2018 Broadcasters Conference
With representatives from more than 250 broadcast radio and television stations in Indiana expected to attend, the 2018 Indiana Broadcasters Conference brings together Hoosier broadcasters from across the state to learn, celebrate, and collaborate.
Throughout the day, attendees will hear from some of the brightest minds in the industry on ways to grow station revenue and improve the on-air product through programming and engineering. During lunch, dozens of TV and Radio stations will be recognized for their outstanding work during the Spectrum Awards and four legendary broadcasters will be inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame.
And in the main hall, exhibitors will be on-hand showcasing the latest in broadcast technology and services.
We look forward to celebrating broadcasting in Indiana on Thursday, November 1 at the 502 East Event Centre in Carmel.
The deadline to register for the conference is Friday, October 19th.
If you need a hotel room for the event, the IBA has a special rate of $109 per night at the Spring Hill Suites in Carmel (11855 N. Meridian Street, Carmel, IN, 46032). You can reserve a room by clicking here. Rooms must be booked by October 19th to ensure the IBA rate.

Schedule
8:15am to 9:00am | Registration and Exhibitor Showcase #1
9:00am to 9:30am
Opening Session
9:30am to 9:45am | Exhibitor Showcase #2
9:45am to 11:45am
David Rich: Contagious Selling or John Lund:The Science of Programming and Talent Development
Engineering Track: Safety & Security and then Grounding & Lightning Protection (Jeff Welton)
11:45am to 12:00pm | Exhibitor Showcase #3
12:00pm to 1:30pm
IBA Spectrum & Hall of Fame Awards Luncheon
1:30pm to 2:00pm | Exhibitor Showcase #4 Sponsored by BMI
2:00pm to 3:00pm
Broadcasting on the Move by Sam Matheny, NAB CTO & Paul Jacobs, Jacobs Media or Omnia Group Behavioral Workshop
3:00pm to 3:15pm | Exhibitor Showcase #5
3:15pm to 4:45pm
David Rich: Focus on Management or Thaddeus Rex: Contagious Culture
Engineering Track: Cybersecurity (Wayne Pecena) and then Tower Structure & Site Security (Dave Benco)
4:45pm to 5:00pm | LG Ultra HDTV Prize Giveaway – Must be present to win

Speakers
David Rich
Professional Speaker and Best Selling Author
David Rich is a nationally known professional speaker and best selling author of 5 books including: Contagious Selling, How to Stay Motivated on a Daily Basis and How to Click with Everyone Every Time. He has earned the speaking industry’s highest designation and has presented to over one million people in 48 states and 4 countries. David is best known for his ContagiousTalk Series: Contagious Selling, Contagious Service, & Contagious Leadership!
John Lund
The Science of Programming and Talent Development
John Lund is President of Lund Media Group and The Lund Consultants, Inc., the premiere radio programming consulting firm in North America. The Lund Mission is to assist the broadcast industry with hands-on programming and research to help stations achieve their revenue and audience goals. For over 25 years, the Lund team has provided consulting to radio stations (all formats), TV stations, broadcast networks, in addition to research and consulting for American Forces Radio and Television stations worldwide.
Paul Jacobs
VP and GM of Jacobs Media.
Paul Jacobs is the Vice President/General Manager of Jacobs Media. For over thirty years Jacobs Media has provided programming, digital, and social media consulting to radio broadcasters. The company is credited with the creation of the Classic Rock radio format, as well as national technology tracking surveys – The Techsurvey. The studies provide invaluable information to broadcasters about the digital, social, and mobile trends they need to address, including pushing the industry to respond to challenges in the “connected car.”’
Jacobs consults commercial and public radio stations on all aspects of management and revenue generation. Additionally, he is a frequent speaker on how stations can successfully manage the digital transition.
Jacobs has become a chief spokesperson regarding the changing in-car audio experience and its implications on the radio industry. He works with the auto companies and suppliers, and is a consultant to the National Association of Broadcasters connected car committee.
Sam Matheny
Executive VP & CTO, National Association of Broadcasters
Sam Matheny is Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the National Association of Broadcasters. With over 25 years of experience in the broadcast and data networking industries, including earning a patent for inventing mobile and interactive DTV technologies, Sam leads NAB’s technology team in its efforts to promote innovation and propel broadcast technology into the future. He also provides overall leadership for PILOT, formerly NAB Labs, as well as NAB’s TV, Radio, and Digital Technology Committees.
Thaddeus Rex
Founder of The Science of Charisma
Few presenters have been compared to both Dale Carnegie and David Bowie. Fewer still have the honor of being called “part Monty Python, part Dr. Seuss” by the Washington Post.
A PBS veteran, national keynoter, and brand positioning expert, Thaddeus Rex is founder of The Science of Charisma, a process for making team members excited to talk you up with uniquely compelling charisma. He recently joined forces with Flint Analytics to found Digital Charisma, a firm designed to help companies with large footprints optimize their analytics to help their brand beat different local competitors across multiple metro areas. He’s worked with Butterball, Australian Gold, Chicago Bears, Rotary International, Indy Eleven, and many more…
Jeff Welton
Nautel
Jeff Welton took his training in the Radio College of Canada (RCC) Electronics Engineering Technologist program, finishing in 1985. Jeff has performed component level repair, field installation and service, technical support and quality assurance roles with various companies and has been with Nautel for over 26 years, the first 17 of which were spent in field service and technical support positions, as well as assisting Engineering with design review of new products and improvement of existing systems. Since moving to Sales in 2007, Jeff keeps finding ways to get his hands dirty and can frequently be found assisting in the install of a transmitter he’s sold, as well as performing site inspections and the occasional repair.
Wayne Pecena
CPBE, CBNE
Wayne M. Pecena is the Interim Executive Director of Educational Broadcast Services at Texas A&M University and serves as Director of Engineering of public broadcasting stations KAMU TV & FM. Wayne has over 45 years of broadcast and IP network engineering experience and holds BS and MS degrees from Texas A&M University. Wayne is a Fellow of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) and holds the Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer (CPBE) and Certified Broadcast Network Engineer (CBNE) certifications. Wayne serves as the National Secretary of the SBE and chairs the SBE Education Committee. He was named the 2012 SBE Educator of the Year, the 2014 Radio World Engineer of the year, and received the 2016 Stephen H Schott Excellence In Texas Engineering award. He is a frequent speaker on IP Networking topics for the Broadcast Engineer. Past industry presentation events include IEEE-BTS, SMPTE, CCBE-Canada, WABE-Canada, InfoComm International, NAB BEITC, NAB Radio Show, PBS TechCon, APRE PREC, SBE Ennes Workshops, and numerous State broadcasting association events.
Dave Benco
Electronics Research
Dave Benco is the Vice President of US Sales for Electronics Research, Inc., and has over 20 years experience in terrestrial broadcasting including not only UHF and VHF television, mobile television and distributed transmission systems, but also FM radio, 2.5 GHz MMDS systems and wireless broadband applications. He was an active participant in the ATSC activities surrounding ATSC Mobile DTV. He has been a member of IEEE, BTS, AFCCE and has presented at multiple technical conferences and meetings.
Previously Dave served as Strategic Accounts Manager at GatesAir, National Key Account Manager at Rhode & Schwarz and Director of Sales at Axcera. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University and a Master of Business Administration from Waynesburg College.
Jason Rogers
Delaware County Emergency Management
Jason Rogers was appointed the Director of the Emergency Management Agency in September of 2009. Prior to becoming the Director, Jason served as a Nationally Registered Paramedic for Delaware County E.M.S. where he was charged with leading the Mass Causality Medical Task Force. Jason has also served the Muncie community as a Muncie Police Officer. He was an Honor Graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, assigned to the Criminal Investigations Divisions, served as a Field Training Officer, SWAT Sniper, Indiana Law Enforcement Academy Instructor and Councilor. In 2003, Jason was awarded the “Medal of Valor” for bravery and courage under gunfire.
Jason has also received several honors for his leadership including “Hero of the Heartland” Award, “Grace in Time of Need”, and “Excellence in Public Service” 2012. Jason has served as the Homeland Security District Planning Committee Chairman, Indiana Task Force 6 Development Chairman, as well as content expert for several exercise committees and a 2011 FEMA focus group. In 2015, he was the Indiana nomination for the FEMA National Advisory Board. In 2016 Jason was appointed to the Indiana Board of Firefighter Personnel Standards and Education.

2018 Spectrum Awards Finalists
Radio Market 1
Station of the Year
- WMEE (Ft. Wayne)
- WFMS (Fishers)
- WTRC (Elkhart)
Broadcast Personality or Team
- WNOW – The Joe and Alex Show
- WMEE – Andy and Nichole
- WIBC – The Chicks on the Right
Sports
- WSBT – Play-by-Play
- WIBC – Heroes of the 500 – The Amazing Unsers
- WIBC – Indiana’s Team: 500 Years with the Indiana Pacers
Best Promotional Campaign
- WNOW – The Joe and Alex Show White Castle Wedding
- WIBC – WIBC Traffic
- WBCL – Buy a Brick, Build a Home
Best Newscast
- WOWO – Fort Wayne’s Morning News
- WTRC – Tom Franklin and Jon Zimney May 25, 2018
- WIBC – Stan Lehr
Local Community Involvement
- WOWO – Penny Pitch 2017
- WNOW, WTLC, WHHH – Hoosiers Helping Houston
- WNOW, WTLC, WHHH – Coleman Family
Commercial
- WRBR – United Beverage-Dilly Dilly Knights
- WLDE, WAJI & WAJI-HD2 – Mark’s Body Shop-Self Driving Car
- WIBC – Laborers Local “No Excuses” Campaign
Local Impact Reporting
- WOWO – Embassy Theatre Turns 90
- WFYI – To Grow Market Share, A Drugmaker Pitches Its Product to Judges
- WFYI – When Students Miss the Test at Arlington High, the Bus Comes for Them
Radio Market 2
- Station of the Year
- WAWC (Syracuse)
- WMDH (New Castle)
- WSLM (Salem)
Broadcast Personality or Team
- WMXQ-FM – Zach Johnson “ZackAttack”
- Neuhoff Media Lafayette – The Hammer Down Show
- Neuhoff Media Lafayette – Dave Patrick
Sports
- WXFN-AM/FM – Mark Foerster
- WHCC – High School Football
- WHCC – IU Baseball Regional
Best Promotional Campaign
- WHPZ – Downtown Summer Series
- Adams Radio Group Fort Wayne – Keith Urban Somewhere in My Car
- Woof Boom Radio Muncie – Local Radio, It’s All About You Promotional Campaign
Best Newscast
- WLJE/WXRD/WZVN – Region News Team, June 6, 2018: 8 AM
- WBST – Stan Sollars Morning Edition 6:04 Newscast – July 23rd
- WQLK – Murder Admission
Local Community Involvement
- WQLK – W8*2*txt
- WRSW – Riley Radio Days 2018
- Neuhoff Media Lafayette – Feed the Need Day
Commercial
- Woof Boom Radio Muncie – Simon Hoying Muncie Children’s Museum
- WAXI – The Barrel Shop “Husband’s Project”
- WAXI – Ritz Theatre “Last Jedi”
Local Impact Reporting
- WFMG – Armed Fugitives in Middlefork Park
- WSCH – Ohio River Flood of 2018
- WRSW – News Now Warsaw: Carli Luca covers flooding in Kosciusko County
Market 1 TV
Station of the Year
- WISH
- WTHR
- WXIN
News Feature/Use of Medium
- WTHR – Brick by Brick
- WISH – Boxing to Fight Parkinson’s
- WISH – Celebrating Peyton
Local Community Involvement
- WISH – WISH Patrol
- WRTV – RTV6 Working for You: Partnership with IPS Washington Irving Elementary School
Local Impact Reporting
- WTTV – Untested Rape Kits
- WTHR – CBD Oil: Changing the Law
- WTHR – Indiana Addicted
General News Story
- WTHR – Parade of Shame
- WISH – Snowy Roads
- WISH – Self Defense Class
Weather
- WTHR – Spring Snow Storm
- WTHR – November Tornados
- WTHR – Rain and Floods
Sportscast
- WISH -Charlie Clifford Sports Anchor
- WTHR – TrackTeam 13
- WXIN – Carb Day at the Indy 500
Commercial
- WTHR – First Internet Bank
- WTHR – Families First
- WTHR – Houseworks
Market 2 TV
Station of the Year
- WEHT (Evansville)
- WFIE (Evansville)
- WTWO (Terre Haute)
News Feature/Use of Medium
- WTWO – Making His Mark
- WANE – Hall of Fame Life
- WANE – Move Like Jagger
Local Community Involvement
- WBND – ABC 57: Donation Drive
- WEHT – Race for a Cure
- WTWO – Officer Pitts Funeral
Local Impact Reporting
- WNDU – Deadly Impulse: The Surge in Preteen Suicide
- WPTA – Public $chool Payroll
- WPTA – “Hooked” Compilation
General News Story
- WEHT – Caze Music
- WPTA – Body Camera Exclusive
- WANE – A Salute that Stood Out
Weather
- WANE – Nicholas Ferreri
- WNDU – Storm Team 16 February Rain
- WBND – Record-Smashing Flooding
Sportscast
- WBND – ABC 57 Saturday Kickoff: Notre Dame v. USC
- WEVV – 44Blitz: November 3
- WTWO – Goin 2 the Endzone
Commercial
- WTWO – Lawrence Gravel 2018
- WEVV – Bru Burger
- WEVV – The Parlour


2018 Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame
Four long-time Hoosier broadcasters will be inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame in November. The Indiana Broadcasters Association today announced the 2018 class that includes TV reporter Norm Cox, radio host Bernie Eagan, radio host and general manager Al Hobbs, and TV host, reporter and producer Patty Spitler.
“We look forward to celebrating the unique careers of these legendary Hoosier broadcasters,” said IBA Executive Director Dave Arland.
“The diverse 2018 class is made up of TV and radio personalities who served as voices of and for their communities for decades helping to inform and entertain the state in their own, unique ways. With the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers, we are proud to honor Norm, Bernie, Al and Patty this year.”
Norm Cox
Norman Cox began as the Indiana Statehouse reporter at WRTV-6 Indianapolis in 1976. During that time, he covered seven governors from Otis Bowen to Mike Pence. He retired in November of 2013 after a 36-year career.
A two-time Emmy award winner, Norm also has received awards for excellence from The Associated Press, United Press International, Society of Professional Journalists and the Indianapolis Press Club.
Before coming to Indianapolis, Norm also worked for WTOL-TV Toledo, Ohio and has a Bachelor of Arts and Master’s degree in Journalism from The Ohio State University.
Bernie Eagan
Beech Grove-native Bernie Eagan was born blind, but he didn’t let that stop him from pursuing a love of music and entertainment. After graduating from the Indiana School for the Blind in 1975, Bernie went on to Ball State University where he graduated with a degree in Radio and Television Communications. He then accepted a position as a Programming Consultant at WWHC-FM (now WMXQ-FM) Hartford City and was hired part time by WERK-AM Muncie.
In July 1981, Bernie began working at Emmis Communications, specifically with WENS (now WLHK-FM) Indianapolis eventually becoming Music Director and Assistant Program Director along with hosting the afternoon drive from 1984 – 2002. He also hosted Friday Night Retro Show from 1999-2002.
From 2002 – 2010, Bernie hosted mornings on WYXB-FM Indianapolis and, since 2010, has hosted afternoons on WYXB-FM Indianapolis.
Al Hobbs
An Alabama native, who later moved to Kentucky, Al Hobbs left a career in the grocery business when he was lured to join WTLC-FM Indianapolis in its early days by then General Manager Tom Mathis. Al quickly rose through the ranks becoming Sales Manager in 1974 and then General Manager in 1976.
Al’s Sunday afternoons “The Love Train” gospel music program garnered huge ratings and exposed generations to quality Black gospel music. For a quarter century, Al helped grow WTLC-FM in the major force in Indianapolis and Indiana broadcasting and as one of the country’s pioneering Black Radio stations. WTLC-FM achieved rating success and audience dominance under his leadership.
In 2012, Al’s award-winning gospel music shows returned to the Indianapolis airwaves on WITT-FM Indianapolis. Hobbs passed away in 2014.
Patty Spitler
Emmy Award-winner Patty Spitler, host, reporter and producer for “Pet Pals TV” and “Great Day TV,” has had a 42-year career in radio and TV broadcasting. Patty came to Indianapolis in 1982 to co-host “Indianapolis Afternoon” with Dick Wolfsie on WISH-TV Indianapolis, and eventually expanded her talent to become a noon news anchor. She retired from WISH in 2004.
In 2009, she was approached by a producer to join “Pet Pals TV,” which now airs not only on WISH-TV, but also on 23 stations nationwide. The program focuses on the relationship between animals and humans.
Patty is now host, reporter and executive producer of “Great Day TV” which airs weekly on WISH-TV and presents human interest stories and stories of intriguing people from all walks of life.

Pricing & Registration
If you have any questions, please call 317-565-3011 or email sam@indianabroadcasters.org.
See you next year!