The Western Association of Broadcast Engineers (WABE) 76th Media and Entertainment Technology Conference got underway in Vancouver on Monday evening, recognizing some of the organization’s longstanding members.
Among the night’s honourees was Gerry Belec, who retired as National Director of Technology and Operations for Global News, at the beginning of the year.
Belec, who received the 2026 Retirement Award, said the constant thread running throughout his career was his good fortune to be surrounded by people who were passionate about what they do.
“It’s tough working in a newsroom right now…tonight the folks at Global and CTV and every newsroom in Canada are covering the Quebec election,” he told attendees. “These aren’t easy things to do and these are expensive things to do and they are important things to do and it’s a thing we need to keep on doing because you’re not going to see Facebook or Netflix or Amazon show up to do elections. They’re not going to show up to look after democracy and we have to continue doing that through our engineering teams, our editorial teams, our technical teams, our creative teams. Keep believing in broadcast.”
“It’s nice to know there’s recognition for what I thought was just a whole bunch of fun,” Belec concluded. “And it was fun.”
Tessa Potter was presented with the WABE Spirit Award, honouring someone who fundamentally ensures the survival, growth and future of the organization. Potter, the organization’s Past President and a WABE Chancellor, is largely credited with revitalizing the organization, including modernizing its governance and bylaws and restoring official non-profit status, all while balancing an Emmy Award-winning career working on global events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.
Rob Brown, Technical Manager at Pattison Media Winnipeg, who also continues to serve as a WABE Chancellor, was recognized with a WABE Spirit Award.
Other honourees included Sarah Haslip of G.S. Technical Services, who received the Sheila R. East Award, recognizing a woman whose outstanding level of professionalism, perseverance, and dedication has greatly benefited the broadcast industry.
John-Erick M. Rempillo, Senior SNG and Transmitter Technologist for CBC, received the 2026 Excellence in Engineering Award. Recognizing an engineer who has made a significant contribution to their company and/or the broadcast engineering community, Rempillo designed and built a compact, portable bench-testing kit packaged into a single case that allows technicians to safely diagnose and validate modules right on the bench.
Identifying an engineering bottleneck presented by the risk of testing power supplies for Nautel NV and VS series transmitters for live, on-air systems on site, the kit was put to work rescuing gear that had been sitting in storage, successfully restoring modules in Toronto to cut procurement costs and eliminate electronic waste.
