San Fernando Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90065

You will need to bring $20 (cash) for food.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Jeff Williams represents the German product line of Yellowtec and owns Yellowtec USA. Yellowtec is known for studio products consisting of mic arms, monitor arms, light signaling products, USB sound cards, and small footprint audio consoles. Jeff started his radio career at the age of 16 answering calls and helping Shotgun Tom Kelly with his all-request oldies show at KBZT in San Diego. By the age of 17, received his first paycheck from KFMB in San Diego and a year later went off to college. While attending Emerson College in Boston he worked at WRKO as a producer. Once graduated from Emerson, he moved back to San Diego to continue his radio career at KFMB, KSDO, and KOGO and moved up to being Program Director of KPOP. In 1999 he transferred within Clear Channel to become an Operations Manager and Program Director of all news-talk properties in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and San Luis Obispo. Prior to starting Yellowtec USA, he was Operations Manager for Knight Broadcasting in Santa Maria.

SPECIAL TIME: Wednesday, October 20 at 6:30 PM

When the FCC sold off the 600 MHz band to telecom, it left wireless microphone and foldback monitor device operators scrambling for workable spectrum, especially in the largest metro areas.

I’ve been coordinating frequencies for the NFL since 2012, and now perform the pre-game coordination for the Chargers, Rams, and 49ers—the only NFL coordinator to handle three teams. Monitoring and enforcement mean travel to Los Angeles on game days. With the Super Bowl coming up this February in Los Angeles, we’re preparing to jam more wireless gear into more diverse frequency bands.

In an online presentation, we’ll review current options for wireless options in each available band. What are power users buying? What spectrum is best to use for your applications in LA, San Diego, and Phoenix? What spectrum must be avoided? What’s new with NFL coordination? What is happening at recent and this season’s Super Bowl?

Join me, Gary Stigall, for an online SBE meeting Wednesday, October 20, at 6:30 PM. You are invited to join us. Here’s the link to sign-up.

About the presenter

Gary Stigall got his FCC First Class Radiotelephone License in 1976 and began broadcast engineering while still attending journalism school at the University of Oregon. He worked as a systems engineer for Pacific Recorders and Engineering and Centro, on teams that designed and built major radio studios for ABC and RKO Radio as well as fixed and mobile TV facilities for NBC. He was a staff engineer at San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB-TV for 15 years and then Director of Engineering at XETV Fox 6. For the past 10 seasons, he’s served as frequency coordinator for the NFL in San Diego and Los Angeles and has worked five Super Bowls. He’s closing his contract broadcast engineering company, Signal Wiz, after 10 years of operation.

Tuesday, June 8 at 6:30 PM

When Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla team up, you might think, “Nothing good is going to come of this.” You’d be so wrong. An Open Source project is typically the last thing these tech behemoths would ever want to be involved in, let alone with their fiercest rivals. WebRTC is a fascinating example of how good things can be born of necessity and how they can foster cooperation on multiple levels. We’ll discuss the basics of WebRTC and the multitude of applications that are already using it to change the way the world communicates. This is especially important in light of the rapid evaporation of our “traditional” telco infrastructure. We’ll also cover broadcast-specific applications and the future of live content creation.

About the presenter, Chris Crump

In a few months’ time, there will be cars driving the streets of LA that have hybrid radio receivers. Connected to the Internet and receiving broadcast radio, it’s the best opportunity we’ve had to evolve the experience of radio to match other media services. Hybrid challenges radio technologists to work together closely, across the industry and within organizations to make the most of the capabilities. We’ll look at what practically needs to be done right now, and what could be possible in the near future.

When: Jul 14, 2020 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlcuqqpjosGtQ7gbQclXUkjvmlTj-WcZjq

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Presenter: Nick Piggott

Nick has spent the majority of his career working in the radio industry, initially in programming and then moving to digital radio and online innovation.

He created a much awarded multi-skilled team which launched the world’s first commercial DAB digital radio stations, and then went on to consistently deliver technology driven innovation for over a decade. Nick continues to play an active role in the development of DAB digital radio, most recently in the trials of open source DAB transmissions in the UK.

Nick is the Project Director (and one of the founders) of RadioDNS Hybrid Radio, which combines broadcast radio and IP together to deliver a richer and more valuable radio experience. RadioDNS works closely with the WorldDAB on development of open technology standards, and the promotion of Hybrid DAB/DAB+ to the automotive industry.

In addition to leading the RadioDNS project, Nick works with broadcasters globally on developing strategies and innovation to benefit from change created by technology.

March 2020 Presentation

One of the latest tech buzz topics these days is “5G” and the implications for the future of remote broadcasts are fairly profound.  Chris Crump from Comrex will discuss the current status of 5G Technology, what the mobile providers are saying versus “reality,” the timeline for its implementation and how it will affect the “Comrex IoT.” A brief overview of WebRTC and new Comrex products will be included.

Chris Crump has served as the Sr. Director of Sales & Marketing for Comrex since 2004.  In 1987, he began his professional radio career at ABC/Cap Cities Detroit before taking the Features Editor position at MediaBase Research/Monday Morning Replay. On-air, remote broadcast engineer, Creative Services Director roles followed for Capitol Broadcasting (subsequently Paxson Communications) in Orlando and the Ron & Ron Radio Network in Tampa/St. Petersburg.  In 1996, Crump moved to the manufacturing side of the broadcast business performing sales & marketing roles for Spectral, Inc., Euphonix, Symetrix and Klotz Digital America.  Crump resides in Buford, Georgia (outside of Atlanta) with his wife Seval, 14 year-old daughter Zara and their Affenpinscher Olive.  He is a CBNE certified member of SBE Chapter 5 in Atlanta as well an Assistant Scoutmaster with Troops 597 and 5597 in Dacula, GA.