Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) annual conference will be focused on the theme of collaboration as the association co-locates for the first time with the Central Canada Broadcast Engineers (CCBE), Oct. 27-28.
“The real decision came down to just uniting everyone,” said Jody Brooker, OAB Conference Chair. “Making it a bigger better conference, but what we’re excited about is bringing together owners, managers, program directors, people who deal with engineering…having it brought together under one roof, rub elbows with each other…people who don’t see each other all the time in some stations.”
Adam Robinson, CCBE’s Vendor Liaison and Trade Show Chair, says the organization ultimately decided to align itself with OAB to model the conference after successful state-based broadcast association shows of similar size in the U.S.
“Bringing engineers and management together under one roof creates a better sense of community in our shrinking industry and, frankly, puts more eyes and ears in front of our vendors who graciously sponsor both conferences each year,” Robinson told Broadcast Dialogue.
While OAB and CCBE will continue to provide their own distinct program streams, the centrepiece of the two shows will be a combined vendor showcase and networking opportunity.
“Technical staff will get to mingle with their programming and management colleagues while having a chance to show them emerging technologies and cool tech that they might otherwise not get to see without a trip to NAB Show,” said Robinson.
He credits Durham Radio President and OAB Past President Doug Kirk with the push to align the two industry events.
“He noticed our attendance waning over the past few years,” explained Robinson. “His desire to see CCBE flourish while providing our vendors access to key stakeholders was instrumental in making this joint event happen. The bulk of the CCBE executive is made up of Durham Radio’s engineering staff, so you could say Mr. Kirk takes more than a passing interest in CCBE.”
Brooker said between the two events, they’re expecting 300 to 350 attendees in Toronto. She says collaboration is a fundamental philosophy of current OAB President Chris Pearson, President of Acadia Broadcasting.
“He’s always taken the road of collaborating with other broadcasters, sharing best practices – what works, what doesn’t…rather than the other approach of keeping your cards close and not talking to other broadcasters….we’re all in this together and can help make each other successful,” said Brooker.
One of the highlights of this year’s program is the President’s Panel, which will close out the conference. Moderated by Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) President Kevin Desjardins, it will feature “raw discussion” about industry realities and include Doug Bingley, President of Central Ontario Broadcasting; Matt Caine, President, Whiteoaks Communications Group; Dave Daigle, VP, iHeartRadio, Local CTV and Bell Media Studios; and Bryan Edwards, President of Vista Radio.
Acclaimed broadcast and podcast coach and consultant Valerie Geller will also speak at this year’s conference, while veteran sales trainer Pat Bryson will helm the sales side of the OAB program. Corus Entertainment Director of Streaming and Podcasting Chris “Dunner” Duncombe will also deliver a presentation on AI insights, tailored to both rooms, mirroring a similar talk he delivered at Radiodays North America in May.
The CCBE program will feature papers on topics ranging from 5G and ATSC 3.0 to AM radio and audio processing, network security and site maintenance. Among the presenters are Kirk Nesbitt from the CAB Technical Steering Committee, Orest Sushko from Humber College’s groundbreaking B2C lab, Chris Lapp from Cisco, Jeff Welton from Nautel, and broadcast processing expert Corny Gould from Angry Audio.
Registration is still open for both events.
