News and notes: April 2017

Here are some notes from SBE executive director John Poray:

1. If you’re heading to the NAB Show, be sure to include the SBE Spring Membership Meeting and reception on your schedule. Both are on Tuesday, April 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with the meeting at 5:15 in N256 and the reception at 6:15 in N243. Lots of prizes at both and free finger food and beverages at the reception. I hope you will stop by the SBE booth in the North Hall second floor meeting room area (Booth NL1 near N256) and say hello!

2. Thanks to all those who have renewed their membership this year. Even though the April 1 renewal deadline has passed, you can still renew during the grace period and avoid being dropped from membership.

3. The annual SBE Compensation Survey is underway. The more responses we receive, the more accurate and helpful the survey results are to you and other members. The full survey report will be available to all SBE members in June. To access the survey, go to the SBE website, www.sbe.org and click on the SBE Compensation Survey icon on the front page.

Other notes from Chapter 82:

a) The SBE Membership Drive is on until May 31. If you recruit a new member, you’ll receive $5 off next year’s dues and be entered into a drawing for some great prizes. (I actually won a book last year.) Details at sbe.org.

b) Chapter 82 is dormant, and needs some new blood in order to become active and support and serve our membership. The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary/Treasurer offices are vacant, and in order to become active we need members to volunteer to serve in these positions. Please contact Frank Maynard using the contact form of this website if you would like more information or are interested in serving in one of these positions and helping to provide continuing education and social engagement for your fellow broadcast engineers.

Contract engineering management webinar

Managing Your Contract Engineering Business, a live webinar presented by the SBE, will be held Thursday, July 21 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET.

Dennis Baldridge and Mike Seaver will cover contract engineering services from two different perspectives. Dennis will discuss from the perspective of the contract engineer, including establishing yourself as a contract engineer, organizing your business, promoting your services and protecting your business. Mike will cover topics from a station’s point of view, including the “why” we have a contract, the various types of contracts available, the necessity of keeping good, valid records of contracted service, security, and review of services received.

Completion of this webinar from Webinars by SBE qualifies for one credit, identified under Category I of the Recertification Schedule for SBE Certifications. The webinar registration is $55 for SBE members and $85 for non-members.

 

ATSC Webinar

Dr. Richard Chernock, chief science officer at Triveni Digital, will present ATSC
3.0 on Thursday, February 19 at 2 p.m. ET. This SBE webinar will provide an overview
of the status of the ATSC 3.0 activity from a technical point of view as well as the anticipated time schedule.

ATSC 3.0 is a suite of new standards and practices for the next  generation of broadcast
television – a system that will provide even more services to viewers, but will also require a clean break from the  technologies of earlier-generation DTV systems. The system  requirements include a call for a flexible and more efficient physical layer, mobility, Ultra-High Definition (UHD) images, new solutions for audio, incorporation of new user technologies such as second screen, and incorporation of broadband connectivity. ATSC 3.0 represents a cooperative effort between all segments of the industry and many parts of the world.

Dr. Chernock is active in ATSC standards committees, particularly in the  areas of future DTV, monitoring, metadata and data broadcast. He is chairman of the ATSC Technology Group on ATSC 3.0 (TG3) and chairs the AHG on service delivery and synchronization for ATSC 3.0. He was previously chairman of the ATSC Technology and Standards Group (TG1). In his role with Triveni  Digital, Chernock is developing strategic directions for monitoring, content distribution and metadata management for emerging digital television systems and infrastructures.

Registration fee for the webinar is $49 for SBE members. The fee for non-members is $80. Register online or call the SBE national office at 317-846-9000. Completion of this webinar qualifies for one credit, identified under Category I of the Recertification Schedule for SBE Certifications.