On TAP: Building A TV Tech Farm Team

Nineteen-year-old Kiersten Gurule is packing her bags for Las Vegas this week. But this Napa Valley College student isn’t heading to Sin City to try her hand at blackjack.  Instead, she’s embarking on a journey that she hopes will lead to a broadcast engineering job at a TV station.

Just a few years ago, Gurule was raising pygmy goats as a former 4-H Club president in the heart of California’s wine country.  Her focus soon shifted from the farm to the broadcast studio as she discovered her high school’s TV production program. She’s now working on a certificate program for TV broadcast engineering at Napa Valley.

The NAB Educational Foundation (NABEF) is reaching out to students like Gurule, hoping to lure them to broadcasting at a time when competing industries are competing for high-tech talent. NABEF selected Gurule, along with nine other college students and recent grads, for its new six-month Technology Apprenticeship Program (TAP).  The program aims to give promising young technology students a chance to gain hands-on experience at TV or radio stations, and also get up to speed on the latest technological advances.

“They’re putting me out there and helping to further my education,” Gurule says. The program “will teach me what it’s going to be like when I get fully immersed in the job market and this field.”

She’s hoping the apprenticeship will turn in to a full-time job at a TV station. That’s a goal NABEF shares, but doesn’t promise to TAP participants.

TAP is an important initiative for NABEF.  As the industry shifts to new digital technology, it’s even more critical that fresh-out-of-college students familiar with the latest technology opt for careers in broadcasting.

Foundation executives noticed a shortage of individuals pursuing engineering in broadcasting, says Michelle Duke, NABEF vice president. The apprenticeship program aims to “get the talented individuals that our industry needs and get them in the pipeline.”

The apprenticeship was kicked off in March with an informational webinar featuring industry experts from NAB and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

The group comes together for the first time next week at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.  There, the TAP participants will get a chance to chat with industry executives and sit in on broadcast technology-related presentations.

After the NAB conference, TAP participants will head to Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus in May to attend Radio Ink’s Convergence conference to gain a deeper understanding of the business, says Duke.

Next, the apprentices will scatter around the country to assigned TV and radio stations for the months of June and July. “The program will cover both production and engineering training in an attempt to provide a well-rounded approach to the different broadcast technologies in the industry,” says Amanda Smith, the TAP program manager.

NABEF is still seeking stations interested in sponsoring the TAP participants.  Stations interested in participating should contact NABEF.

In August, the apprentices will head to a technology manufacturer for a three-day learning tour. Ericsson, which partnered with NABEF to partially fund the TAP program, is one of the companies some participants will visit.

The program wraps up in August with a one-week trip to Washington to NAB’s headquarters.  The participants will work with NAB’s science and technology team to develop a presentation that will be webcast to stations.

Program participants — which this year comprise four women and six men — will each receive a $3,840 stipend for their work at the stations.  The program also covers airfare to the NAB convention, the Microsoft campus, technology company visit and NAB headquarters. It will also pay for accommodations while at those destinations, and covers the cost of the Society of Broadcast Engineers Broadcast Technology Exam. The apprentices will have to pay for their own living arrangements while working at their assigned station.

The new apprenticeship program is a revamped version of an earlier internship program formerly offered by NABEF and halted about three years ago, says Duke.  The new program combines the internship aspect with an educational component.

TVNewsCheck publisher Kathy Haley will turn a spotlight on NABEF’s TAP on Tuesday, April 12, when she presents Darcy Antonellis, president of technology operations at Warner Bros., with the 2011 Women in Technology Leadership Award. Presentation and reception are set for Tuesday, April 12, at 5 p.m. in room N 117, Las Vegas Convention Center. Do join us.