Winter Conference

Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center

Held in January, this conference features targeted training for sales and engineering professionals, general sessions for all attendees, a broadcast exhibition, a legislative breakfast, the Awards of Distinction Ceremony and an annual business meeting and elections. The conference also offers advertising and sponsorship opportunities to stations and companies wishing to support the Association or promote their services to conference attendees.  The 2014 Winter Conference is scheduled for January 30-31, 2014 at the Colulmbia Metropolitan Convention Center. 

Hotel accommodations are available at the Hampton Inn in the Vista. The rate is $139/night.  To make a reservation, call the hotel directly at (803) 231-2000 and ask for in-house reservations.  Mention code BWC when making your reservations.  You may also book your reservation online.  The reservation deadline is Wednesday, January 8, 2014.

Registration

The registration deadline is Friday, January 24, 2014. This date is also the cancellation deadline.  No refunds will be given after this date.

Tentative Agenda

SPONSORS

SCBA would like to thank the following companies for offering sponsorship support to the 2014 conference.

Comrex

SC Army National Guard

Tri-County Technical College

Winthrop University Dept. of Mass Communication

WIS-TV

WYFF 4

LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
Station representatives from across the state gather in a casual atmosphere to meet with legislators at the State House for conversations about the issues of importance to lawmakers and broadcasters. This yearly grassroots lobbying effort needs your participation to be a success so call SCBA to reserve your seat   Registration is complimentary. The 2014 breakfast will be held on Thursday, January 30 from 8:00-10:00 am.

BROADCAST EXHIBITION
This all-day exhibition features equipment, products and services of interest to radio and television broadcasters including general managers, engineers, programming and production personnel and other station decision makers. The exhibition usually features over 25 vendors and is considered “one of the best in the country” by vendors and attendees alike. This exhibition is open to all full convention registrants at no charge and complimentary registration is available for those wishing only to attend the show.  The 2014 show will be held on Thursday, January 30 from 8:00 am-4:00 pm.

Vendor Information

Exhibitors

Vendors confirmed so far for the 2014 show include:

Accelerated Media Technologies

Atlantic Marketing

Bonneville Distribution

Broadcast Electronics

Broadcast Supply Worldwide
Broadcasters General Store

Comrex Corporation

Continental Electronics

DoubleRadius
Electronics Research

Fiber Group, Inc.

Grass Valley USA LLC

Greenville Media

LARCAN

Nautel

RCS

RF Specialities-South

SCMS, Inc.

Shively Labs

Tektronix

Trock Media Solutions

Utah Scientific

Vislink

Vizrt

Weather Metrics

Wheatstone Corp.

WideOrbit

ENGINEERING

SCBA provides full-day training for broadcast engineers. Attendees can visit the broadcast exhibition and participate in sessions on the latest developments in broadcast technology and engineering issues.   The engineering sessions will be held on Thursday, January 30, 2014 from 9:00 am-5:00 pm.

Joint Sessions

Re-packing's Impact on TV and FM Radio Stations

The re-packing of the television band will require a significant number of television stations to relocate to another channel.  The re-packing will also impact many FM stations who will be inconvenienced throughout the process.  Some existing equipment may be reusable.  Towers may or may not require upgrades.  FM stations may require auxiliary equipment to remain on-air. In this session, Joe Zuba of Dielectric will present a number of potential re-packing scenarios including discussion of possible equipment re-use for single channel or shared multi-station systems.  The structural, installation and logistical challenges faced by both TV and FM radio stations will be discussed.

Best Practices for Modern Transmitter Remote Control

Transmitter control via IP has become the industry standard.  Proper planning and design can make your transmitter control system easier to use, less expensive and complicated to install and maintain, and allow features that make transmitter control and fault recovery easier, more foolproof and available anywhere.  Adding automated routines can save time and keep equipment in good operating condition.  In this presentation, Matt Leland of Burk Technology, will cover migrating legacy transmitter monitoring and control systems to IP and designing robust, efficient, and easy to use tools.

Tower Safety

John Hanna, president of Tower and Communication Services, will give a refresher course on tower safety in the morning joint sessions.

Underbuilding IP to Your Existing STLs

With technology advances, we can now add IP to existing TV and Radio STL links.  We can merge IP throughput into the existing links without adding cable or antennas to the system.  This is an advantage because not only are we not adding additional load to the tower but we are creating redundancy and IP connectivity to the transmitter sites.  We can do this for both 950Mhz STL's for radio and 7Ghz links for TV and Jeff Holdenrid of DoubleRadius will explain how.

Regulatory Update

SCBA's Washington counsel, Scott Johnson of Fletcher Heald & Hildreth and representatives from the FCC's Atlanta office will bring you up-to-speed on the latest rules and regulations and answer any questions you may have about compliance.

Breakout Sessions

Breakout sessions specifically for radio and television engineers will round-out the afternoon.  Radio engineers will hear about filters from Bob Surette of Shively Labs and best practices for automation from Don Backus of Broadcast Electronics.  Television engineers will learn about managing redundancy smarter from Jeff Holdenrid of DoubleRadius and simple high power, high solid state DTV transmitter designs from Joe Wozniak with LARCAN.

ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING AND ELECTIONS
This meeting offers a review of the Association’s activities from the previous year and elections are held for open positions on the SCBA Board of Directors.  This meeting will be held on Thursday, January 30 from 10:30 am-12:00 pm. 

SALES
The sales department is the lifeblood of any radio or television station and SCBA caters to the needs of those departments by offering top-flight training for sales managers and account executives. In a full-day or half-day workshop, account managers and sales managers alike can learn from some of the country's  leading broadcast sales consultants. Jim Mathis and Dave Burke will round-out a full-day of sales training for 2014 on January 30. 

Reinventing Your Sales (9:30 am-12:30 pm)

Sales and marketing have changed forever.  They will never be the same again.  Customers who argue over the price have not been sold on the value to them.  The methods that worked in the past are obsolete.  Once you allow the buyer to negotiate the price, you have lost all negotiation (and the sale!).  Prospects buy the benefits of services.  The instruction and dialgoue help you gain a competitive advantage by improving the effectiveness of sales calls.  Jim Mathis of The Mathis Group will share common-sense, cold-call scripts and offer enhancements to veteran and novice account executives.  Through fun, interactive dialogues and methods you will learn effective skills to become a better presenter-seller and encourage value-based sales of attendees.  Mathis will also help you reinvent your digital/internet sales because properly used social media will connect you with your customer base and prospects better than traditional methods of communication.  He will strategize with you to engage media buyers and scanners to stay and buy.

Street Smart Strategies for Selling More Car Dealers (1:30-4:30 pm)

Automotive remains atop the revenue category list for most broadcasters even as this business continues to undergo major changes in how they market themselves.  Digital marketing for dealers continues to grow in importance, yet generally, broadcast account executives remain tentative in applying strategies against these assets.  To contine to grow revenue in this category, no only do sales teams need more confidence in positioning digital strategies for dealers but also a strong base knowledge about the car business itself so they can present ideas that work with authority and confidence.  Dave Burke of Burke Media Marketing will cover topics like:  1) inside a dealership operation:  key players, key operations, and how they make their money 2) inside dealer advertising--where the money goes and how it's changing 3) dealers and digital media:  why they like it and how you can be a part of it 4) seven simple rules for successful dealer advertising 5) key questions to ask dealers during your diagnosis meeting. Plus a lot more!

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION
This event recognizes individuals who have set the standard of professional excellence in South Carolina broadcasting. The Association’s most distinguished award, induction into the Hall of Fame, recognizes career contributions to the broadcasting industry in South Carolina or a South Carolinian who has made significant contributions to broadcasting outside the state. The Masters Award acknowledges lifetime achievements of on-air broadcasters who have made significant contributions to broadcasting in South Carolina. The Honorary Life Member Award salutes those who have served broadcasting by making significant contributions to the industry either in South Carolina or outside the state. This special category may include broadcast educators, legislators, owners and managers, on-air talent, broadcast technical specialists, legal and regulatory experts or a South Carolinian representing broadcasting on a national level.  The 2014 awards recognition will be held on Friday, January 31 with a reception at 6 pm followed by dinner at 7 pm.  Gordon Smith, president of NAB, will make a special address at the ceremony.

2014 Honorees

Honorary Life

Membership Recipient

SFC Don Sornson

SC Army National Guard

Columbia, SC

Masters Award

Recipient

Dale Gilbert

WYFF-TV

Greenville, SC

Masters Award

Recipient

Manning Kimmel

WRHI-AM/FM & WRHM-FM

Rock Hill, SC

ADVERTISING AND SPONSORSHIPS
Advertising may be purchased in the program booklet that is distributed to all convention attendees and all convention events are available for sponsorship. Sponsorships include recognition from the podium, acknowledgement in the program book, complimentary ad and appropriate signage at the event sponsored. To discuss which option will best meet your business’ needs, contact SCBA.
Rate Sheet (Adobe PDF File)