With a few days until the first day of summer, you may be thinking about vacation or relaxing weekends, I hope you haven't forgotten to renew your SBE membership. The renewal date was April 1, but the grace period ends July 1. Don't lose your member benefits. Renew right now if you haven't already.

The SBE is also putting its plans together for the 2026 National Meeting to be held in Madison, WI, in September. More info on that is below, but we hope you can join us.

Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Reach me at president@sbe.org.

Kevin Trueblood, CBRE, CBNT

SBE President

SBE Scholarship Application Deadline is July 1

Annually, the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust offers scholarships to deserving candidates who aspire to careers in the technical aspects of broadcasting. Scholarship awards are used for tuition, room and board or textbook costs at post-secondary educational institutions, or for other technical training programs approved by the Scholarship Committee. Preference will be given to applicants who are SBE members; however, any individuals otherwise eligible, including graduating high school seniors, are encouraged to apply. Scholarships within the program include:

• John H. Battison SBE Founder’s Scholarship (open to anyone)

• Harold E. Ennes Scholarship (open to anyone)

• Robert D. Greenberg Scholarship (open to anyone)

• Gino Ricciardelli Scholarship (open to anyone)

• Youth Scholarship (specifically for graduating high school seniors)

A minimum of five $3,000 scholarships will be awarded in 2026. Scholarship applications must be filed each year by July 1. Announcement of the recipients will be made by August 1, with grants available for the fall semester of the same year.

Nominations for National Board Open Through June 21

Nominations are open for candidates to run for the national SBE Board of Directors through June 21. Qualified members may run for a director seat or for an officer position. There are six director seats open this year. Nominations must be in writing and be endorsed by ten voting SBE members. Nominations are made to SBE Secretary Shane Toven at stoven@sbe.org. Nominees must be voting members in good standing (dues paid) and hold an SBE engineering-level certification. Anyone whose nomination comes from the membership will be added to the ballot along with the slate of candidates submitted by the national Nominations Committee. For more information, see election information on the SBE website or contact Executive Director Mike Downs.

June WEBxtra: AI In Broadcasting

The June SBE WEBxtra, which dropped on June 15, is available for replay on the SBE YouTube Channel. We talked to Bob Caniglia, director of sales operations, Americas; Blackmagic Design, and Marty Sacks, EVP sales, marketing and strategy, Telos Alliance, about artificial intelligence. We use AI in our daily lives already, whether we think about it or not, and it's making its way into audio, radio, video and TV operations more and more. Watch it now.

Register Now for This Upcoming Webinars by SBE

ATSC 3.0 – Datacasting and Public Safety Applications

August 20, 2026 | 2 p.m. ET

This webinar provides an overview of the technology driving ATSC 3.0, including the enhanced viewer experience and the ability to use deliver data for non-viewer applications. The presenter will also provide his view of the current deployment of this exciting technology.

Instructor: Fred Engel, CPBE, ATSC3

SBE National Meeting Goes to Madison, WI

The Society of Broadcast Engineers 2026 SBE National Meeting is being held in the Madison, WI, area on September 15-16, 2026. The event will be held in conjunction with the Midwest Regional Broadcasters Clinic, presented by the state broadcast associations and SBE chapters of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The SBE National Meeting includes the SBE Membership Meeting, which includes updates on the projects and activities of the Society, presentation of the annual SBE award recipients, and the swearing in of officers and directors for the new terms. The meeting will be recorded and presented as the October SBE WEBxtra for local chapters to view.

The Clinic is being held September 15 and 16 at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton, WI. It includes two full days of learning and networking designed specifically with broadcast engineers in mind. The goal is to provide an opportunity to explore best practices, compliance guidance and the latest technology and equipment available.

The SBE National Meeting activities begin on Sept. 15 with the fall meeting of the SBE Board of Directors from 6 to 10 p.m. Attendance at the Board meeting is open to any SBE member. On Sept. 16, activities begin with the annual invitation-only SBE Fellows Breakfast, a reunion of SBE Fellow members including this year’s inductee, Fred Willard. In the afternoon, the SBE Annual Membership Meeting will be held. The SBE award winners will be recognized, including the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year and James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the year awards. A reception will follow the meeting.

Last Chance to Renew Your SBE Membership

The deadline for SBE membership renewal was April 1, but it's still not too late to renew your membership. In May, SBE members who had not yet renewed their membership have received renewal reminders. You can renew online. Don't let your member benefits lapse; Renew right now.

SBE Ennes Workshops Bring Education to You

SBE Ennes Workshops are being planned around the country. Programs are typically one day in length and feature multiple topics and speakers that provide television and radio engineers with the latest information in broadcast and media technology. Add these to your calendar now.

June 19: Augusta, GA

August 25 and 26: Biloxi, MS

October 26: Atlanta, GA

Need a Program for Your Chapter? The SBE Has a List of Presenters

Local SBE chapters meetings provide great opportunities for members to learn about new or existing technology, regulatory issues and other topics of interest. In an effort to make meeting planning easier, the SBE National Office has created a list of chapter program ideas and speakers to help local chapters with meeting topics.

The SBE list of speakers notes who is available to present at chapter meetings. The list is comprised of people who work for SBE Sustaining Member companies, and topics include technical, regulatory, safety, management and other issues. Each speaker’s geographic availability is also noted.

Find this info on the SBE website under the Chapter tab (Chapters > Chapter Administration).

Aug. 7-17, 2026

closed

Nov. 6-16, 2026

Local Chapters

Sept. 7, 2026