Kalahari Resorts & Conventions
Round Rock, TX
Web: www.chimneytower.com
Phone: (800) 621-4419
Address: PO Box 489
Prospect, PA 16052
United States
We are a turn-key contractor for FAA aviation obstruction lighting systems of all sizes. We handle design, maintenance, installation, service and parts for all obstruction lighting systems.
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions
Round Rock, TX
Web: www.Fluotec.com
Phone: (210) 801-6189
Address: 208 Manor Dr St. A
Kerrville, TX 78028
United States
Fluotec, an award-winning manufacturer of LED panels and fresnels, specializes in pure white light and advanced color management for TV, cinema, and digital cinematography. Our innovative, and efficient panels and fresnels are known for superior whites, color accuracy, and reliability. Fluotec a compelling option and solution for today’s lighting professionals, offering an unmatched blend of price, performance, quality, and reliability.
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions
Round Rock, TX
Web: dnavinc.com
Phone: (970) 880-3589
Address: 140 E Prospect St.
Hackettstown, NJ 07840
United States
DNAV is a technical consulting and equipment representation company offering conceptualization, design and integration of technical facilities for broadcast, public safety, government, athletics, entertainment and commercial spaces.
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions
Round Rock, TX
Web: www.cartoni.com
Phone: 570-574-0959
Address: 10663 Burbank Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
United States
CARTONI is recognized worldwide as a leader in camera support. Cartoni has maintained its preeminent position by delivering superior technology and offering support products for a range of cameras from compact digital devices to large studio cameras. Its products include fluid heads, encoded & nodal heads, tripods, and pedestals and PTZ solutions as well as spreaders, jibs, dollies, etc. and is the only company that offers an unparalleled free, 5-year warranty on all fluid heads and pedestals. Cartoni’s diverse product range are renowned for their engineering, craftsmanship and functionality, and used worldwide by leading cinematographers, camera operators and television cameramen.
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions
Round Rock, TX
Web: 7bd.com
Phone: 772-559-3089
Address: 7782 NW 46 St
Miami, FL 33166
United States
AM/FM/TV/SAT TRANSMISSION
ON-AIR/ PRODUCTION STUDIO
TV EQUIPMENT
INSTALLED SOUND
INTEGRATION
Welcome to Broadcast Depot, where our family of experts continue to lead the radio, television and satellite transmission industry with unsurpassed planning, expertise, training, installation and support—throughout the world.
From concept to finish design and service, we are there every step of the way.
Experienced Engineering
Broadcast Depot boasts an incredible team of engineers who fully understand the challenges that encompass a vast array of radio, television and satellite circumstances. We work with you, hand-in-hand to learn your specific needs in order to ensure performance that meets your budget.
Our people are certified and extensively trained in their respective fields of expertise. Peace-of-mind is what our clients receive—knowing they can count on us throughout the life of equipment installed.
Complete Turnkey Solutions
Whether your needs involve a simple component replacement or addition to complete turnkey solutions, customers worldwide continue to count on us for day-in, day-out equipment that simply works. Because we partner with and utilize equipment manufactured by the most reputable companies in the industry, we’re able to stand behind the components we recommend, install, service and support.
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions
Round Rock, TX
Web: www.2wcom.com
Phone: +49 461 662830 – 0
Address: Am Sophienhof 8
24941 Flensburg
Germany
2wcom is your leading manufacturer, supplier, and system integrator of professional audio broadcast equipment for Audio over IP, Satellite, DAB+, and FM.
Our Products and services are designed for 24/7 operation and include various features to ensure transmission robustness. Worldwide customers of 2wcom benefit from our long-time experience, competence, first-class customer service, and quality Made-in-Germany.
Aqua Broadcast transmitters provide power levels from 10 watts to 5,000 watts. All user interfaces are the same, Linux operating systems, processor, full remote control, free redundant power supplies in 300 to 3,000 models.
(Published August 2024)
For 31 years, Sherry Williford served as faculty advisor to the Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) campus Radio station and was a highly active and devoted member of the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators (TABE).
Sherry is a Past President of TABE having served in that role in 2015.
Sherry started her lengthy career at SFA during the Fall 1992 semester, when she was hired to serve as the faculty advisor to the campus station and teach broadcast courses.
For more than three decades, Sherry nurtured and oversaw the daily operations of KSAU-FM (now KAXM-FM).
Her dedication to the campus station required her to selflessly work evenings, overnights, and weekends to ensure that the radio station operated within FCC regulations.
She played an integral role in helping to improve the Radio broadcast facilities, so Lumberjacks were prepared to compete in the marketplace upon graduation.
Sherry shared her knowledge of and love of the Radio industry to thousands of students in the classroom, in the Radio station, and on live broadcast remotes around the city of Nacogdoches and throughout East Texas.
Prior to arriving at SF A, Sherry worked 10 years in radio as Traffic Director at the 100,000-watt FM radio station, KASU, in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Prior to her stint in the radio industry, she was the Production Director at KAIT-TV, the ABC affiliate, in Jonesboro.
Prior to arriving at SFA, Sherry was a full-time instructor at Arkansas State University, her alma mater, where, in 1990, she earned her master’s degree in mass communication and, in 1980, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV, with a minor in drama.
Her legacy in both academia and the broadcast industry will be the thousands of students she mentored, taught, and counseled over 30 years.
Upon the announcement of her retirement, one of her former students aptly described her career: “Mrs. Williford is the absolute best. Definitely a professor I will always remember as someone who had a huge impact in my college career, as well as my professional career.”
The Texas broadcast industry is most fortunate to have had Sherry in the classroom for 31 years preparing individuals to work in media markets not only around the Lone Star state, but also around the nation.
(Published August 2024)
TAB truly values the participation of all the Associate Members whose products and services help Texas Radio and Television stations with all their day-to-day operations.
From contract engineers to tower and transmitter manufacturers, to software and equipment resellers – Associate Members make the Texas broadcast industry thrive.
Jim Colley, Regional Sales Mgr./Southeastern USA, has been with RCS for more than 30 years. In all that time, Jim has almost NEVER missed a TAB Convention & Trade Show.
“Jim is one of the most beloved vendors in Texas Radio! His expertise and passion have helped scores of clients streamline their operations and enhance their programming while benefiting the bottom line,” said TAB President Oscar Rodriguez.
At the age of 14, Jim began his broadcast career at WTBF Troy, Ala.
After high school and an active-duty tour with the Air Force, he made noted stops at Radio stations in North Carolina and Alabama – always focusing on programming and on-air duties.
Eventually, Jim decided to go the sales/management route.
Colonial Broadcasting hired him as the GSM for a new country station – WLWI-FM in Montgomery, Ala – and then he was promoted to Senior Sales VP/GM of the company’s second station.
He took WOWW-107 FM from a start-up to the #1 ratings position in less than a year.
During his tenure, the station received Billboard Magazine’s Station of the Year, as well as awards for Personalities and Program Director of the Year.
Jim took his programming and sales background to help the design team at Datacount for development of the DARTS Traffic Software – and he and his wife Lora marketed the product for several years.
When he joined RCS in 1993, he also became active in TAB.
RCS is the World’s Largest Broadcast Software Company with products in thousands of Radio and TV stations, music channels, cable companies, ad agencies, satellite networks and streaming stations worldwide.
The company invented music scheduling on computers, opening its doors in 1979 with the very first version of the legendary Selector.
In the last decade, RCS has reinvented the way broadcasters approach their craft with the introduction of new and updated software services.
A hallmark of RCS from the beginning was the strategy to base product improvements on feedback from its loyal customers and experienced power users.
“Jim’s love for Radio and profound respect for our industry’s mission has set a standard for all industry vendors to emulate and TAB is honored to recognize his dedication and decades of leadership,” Rodriguez said.
(Published August 2024)
TAB proudly presents the Jason Hightower Award to recognize individuals with at least two years’ experience in the broadcast industry who have demonstrated a proficiency for enterprise and innovation in servicing their stations’ audience and communities.
The awards are named in honor of TAB 2009 Chairman Jason Hightower, owner/operator of KMOO Mineola, who passed away in March 2009 after battling brain cancer. He was 37.
Josh Hinkle is KXAN’s Director of Investigations & Innovation
“Josh Hinkle is the creative and organizational force behind KXAN’s successful investigative team. Not only does he produce high-impact, compelling investigations of his own, he leads a team of 10 people digging into the complex issues facing folks living around Austin and Texans statewide,” said News Director Haley Cihock.
“Josh is also an incredible ambassador for our company and investigative journalism, constantly seeking to foster innovation and elevation of the field.”
He leads KXAN-TV’s 12-person duPont and Murrow Award-winning investigative team on multiple platforms.
Last year, he led a full newsroom effort to investigate the state’s TxTag system, driven by the #1 viewer complaint.
The results were as meaningful as the project was innovative.
That’s far from his first high-impact project, though.
In 2018, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) selected “Fallen,” an investigative documentary Josh produced about fatal police shootings and officers’ mental health training, as the recipient of the national Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best Documentary.
The same year, “DENIED,” an investigative project he produced about police transparency during in-custody death cases, won an Emmy for investigative series.
In 2019, he launched the station’s first podcast series, “Catalyst,” which accompanies the multi-platform investigations “Mayberry Texas” about flaws in the state’s missing persons system, “A History of Mass Violence” about four decades of mass shootings in Texas, and “Dead & Undone” about people dying in police custody – the latter of which earned an Emmy for journalistic enterprise and was recognized nationally with a special citation among the News Leaders Association’s First Amendment Awards in 2021.
“Mayberry Texas” was also a national finalist for an Online Journalism Award and Emmy winner for journalistic enterprise in 2019. The inaugural season of
“Catalyst” won a National Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital New Association (RTDNA) in the podcast category in 2020, while a collection of “KXAN Investigates” digital projects Josh led also won a national Murrow in the multimedia category that same year.
One recent season – part of a collaboration with ClearHealthCosts – provides expert analysis for KXAN’s “Medical Debt Lawsuits” project, which sparked a new law in 2023 requiring greater billing transparency from Texas hospitals.
That same year, the project won a National Murrow for “Excellence in Innovation.”
In 2020, Josh and his team also debuted a digital-first investigation called “Locked in Limbo,” which highlights mental competency challenges among Texas inmates.
It was honored with two Emmys that year for investigative series and journalistic enterprise and was named a Scripps Howard Award national finalist and a Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting national semi-finalist.
In addition to its own podcast season, that project featured a solutions journalism approach to storytelling – a concept Josh has helped implement at KXAN and Nexstar through initiatives like 2019’s “Save Our Students: Solutions for Wellness & Safety” – which was the national recipient of Mental Health America’s Media Award and was a finalist for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Leadership Foundation’s Service to America Award – and 2020’s “Pandemic PASS or FAIL: Solutions for Education Equity” – a nationwide project focused on the coronavirus and its disproportionate impact on some students.
Both projects were collaborations with the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN).
In 2021, Josh and the investigative team continued their research into mental health issues in Texas jails, launching “Mental Competency Consequences” after receiving a national fellowship and partnering with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
The project highlighted untracked deaths on the state hospital waitlist, prompting officials to begin re-examining how they collect information and the impact of a record backlog.
It was honored with a National Murrow in 2022 for “Excellence in Innovation,” along with two other wins – another collection of “KXAN Investigates” projects in the digital category and an update episode to the fourth season of “Catalyst” in the podcast category, which featured Josh testifying before state legislators about law enforcement transparency challenges.
That same year, a multi-platform collaboration, “Justice for Some,” Josh produced with the Texas Observer to examine public corruption won an Emmy for journalistic enterprise.
If that weren’t enough to keep him busy, Josh is also executive producer and host of “State of Texas,” a weekly program – and companion podcast – focused on the Texas Legislature and elections, seen in 14 markets statewide.
His work on the show has been honored three times with the national Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism in 2015 for coverage of the women’s health debate, in 2017 for an exposé on border security funding, and in 2019 for an investigation into financial questions surrounding Texas’ oil and gas regulators.
The show has also earned 10 Emmys for politics and public affairs programming.
Josh is committed to fostering the journalism industry, and to the ideals of a free press.
He serves on the board of directors for both IRE and FOIFT, the former of which he also currently serves as Vice President.
He has chaired IRE’s training committee and currently chairs its member services committee, along with leading a recurring master class on managing investigators.
Additionally, he sits on SJN’s advisory council and the board of governors for the Lone Star Emmys, teaches as a faculty member for the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) News Video Workshop, serves as a journalist of color fellowship mentor for the Maynard Institute and is a member of SPJ, NPPA and the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists (NLGJA).
(Published August 2024)
TAB proudly presents the Jason Hightower Award to recognize individuals with at least two years’ experience in the broadcast industry who have demonstrated a proficiency for enterprise and innovation in servicing their stations’ audience, advertisers, and communities.
The awards are named in honor of TAB 2009 Chairman Jason Hightower, owner/operator of KMOO Mineola, who passed away in March 2009 after battling brain cancer. He was 37.
“When I read the description of the Jason Hightower award, it screams Britt Milstead,” said KFDX-TV General Manager Wayne Reed.
Britt Milstead started at KFDX-TV on April 10,1995 as an Account Executive.
“He was fresh out of college and green as a gourd. He dug in, worked hard, asked a LOT of questions, created and nurtured relationships, and became very successful,” Reed said.
In 2003, he was promoted to LSM where he began to see the bigger picture.
His managers and staff realized one of Britt’s greatest strengths is his creativity.
Britt loves to brainstorm with AEs and clients and produce creative concepts.
He also has a great eye for video, lighting, transitions, and graphics, in order to get the most out of a :15 or :30 second spot for a client.
In 2013, the station promoted him to Director of Sales leading a sales team of 10 AEs, four sales managers and a digital media manager.
“Britt is always willing to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty. He does an excellent job of keeping morale at a high level, and we all know that is very hard to do in this industry,” Reed said.
He has served on several non-profit boards and currently serves on the Ranch Days Committee for the Hands to Hands Community Fund Board and the Priddy Foundation Board.
He has helped grow many businesses and organizations, both non-profit and for-profit.
Britt regularly speaks to Marketing, Mass Communication and Journalism classes to promote the “Boots on the Ground” opportunities at a local Television station.
“Britt is truly my ‘Right Hand Man.’ I could not operate at a high level without him. He is passionate and dedicated to our work, our mission and our industry,” Reed said.
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