On this week’s episode of Create Space, where we'll be recapping the Broadcast Educators Association Conference and the National Association of Broadcasters Convention. These are two of the largest gatherings of broadcast professionals, educators, and enthusiasts from around the world.
NAB and BEA were held in beautiful Las Vegas and this was my first year attending either one. I’d like to give a huge thanks for my department, The Elliott School of Communication, for funding the experience.
In this episode, we'll be discussing the biggest takeaways from NAB and BEA including educational sessions, industry trends, new technologies and keynote speakers.
Join me as I provide an insider's look into NAB and BEA, and let’s discuss together what all of this means for the future of the broadcast industry.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Welcome back
to Create Space, a podcast that finds joyin the art of storytelling.
Today I'm excited to tell youabout an amazing opportunity
that I had just a couple of weeks ago.
I guess three weeks ago now.
Thanks to funding that was providedby my department, the Elliott School
of Communication, I was able to travelto Las Vegas for a joint conference.
(00:31):
It was the Broadcast EducatorsAssociation conference and then also
the National Association of BroadcastersConvention, which was incredible.
All together it was five solid days
of technology, creativity, pedagogy,
and just getting to meet a tonof really amazing people in the industry.
(00:51):
So, I thought for the episode todaythat I would do a short recap for you.
I would just tell yousome of the things that I saw,
some of the things
that I got to experience and everythingthat I learned along the way.
First,let me give you a lay of the land. So,
we flew in on a Friday and the conferencedidn't begin until Saturday.
Now, this was also my very first timeever in Las Vegas.
(01:15):
So the first night, I just kind of took iteasy, walked the strip, walked
around the hotel and took everything inand sort of figured out where things were.
As you would guess, the sightsand the sounds
and just the sheeramount of people was really incredible.
I also haven't really traveledmuch since COVID, so
(01:36):
it took a little while for me to get usedto everything, to be honest with you.
And that evening, by the way,I also had a really delicious dinner.
It was scallops and angel hair pastain a lemon garlic cream sauce.
It was from the Seafood Shack at TreasureIsland Hotel, and it was so good.!
Okay, so that was the first night, right?
(01:58):
Then the second day was the first dayof the Broadcast
Educators Association Conference,and there were about,
I think, 900 or so peoplethat were signed up for that conference.
So, it was pretty small compared to what
the next couple of daysfelt like when NAB started,
when the National Associationfor Broadcasters Convention began.
(02:20):
That one brought in about 100,000 peoplefrom all over the world.
But honestly, it was nicehaving the first day be just be BEA
because it allowed me to get usedto the convention center, meet people,
you know, that were educatorsand were there for BEA before
we got overwhelmed by all of the NAB stuffthe next couple of days.
So, I went to two different panelsthat were about podcasting,
(02:42):
which were really interesting,
and there were actually several moresessions that were related to podcasting
that were being offeredthat just didn't end up
fitting into my schedulefor one reason or another.
It was definitely a very hot topicthis year at the conference,
and I can tellthat podcasting is not going anywhere.
People are very excited to talk about it.
So the first podcasting sessionthat I went to was all about ethics.
(03:05):
And this was interestingbecause something that we all know
and something that many people say isanyone can start a podcast, right?
Like literally anyone.
You know,no one has approved Create Space.
No one has told me, yes,you can make this podcast.
I didn't have to submit an applicationor anything like that.
I just recorded some stuffand then I published it.
(03:27):
Do I think I have valuable, trustworthyand ethical content?
Yes, I do.
But technically there are exactly zero
checks and balances in the podcast world.
So this conversation
about ethicsdoesn't apply a ton to Create Space,
since I'm not really tacklingsuper controversial issues or topics,
(03:50):
but where it has been a big issueand has been discussed
a lot is in the true crimegenre of podcasts.
So, the question that that session posedwas, is a true crime
podcast host, a de facto journalist,
and thus are they also expectedto uphold a journalist's
(04:11):
standard of ethics, which I thoughtwas a really good question.
And there were a variety of answerseven from within the panel.
So they tackled thingslike properly sourcing your information,
how much commentarythe host can and should include,
and then what types of permission,if any, should be required
from the victimsand or the victims' families?
(04:33):
Which really that ledto the overarching question
of "is it okay to sensationalizesomeone else's
tragedy for entertainment value?"That's a big question, right?
And it's the questionthat gets to the heart
of all true crimeentertainment that we see.
And there's a lot of it.
And I don't know exactlywhere that line is, to be honest with you.
(04:54):
It's a it's a convicting thoughtbecause I love true crime.
So, yeah, it was really interesting.
They also brought up whether or notit was a conflict of interest
for a podcast host to interview peoplethey know.
So like friends or familyor colleagues, things like that.
Now, I was really intrigued by thatbecause it's something that I
had not really considered.
(05:15):
I mean, let's just look at the pastepisodes I've done for Create Space.
I've interviewed my brother.
I've interviewed current and formerstudents of mine, friends from college.
I would say maybe a quarter of the peoplethat I've interviewed
have been peopleI didn't know prior to the podcast.
So I rely heavily on my own networkwhen I'm creating content
(05:37):
and the general consensus in the roomwas that
that's okayand that a lot of podcast hosts do that.
So, while it is
something
that journalists have to consider heavily,
we kind of all agreed that dependingon the podcast that you're hosting,
it's a little bit different of a mediumthan strict journalism.
(05:59):
So the general consensus there was that
as long as you're transparentabout who your sources are
and what your relationship is with them,then you're probably safe.
And like I said, all of these questionscome back to that
overarching question of are podcastersjournalists?
So for me, inherently, I would say no.
(06:19):
I think it depends very heavilyon the type of podcast that you're doing.
Although, while I wouldn't consider usto all be journalists, I do think that
there's an inherent responsibilitywhen you get behind the mic, right?
And we do have to honor and respect thatresponsibility and take it very seriously,
because regardlessof how many people we think are listening
(06:43):
or whether we think we're justmaking a podcast as a joke or whatever,
as soon as you put yourselfbehind the mic and publish it,
no matter how easy it is,
you need to take thatresponsibility seriously.
So that was a really cool session.
The second podcasting sessionI went to had an incredible panel.
I would argue this was probablymy favorite session I went to.
(07:05):
It was a panel of podcastproducers and voice actors,
so the panel included Kai Swanson fromElon University, Max Cotter from Toronto
Metropolitan University, David Nelsonfrom the University of Central Oklahoma
and Francisco Suarez from the StateUniversity of New York in Oswego.
Let me tell you,I left this session so inspired.
(07:26):
These were four of the most creative
and innovative thinkersthat I have ever experienced.
They talked about understandingthe value of your air time
and how podcasting has created a platformthat gives the power of speech
to those who have a story to tell.
So, as you would guess, the secondthe word story was mentioned,
(07:47):
I was immediately drawn in because that'sthe entire theme of my podcast.
That's what it's all about,
bringing voices to the tablethat might not otherwise be heard,
sharing stories to create communityand build empathy.
And all of that is builtinto the podcasting narrative
and the podcasting medium.
I particularly lovedlistening to Max Cotter.
(08:10):
So again, he was from Toronto Metropolitanand he's done a lot of work in the sci
fi realm and he discussedwhat's called world building and
the endless possibilitiesthere-in of using imagination and play
when it comes to your podcasts.
So, for example, he was talking aboutwhere they had to consider
what the end of the world would sound likebecause they had a dystopian
(08:34):
eco political satire podcastcalled No one Receiving,
and they had to createsounds that nobody had ever heard before.
The end of the world has not happened.
And so what they ended up doingwas they layered the sounds of a toaster
and a creme brulee torch and a synthesizerto create a sound that they felt like
worked within this fantasy worldthat they had created.
(08:57):
Now, let's moveon a little bit from podcasting.
Let's get to something else,
because I certainly experienced a lotof other things besides podcasting stuff.
I also attended a session on live sportsproduction,
and I went to this onebecause my colleague Kevin Hager,
who also was my travel buddyfor this conference, was presenting.
So it was himand a few other sports broadcasters,
(09:18):
and it was cool to get to see himin his element and discussing
all of the many applied learninginitiatives that we have available at WSU.
It was really validating,I think, to see how others in our field
reacted to him
talking about what we've doneand seeing the hands-on
components that Kevin has incorporatedinto his curriculum.
(09:41):
People reacted really welland it was validating
because it reminded me that we really doapplied learning
very well in our department.
For some context, so you have some ideaof kind of what I'm talking about.
We have a career pipelinethat students can use to go directly
into a production jobworking on ESPN broadcasts for sports.
(10:04):
It's pretty incredible.
And Kevin has builtthis completely from the ground up.
So Kevin teaches a class
called Live Sports Production,and he partners with a company,
a local company called Black Fox Crew,which is led by Todd Schwartz.
And Black Fox Crew is the productioncompany that contracts with ESPN
to broadcastall of our Shocker athletics events.
(10:26):
Students get to shadowand learn about all the positions
like directing,camera operations, graphics, replay,
all of that in a safe and relatively lowstakes, academic environment.
But then after that semester is over,many of them often transition
to working with Black Fox Crewin a paid position.
Now that's, of course,
(10:47):
assuming that they performedwell and got a good grade in the class.
So, that was really cool.
Getting to hear him
explain that career pipelineand seeing how people reacted to that.
I also wentto a session that focused on technology
within the pedagogical space,specifically software.
It addressed the questionthat I ask myself a lot,
(11:10):
and I know a lot of instructorsin tech-heavy spaces do as well,
which is the question of should I teachthe software itself in the class?
Should I demo the software in class?
Or conversely,
should I teach the concepts and strategiesin more of a platform agnostic way
and then let the students learn the techand software part on their own?
(11:31):
The reason forthat would be that the technologies change
every couple of yearsanyways. We know this.
This is a big question and forgive meif this is something
that you don't care about,but for educators in the technology space,
this is a really big, importantquestion. And when I saw
this session offered, I was like, "Ohmy gosh,
I have to go to this." And Kevinactually came with me to this one as well,
(11:52):
because it's something
that he and I have often struggled withas to whether to teach it in class or not.
Now, I have always taught softwareand tech in class,
and I think I probably always will,at least in some capacity.
The reason for that isif you don't have a foundation
from whichto apply the concepts and strategies,
(12:13):
then you won't be able to learnthose concepts and strategies effectively.
So if a student
takes a video editing class from meand I explain things like basic sequencing
or how to edit to music or what a threepoint edit is or basic color correction
and then I say, go figure that outin the software that they're using,
they probably can't do that
(12:33):
unless they already have a foundationin video editing, which some do.
And if they already have
a foundation in that,then in those cases, leaving a student
to apply the skill in the softwarethemselves can be fairly effective.
However, for a studentwho doesn't even understand
a non-linear editing interface,
that's going to be really difficultfor them to acclimate themselves
(12:56):
to a new software and also applythe new skills all on their own. So
for most students, the majority of them,that's going to be really difficult.
And that's why I tend to teach it in classto make sure
that they have a foundation,at least at those entry level classes.
Now, the other reason I do itand I will continue to do it
(13:16):
is because my student evaluationshave consistently indicated that
they really appreciate the in-class demoand that they find it helpful.
Now, when I do in-class demo, I typically
also include an asynchronous video demoso they can go back and look at it.
Because when you're demoing software,right?
It's a lot of "click this, look at thismenu item, do this, blah, blah, blah,"
(13:38):
and if you forget one step in the process,you can get yourself really stuck.
So an asynchronous video that accompaniesthe in-class, real-time demo
can be really helpful.
So at this point, you might be wonderingwhat the other side of the debate
is, right?
Because I've kind of made it soundpretty good to teach technology in class.
But the other side of the debate
is that there are so many different typesof cameras and software editing programs
(14:03):
and everything elsetechnology-related that there's no way
that you can teach them all.
And even if I could teach them all, newtechnology is released all the time,
so whatever you teach to studentsis most likely
not what they're going to usefive years from now anyways.
And that's absolutely true.
So I learned to edit on Final Cut Proand now I use Adobe Premiere.
(14:24):
I learned to shoot on a Canon camcorderthat recorded on mini DV tapes.
That'swhat I learned to shoot on in college.
And now my primary camerathat I choose to use is a Panasonic GH5
mirrorless camera that shoots on SD cards,like most camcorders do nowadays.
So do I wish that I hadn'toriginally been taught the Canon
(14:45):
Camcorder and Final Cut Prosince I'm no longer using that technology?
No, absolutely not.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
Every time you learna new software program or a new camera,
your brain gets better at learningnew technology in general.
Once you've learned how to usea certain interface, you know what
(15:05):
features and functionalities to look forthe next time you learn a new interface.
So if my class is the first timethat a student is attempting
to learn an editing software,then I don't just need to teach them
how to use that particularediting software,
but I need to teach themhow to learn a new software.
So I hope that that's making sense.
It feels a bit meta to say,but the truth is, knowing how to learn
(15:30):
technology is a skill in and of itself.
And if I can show students how to learnsomething new and how to problem solve,
then I know that they'll be able to adaptto new technology
as they continue to grow in their career.
Do I need to handhold and demonstrateevery single software program
and every single piece of techand every single function
(15:50):
within that softwareor tech that they're ever going to use?
No, but I need to guide themthrough the learning process
so that they can feel empoweredto do it on their own, later,
when new technological advances arise.
That's kind of my school of thought there.
The panel had a combination of ideas.
They didn't really answer the questiondefinitively.
(16:13):
They really had two peopleon the side of teaching tech in class
and two people on the side of letthat be supplementary outside of class.
But I appreciated that they didn't answerdefinitively
because I don't thinkthere is one completely right answer.
I kind of made it sound like there was,because I think that there is a
right answer for me
and my style of teaching,but there's a lot of situational context
(16:36):
there that makes the discussiona lot more nuanced.
Either way,
it was really interesting to hearwhat other instructors' thoughts were, and
also it was nice to hear that it'ssomething that many other instructors
struggle with because it is something
that I have really wrestledwith back and forth over the years.
Now, I also
want to tell you a little bitabout the session that I presented at.
(16:59):
I was on a drone paneland it was with two other video
production faculty named Julian Rodriguezand Dale Blasingame.
And we presented a panel discussionabout drone technology and it was titled
"Retracing the Future of Drones (17:12):
Courses, Projects, Photogrammetry
and Beyond." I really enjoyed this panel.
It was awesomegetting to know Julian and Dale
throughout the processof putting together our presentation
and then meeting them in personwhen we all got to Las Vegas,
as we'reall from different places in the country.
It was so much fun getting to talk dronesand learn with them.
(17:34):
You know, I have taught onecourse in drone videography so far
and I just got my FAA part 107commercial drone license just last summer.
So not even a full year ago yet.
While these guys have been flying for nineor ten years.
It was a great session and I was ableto add the intro part of the session
and then they were able to jump on to talkabout some of the more advanced projects
(17:57):
and photogrammetry and stuff thatthey have done with their drone courses.
After it was over,you know, it was very well attended.
We felt like it went well
and it's something that we want to tryto continue offering as the years go on.
So coming up with something dronerelated at each conference
and I'm excitedto explore that partnership going forward.
Now I've told you a tonabout the educational sessions,
(18:19):
but I haven't yet gotten into the NationalAssociation for Broadcasters Convention.
Like I said, this was the part
that had about 100,000 peoplefrom all across the world.
There were three differenthalls in the convention center,
and they were full of incredibleexhibitors.
I mean, some of the mostamazing technology that I've ever seen
(18:40):
and I love that BEA teams up with NAB,so that we can spend
the first couple of days,
you know, learning from and networkingwith other broadcast educators,
but then we also get to experienceeverything that is NAB as well,
because NAB is like the pinnaclefor any audio/video, anybody, right?
If you're in audio/video work,NAB is where you want to be.
(19:02):
This was actually the 100th yearof the NAB show.
Again, typically it's attendedby somewhere around 100,000 people.
One of my favorite things,one of the keynote speakers
this year was Brett Goldstein,who is an actor, writer and producer.
He's best known for his roleas Roy Kent in Ted Lasso.
So again, Kevin, my travel buddyand colleague, and I are both big Ted
(19:26):
Lasso fans and we both fangirled big timegetting to see Brett Goldstein speak.
Maybe Kevin even more so than me!
Brett was interviewed by AshleyNicole Black, who is also a writer
on Ted Lasso,and they both also write for the new show
Shrinking, which I haven't yet seen,but I've heard amazing things about.
And it should be notedthat Brett plays Roy in Ted Lasso, but
(19:49):
he is also a writer on the show as well,and in fact started out as a writer
and then was cast as RoyKent after the writing process had begun.
So that was really, really specialto get to see him.
Now, let's kind of finish offwith some of the cool tech stuff
that I saw on the NAB show floor.
There were so, so many things to see
(20:11):
and a lot of it was overmy head, to be honest with you.
But I did get to go check out a lotof the exhibits from some of the companies
that I regularly follow
and companies that we have equipmentwith at our department.
So DJI announced the Inspire 3 drone,which I was very excited to see.
It shoots in 8Kso you can blend it with Black Magic
(20:33):
cameras, Red cameras, things like that,and it's going to blend seamlessly.
It can capture footage in 360 degrees
and it looks to be just a fantasticprofessional filmography drone.
Now DJI also had the new Ronin 4D outand this thing looks amazing.
We have a DJI Ronin at our university,
(20:55):
but not this one, not the 4D.
This simplifies and streamlinesthe production process
because the cameraand the gimbal is all built into one.
So that's very different from whatwe've seen with the DJI Ronin in the past.
This is one seamless piece of equipment.
You can get incredible picture qualityand insane stability,
(21:16):
combined with a ton of flexibilityto kind of try out different shot types
because the whole contraptionis really lightweight and handheld.
So you don't have to have a large crewor a ton of add-on equipment
to use the Ronin 4D, which is greatand also is kind of uncommon
to see this amount of functionalityin a small lightweight handheld package.
(21:42):
Moving on to Canon.
Canon also had a few updates.
They had a firmware update to their EOS R5C, so not a new camera
but a new firmware update; and that'sa full-frame mirrorless cinema camera.
And with this new firmware update,
they've officially been approvedto shoot Netflix productions.
So that makes eight cameras totalthat are in that EOS Canon lineup
(22:05):
that are now approved to usefor Netflix submissions.
I also want to mention
Small Rig.
Small Rig has a new tripod out
that solves a problemthat we've all lived with for so long.
And as soon as I saw what feature
they had introduced,I immediately thought to myself, "Why?
Why has no one ever done this before?
Like, why have we not had a tripodthat did this?" Not
(22:28):
at least that I've ever seen.
Maybe they exist somewhere else.
But to me this was like completely new.
So what they didis they have a really nice, heavy duty,
carbon fiber tripodand they added a lever to it
that allows youto adjust all three legs at one time.
So what that means is that goneare the days of
having to have your tripod unstablefor a good
(22:51):
15 to 20 seconds while you extendall the legs individually.
And then you have to get them as closeto level as you can.
And then you have to use,
you know, the ball head or the fluidhead to make fine tuned adjustments.
So now you can just level it onceand then throughout your production
or throughout your shoot,you can adjust your tripod height as often
as you need, super quickly,without having to re-level at all.
(23:15):
So that was amazing.
I definitely want to look into these SmallRig tripods the next time we rebuy.
Now let's talk about some Adobe updates.
Adobe Premiere introduced a text-basedediting system, which is amazing.
This is a whole different way of editingfrom the traditional, non-linear timeline
(23:35):
editing and it's rivaling technologylike Descript,
which has become really popularin the podcast/videocast world.
I haven't worked with this feature
in Premiere yet,but I'm really excited to try it out
because it does seem to be the directionthat a lot of editors are going.
I have used text-basedediting in the beta version
(23:57):
of Adobe podcastand it's it's really slick,
but I can'twait to see how that text-based editing
is incorporated into the entire suiteof functionality of Premiere Pro.
If this becomes a viablemethod of editing,
this will completely changehow I teach a lot of my classes.
You know,I don't think that text-based editing
(24:17):
will replace traditional,non-linear editing,
and I think that I will always teachthe traditional,
non-linear way of editing,at least for the foreseeable future.
But, I would love to teach this newtext-based editing as an add-on for sure.
Moving on,
DaVinci Resolve releasedversion 18.5 today,
(24:38):
and they've enhanced a lot of toolswithin their software program as well.
DaVinci Resolve is a big competitorwith Adobe Premiere Pro.
They added some refinementsto the menu structure
and they also added an entirely new textmanipulation section
that also includes automatic transcriptionand edit to text.
(24:59):
So again, you can see that this text-basedvideo and audio editing
is becoming a really big contenderin the video editing world.
And they've also added
some additional auto-reframing toolsfor social media videos as well.
Da Vinci Resolve has really taken offover the past couple of years
as a really great, affordablealternative to Premiere Pro.
(25:22):
Arguably, Adobe is still the industrystandard for video editing,
but Resolve might be getting really closeto being on par...and
who knows, maybe eventually overtakingAdobe in the video editing space.
The big high points for Resolve
are that it's not a subscription packageand the basic software is completely free.
(25:43):
So if you want to buy the advanced one,you can.
But it's a one time payment versus AdobeCreative Cloud, which is, of course,
a subscription package.
And the basic software package that isfree for DaVinci Resolve is really robust.
There's a lot that you can do in itwithout even having to buy
the newer version.
A lot of my students that are usingResolve right now don't pay for it at all.
(26:05):
I do have several studentsusing Resolve right now.
I would say maybe, maybe only like 5%, 5to 10% in my classes,
but I expect to only see more of that overthe next couple of years.
Right now, I do all of my demoing in AdobeCreative Cloud using software
like Premiere Pro and Auditionand After Effects.
But I don't know, that might be changing.
(26:26):
I might need to add some demosfor DaVinci Resolve in there as well,
which of course
kind of goes backto our conversation of "do
we teach tech in class?"Because it definitely does make it harder
as an instructorthat you have to make sure
that you are continuing to learn and growand keep up with the different softwares
that are in play.
Because DaVinci Resolve is becominga pretty key player in this area.
(26:47):
That's an overview of everythingthat I got to experience
and learn at both BEA and NAB.
And like I mentioned,this was my very first time
attending either of those conferencesand my first time in Las Vegas.
So it was a really big deal for me.
I loved every second of it
and I am super hopeful to continueattending this conference in the future.
(27:08):
So again,I'd like to say thank you to my department
at the Elliott School of Communicationfor funding this experience.
And I'll say, "Seeyou next year, Las Vegas!"
Thank you so much for listeningto this week's episode.
It's not lost on methat this is kind of a niche episode.
It may not have hit for everyonein my listenership as it's, it's
quite targeted righttowards audio/video people.
(27:29):
But even if this wasn't your favoritestyle of episode, don't worry!
We've got a lotof really interesting interviews
with stellar storytellerscoming up in the next couple of weeks.
Next week,we're going to talk to Kyle Ellison.
He is the executivedirector of Heroes Academy.
And we're going to discusshow he's empowering young people
to write their own narrativesregardless of the circumstances
(27:51):
they've been given or whatthey've been told that they have to be.
Then the week after that,I sit down with local author
Matt Calhoun to talk about his book,The Knowledge of Sin.
And guys, it's so good.
I started reading The Knowledge of Sinon the plane ride home from Las Vegas,
and then I ended up
finishing the entire thing in one daybecause I got completely hooked on it.
(28:13):
So we don't, you know, say any spoilersin the interview with Matt,
so you don't have to have read it beforeyou listen to the podcast.
But I will sayI think it would be a lot more interesting
to listenif you had already read the book.
That's going to bein a couple of weeks, about two weeks. So
if you want to go out and get the book nowso you can be prepared
for when that comes out,I would highly suggest it.
(28:36):
So thank you againfor tuning in this week.
This is something that I look forwardto every single week, and I'm honored
that you all take the time to listento this little passion project of mine.
Have a great week and I'll see younext time on Create Space.
Welcome back
to Create Space, a podcast that finds joyin the art of storytelling.
Today I'm excited to tell youabout an amazing opportunity
that I had just a couple of weeks ago.
I guess three weeks ago now.
Thanks to funding that was providedby my department, the Elliott School
of Communication, I was able to travelto Las Vegas for a joint conference.
(00:31):
It was the Broadcast EducatorsAssociation conference and then also
the National Association of BroadcastersConvention, which was incredible.
All together it was five solid days
of technology, creativity, pedagogy,
and just getting to meet a tonof really amazing people in the industry.
(00:51):
So, I thought for the episode todaythat I would do a short recap for you.
I would just tell yousome of the things that I saw,
some of the things
that I got to experience and everythingthat I learned along the way.
First,let me give you a lay of the land. So,
we flew in on a Friday and the conferencedidn't begin until Saturday.
Now, this was also my very first timeever in Las Vegas.
(01:15):
So the first night, I just kind of took iteasy, walked the strip, walked
around the hotel and took everything inand sort of figured out where things were.
As you would guess, the sightsand the sounds
and just the sheeramount of people was really incredible.
I also haven't really traveledmuch since COVID, so
(01:36):
it took a little while for me to get usedto everything, to be honest with you.
And that evening, by the way,I also had a really delicious dinner.
It was scallops and angel hair pastain a lemon garlic cream sauce.
It was from the Seafood Shack at TreasureIsland Hotel, and it was so good.!
Okay, so that was the first night, right?
(01:58):
Then the second day was the first dayof the Broadcast
Educators Association Conference,and there were about,
I think, 900 or so peoplethat were signed up for that conference.
So, it was pretty small compared to what
the next couple of daysfelt like when NAB started,
when the National Associationfor Broadcasters Convention began.
(02:20):
That one brought in about 100,000 peoplefrom all over the world.
But honestly, it was nicehaving the first day be just be BEA
because it allowed me to get usedto the convention center, meet people,
you know, that were educatorsand were there for BEA before
we got overwhelmed by all of the NAB stuffthe next couple of days.
So, I went to two different panelsthat were about podcasting,
(02:42):
which were really interesting,
and there were actually several moresessions that were related to podcasting
that were being offeredthat just didn't end up
fitting into my schedulefor one reason or another.
It was definitely a very hot topicthis year at the conference,
and I can tellthat podcasting is not going anywhere.
People are very excited to talk about it.
So the first podcasting sessionthat I went to was all about ethics.
(03:05):
And this was interestingbecause something that we all know
and something that many people say isanyone can start a podcast, right?
Like literally anyone.
You know,no one has approved Create Space.
No one has told me, yes,you can make this podcast.
I didn't have to submit an applicationor anything like that.
I just recorded some stuffand then I published it.
(03:27):
Do I think I have valuable, trustworthyand ethical content?
Yes, I do.
But technically there are exactly zero
checks and balances in the podcast world.
So this conversation
about ethicsdoesn't apply a ton to Create Space,
since I'm not really tacklingsuper controversial issues or topics,
(03:50):
but where it has been a big issueand has been discussed
a lot is in the true crimegenre of podcasts.
So, the question that that session posedwas, is a true crime
podcast host, a de facto journalist,
and thus are they also expectedto uphold a journalist's
(04:11):
standard of ethics, which I thoughtwas a really good question.
And there were a variety of answerseven from within the panel.
So they tackled thingslike properly sourcing your information,
how much commentarythe host can and should include,
and then what types of permission,if any, should be required
from the victimsand or the victims' families?
(04:33):
Which really that ledto the overarching question
of "is it okay to sensationalizesomeone else's
tragedy for entertainment value?"That's a big question, right?
And it's the questionthat gets to the heart
of all true crimeentertainment that we see.
And there's a lot of it.
And I don't know exactlywhere that line is, to be honest with you.
(04:54):
It's a it's a convicting thoughtbecause I love true crime.
So, yeah, it was really interesting.
They also brought up whether or notit was a conflict of interest
for a podcast host to interview peoplethey know.
So like friends or familyor colleagues, things like that.
Now, I was really intrigued by thatbecause it's something that I
had not really considered.
(05:15):
I mean, let's just look at the pastepisodes I've done for Create Space.
I've interviewed my brother.
I've interviewed current and formerstudents of mine, friends from college.
I would say maybe a quarter of the peoplethat I've interviewed
have been peopleI didn't know prior to the podcast.
So I rely heavily on my own networkwhen I'm creating content
(05:37):
and the general consensus in the roomwas that
that's okayand that a lot of podcast hosts do that.
So, while it is
something
that journalists have to consider heavily,
we kind of all agreed that dependingon the podcast that you're hosting,
it's a little bit different of a mediumthan strict journalism.
(05:59):
So the general consensus there was that
as long as you're transparentabout who your sources are
and what your relationship is with them,then you're probably safe.
And like I said, all of these questionscome back to that
overarching question of are podcastersjournalists?
So for me, inherently, I would say no.
(06:19):
I think it depends very heavilyon the type of podcast that you're doing.
Although, while I wouldn't consider usto all be journalists, I do think that
there's an inherent responsibilitywhen you get behind the mic, right?
And we do have to honor and respect thatresponsibility and take it very seriously,
because regardlessof how many people we think are listening
(06:43):
or whether we think we're justmaking a podcast as a joke or whatever,
as soon as you put yourselfbehind the mic and publish it,
no matter how easy it is,
you need to take thatresponsibility seriously.
So that was a really cool session.
The second podcasting sessionI went to had an incredible panel.
I would argue this was probablymy favorite session I went to.
(07:05):
It was a panel of podcastproducers and voice actors,
so the panel included Kai Swanson fromElon University, Max Cotter from Toronto
Metropolitan University, David Nelsonfrom the University of Central Oklahoma
and Francisco Suarez from the StateUniversity of New York in Oswego.
Let me tell you,I left this session so inspired.
(07:26):
These were four of the most creative
and innovative thinkersthat I have ever experienced.
They talked about understandingthe value of your air time
and how podcasting has created a platformthat gives the power of speech
to those who have a story to tell.
So, as you would guess, the secondthe word story was mentioned,
(07:47):
I was immediately drawn in because that'sthe entire theme of my podcast.
That's what it's all about,
bringing voices to the tablethat might not otherwise be heard,
sharing stories to create communityand build empathy.
And all of that is builtinto the podcasting narrative
and the podcasting medium.
I particularly lovedlistening to Max Cotter.
(08:10):
So again, he was from Toronto Metropolitanand he's done a lot of work in the sci
fi realm and he discussedwhat's called world building and
the endless possibilitiesthere-in of using imagination and play
when it comes to your podcasts.
So, for example, he was talking aboutwhere they had to consider
what the end of the world would sound likebecause they had a dystopian
(08:34):
eco political satire podcastcalled No one Receiving,
and they had to createsounds that nobody had ever heard before.
The end of the world has not happened.
And so what they ended up doingwas they layered the sounds of a toaster
and a creme brulee torch and a synthesizerto create a sound that they felt like
worked within this fantasy worldthat they had created.
(08:57):
Now, let's moveon a little bit from podcasting.
Let's get to something else,
because I certainly experienced a lotof other things besides podcasting stuff.
I also attended a session on live sportsproduction,
and I went to this onebecause my colleague Kevin Hager,
who also was my travel buddyfor this conference, was presenting.
So it was himand a few other sports broadcasters,
(09:18):
and it was cool to get to see himin his element and discussing
all of the many applied learninginitiatives that we have available at WSU.
It was really validating,I think, to see how others in our field
reacted to him
talking about what we've doneand seeing the hands-on
components that Kevin has incorporatedinto his curriculum.
(09:41):
People reacted really welland it was validating
because it reminded me that we really doapplied learning
very well in our department.
For some context, so you have some ideaof kind of what I'm talking about.
We have a career pipelinethat students can use to go directly
into a production jobworking on ESPN broadcasts for sports.
(10:04):
It's pretty incredible.
And Kevin has builtthis completely from the ground up.
So Kevin teaches a class
called Live Sports Production,and he partners with a company,
a local company called Black Fox Crew,which is led by Todd Schwartz.
And Black Fox Crew is the productioncompany that contracts with ESPN
to broadcastall of our Shocker athletics events.
(10:26):
Students get to shadowand learn about all the positions
like directing,camera operations, graphics, replay,
all of that in a safe and relatively lowstakes, academic environment.
But then after that semester is over,many of them often transition
to working with Black Fox Crewin a paid position.
Now that's, of course,
(10:47):
assuming that they performedwell and got a good grade in the class.
So, that was really cool.
Getting to hear him
explain that career pipelineand seeing how people reacted to that.
I also wentto a session that focused on technology
within the pedagogical space,specifically software.
It addressed the questionthat I ask myself a lot,
(11:10):
and I know a lot of instructorsin tech-heavy spaces do as well,
which is the question of should I teachthe software itself in the class?
Should I demo the software in class?
Or conversely,
should I teach the concepts and strategiesin more of a platform agnostic way
and then let the students learn the techand software part on their own?
(11:31):
The reason forthat would be that the technologies change
every couple of yearsanyways. We know this.
This is a big question and forgive meif this is something
that you don't care about,but for educators in the technology space,
this is a really big, importantquestion. And when I saw
this session offered, I was like, "Ohmy gosh,
I have to go to this." And Kevinactually came with me to this one as well,
(11:52):
because it's something
that he and I have often struggled withas to whether to teach it in class or not.
Now, I have always taught softwareand tech in class,
and I think I probably always will,at least in some capacity.
The reason for that isif you don't have a foundation
from whichto apply the concepts and strategies,
(12:13):
then you won't be able to learnthose concepts and strategies effectively.
So if a student
takes a video editing class from meand I explain things like basic sequencing
or how to edit to music or what a threepoint edit is or basic color correction
and then I say, go figure that outin the software that they're using,
they probably can't do that
(12:33):
unless they already have a foundationin video editing, which some do.
And if they already have
a foundation in that,then in those cases, leaving a student
to apply the skill in the softwarethemselves can be fairly effective.
However, for a studentwho doesn't even understand
a non-linear editing interface,
that's going to be really difficultfor them to acclimate themselves
(12:56):
to a new software and also applythe new skills all on their own. So
for most students, the majority of them,that's going to be really difficult.
And that's why I tend to teach it in classto make sure
that they have a foundation,at least at those entry level classes.
Now, the other reason I do itand I will continue to do it
(13:16):
is because my student evaluationshave consistently indicated that
they really appreciate the in-class demoand that they find it helpful.
Now, when I do in-class demo, I typically
also include an asynchronous video demoso they can go back and look at it.
Because when you're demoing software,right?
It's a lot of "click this, look at thismenu item, do this, blah, blah, blah,"
(13:38):
and if you forget one step in the process,you can get yourself really stuck.
So an asynchronous video that accompaniesthe in-class, real-time demo
can be really helpful.
So at this point, you might be wonderingwhat the other side of the debate
is, right?
Because I've kind of made it soundpretty good to teach technology in class.
But the other side of the debate
is that there are so many different typesof cameras and software editing programs
(14:03):
and everything elsetechnology-related that there's no way
that you can teach them all.
And even if I could teach them all, newtechnology is released all the time,
so whatever you teach to studentsis most likely
not what they're going to usefive years from now anyways.
And that's absolutely true.
So I learned to edit on Final Cut Proand now I use Adobe Premiere.
(14:24):
I learned to shoot on a Canon camcorderthat recorded on mini DV tapes.
That'swhat I learned to shoot on in college.
And now my primary camerathat I choose to use is a Panasonic GH5
mirrorless camera that shoots on SD cards,like most camcorders do nowadays.
So do I wish that I hadn'toriginally been taught the Canon
(14:45):
Camcorder and Final Cut Prosince I'm no longer using that technology?
No, absolutely not.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
Every time you learna new software program or a new camera,
your brain gets better at learningnew technology in general.
Once you've learned how to usea certain interface, you know what
(15:05):
features and functionalities to look forthe next time you learn a new interface.
So if my class is the first timethat a student is attempting
to learn an editing software,then I don't just need to teach them
how to use that particularediting software,
but I need to teach themhow to learn a new software.
So I hope that that's making sense.
It feels a bit meta to say,but the truth is, knowing how to learn
(15:30):
technology is a skill in and of itself.
And if I can show students how to learnsomething new and how to problem solve,
then I know that they'll be able to adaptto new technology
as they continue to grow in their career.
Do I need to handhold and demonstrateevery single software program
and every single piece of techand every single function
(15:50):
within that softwareor tech that they're ever going to use?
No, but I need to guide themthrough the learning process
so that they can feel empoweredto do it on their own, later,
when new technological advances arise.
That's kind of my school of thought there.
The panel had a combination of ideas.
They didn't really answer the questiondefinitively.
(16:13):
They really had two peopleon the side of teaching tech in class
and two people on the side of letthat be supplementary outside of class.
But I appreciated that they didn't answerdefinitively
because I don't thinkthere is one completely right answer.
I kind of made it sound like there was,because I think that there is a
right answer for me
and my style of teaching,but there's a lot of situational context
(16:36):
there that makes the discussiona lot more nuanced.
Either way,
it was really interesting to hearwhat other instructors' thoughts were, and
also it was nice to hear that it'ssomething that many other instructors
struggle with because it is something
that I have really wrestledwith back and forth over the years.
Now, I also
want to tell you a little bitabout the session that I presented at.
(16:59):
I was on a drone paneland it was with two other video
production faculty named Julian Rodriguezand Dale Blasingame.
And we presented a panel discussionabout drone technology and it was titled
"Retracing the Future of Drones (17:12):
Courses, Projects, Photogrammetry
and Beyond." I really enjoyed this panel.
It was awesomegetting to know Julian and Dale
throughout the processof putting together our presentation
and then meeting them in personwhen we all got to Las Vegas,
as we'reall from different places in the country.
It was so much fun getting to talk dronesand learn with them.
(17:34):
You know, I have taught onecourse in drone videography so far
and I just got my FAA part 107commercial drone license just last summer.
So not even a full year ago yet.
While these guys have been flying for nineor ten years.
It was a great session and I was ableto add the intro part of the session
and then they were able to jump on to talkabout some of the more advanced projects
(17:57):
and photogrammetry and stuff thatthey have done with their drone courses.
After it was over,you know, it was very well attended.
We felt like it went well
and it's something that we want to tryto continue offering as the years go on.
So coming up with something dronerelated at each conference
and I'm excitedto explore that partnership going forward.
Now I've told you a tonabout the educational sessions,
(18:19):
but I haven't yet gotten into the NationalAssociation for Broadcasters Convention.
Like I said, this was the part
that had about 100,000 peoplefrom all across the world.
There were three differenthalls in the convention center,
and they were full of incredibleexhibitors.
I mean, some of the mostamazing technology that I've ever seen
(18:40):
and I love that BEA teams up with NAB,so that we can spend
the first couple of days,
you know, learning from and networkingwith other broadcast educators,
but then we also get to experienceeverything that is NAB as well,
because NAB is like the pinnaclefor any audio/video, anybody, right?
If you're in audio/video work,NAB is where you want to be.
(19:02):
This was actually the 100th yearof the NAB show.
Again, typically it's attendedby somewhere around 100,000 people.
One of my favorite things,one of the keynote speakers
this year was Brett Goldstein,who is an actor, writer and producer.
He's best known for his roleas Roy Kent in Ted Lasso.
So again, Kevin, my travel buddyand colleague, and I are both big Ted
(19:26):
Lasso fans and we both fangirled big timegetting to see Brett Goldstein speak.
Maybe Kevin even more so than me!
Brett was interviewed by AshleyNicole Black, who is also a writer
on Ted Lasso,and they both also write for the new show
Shrinking, which I haven't yet seen,but I've heard amazing things about.
And it should be notedthat Brett plays Roy in Ted Lasso, but
(19:49):
he is also a writer on the show as well,and in fact started out as a writer
and then was cast as RoyKent after the writing process had begun.
So that was really, really specialto get to see him.
Now, let's kind of finish offwith some of the cool tech stuff
that I saw on the NAB show floor.
There were so, so many things to see
(20:11):
and a lot of it was overmy head, to be honest with you.
But I did get to go check out a lotof the exhibits from some of the companies
that I regularly follow
and companies that we have equipmentwith at our department.
So DJI announced the Inspire 3 drone,which I was very excited to see.
It shoots in 8Kso you can blend it with Black Magic
(20:33):
cameras, Red cameras, things like that,and it's going to blend seamlessly.
It can capture footage in 360 degrees
and it looks to be just a fantasticprofessional filmography drone.
Now DJI also had the new Ronin 4D outand this thing looks amazing.
We have a DJI Ronin at our university,
(20:55):
but not this one, not the 4D.
This simplifies and streamlinesthe production process
because the cameraand the gimbal is all built into one.
So that's very different from whatwe've seen with the DJI Ronin in the past.
This is one seamless piece of equipment.
You can get incredible picture qualityand insane stability,
(21:16):
combined with a ton of flexibilityto kind of try out different shot types
because the whole contraptionis really lightweight and handheld.
So you don't have to have a large crewor a ton of add-on equipment
to use the Ronin 4D, which is greatand also is kind of uncommon
to see this amount of functionalityin a small lightweight handheld package.
(21:42):
Moving on to Canon.
Canon also had a few updates.
They had a firmware update to their EOS R5C, so not a new camera
but a new firmware update; and that'sa full-frame mirrorless cinema camera.
And with this new firmware update,
they've officially been approvedto shoot Netflix productions.
So that makes eight cameras totalthat are in that EOS Canon lineup
(22:05):
that are now approved to usefor Netflix submissions.
I also want to mention
Small Rig.
Small Rig has a new tripod out
that solves a problemthat we've all lived with for so long.
And as soon as I saw what feature
they had introduced,I immediately thought to myself, "Why?
Why has no one ever done this before?
Like, why have we not had a tripodthat did this?" Not
(22:28):
at least that I've ever seen.
Maybe they exist somewhere else.
But to me this was like completely new.
So what they didis they have a really nice, heavy duty,
carbon fiber tripodand they added a lever to it
that allows youto adjust all three legs at one time.
So what that means is that goneare the days of
having to have your tripod unstablefor a good
(22:51):
15 to 20 seconds while you extendall the legs individually.
And then you have to get them as closeto level as you can.
And then you have to use,
you know, the ball head or the fluidhead to make fine tuned adjustments.
So now you can just level it onceand then throughout your production
or throughout your shoot,you can adjust your tripod height as often
as you need, super quickly,without having to re-level at all.
(23:15):
So that was amazing.
I definitely want to look into these SmallRig tripods the next time we rebuy.
Now let's talk about some Adobe updates.
Adobe Premiere introduced a text-basedediting system, which is amazing.
This is a whole different way of editingfrom the traditional, non-linear timeline
(23:35):
editing and it's rivaling technologylike Descript,
which has become really popularin the podcast/videocast world.
I haven't worked with this feature
in Premiere yet,but I'm really excited to try it out
because it does seem to be the directionthat a lot of editors are going.
I have used text-basedediting in the beta version
(23:57):
of Adobe podcastand it's it's really slick,
but I can'twait to see how that text-based editing
is incorporated into the entire suiteof functionality of Premiere Pro.
If this becomes a viablemethod of editing,
this will completely changehow I teach a lot of my classes.
You know,I don't think that text-based editing
(24:17):
will replace traditional,non-linear editing,
and I think that I will always teachthe traditional,
non-linear way of editing,at least for the foreseeable future.
But, I would love to teach this newtext-based editing as an add-on for sure.
Moving on,
DaVinci Resolve releasedversion 18.5 today,
(24:38):
and they've enhanced a lot of toolswithin their software program as well.
DaVinci Resolve is a big competitorwith Adobe Premiere Pro.
They added some refinementsto the menu structure
and they also added an entirely new textmanipulation section
that also includes automatic transcriptionand edit to text.
(24:59):
So again, you can see that this text-basedvideo and audio editing
is becoming a really big contenderin the video editing world.
And they've also added
some additional auto-reframing toolsfor social media videos as well.
Da Vinci Resolve has really taken offover the past couple of years
as a really great, affordablealternative to Premiere Pro.
(25:22):
Arguably, Adobe is still the industrystandard for video editing,
but Resolve might be getting really closeto being on par...and
who knows, maybe eventually overtakingAdobe in the video editing space.
The big high points for Resolve
are that it's not a subscription packageand the basic software is completely free.
(25:43):
So if you want to buy the advanced one,you can.
But it's a one time payment versus AdobeCreative Cloud, which is, of course,
a subscription package.
And the basic software package that isfree for DaVinci Resolve is really robust.
There's a lot that you can do in itwithout even having to buy
the newer version.
A lot of my students that are usingResolve right now don't pay for it at all.
(26:05):
I do have several studentsusing Resolve right now.
I would say maybe, maybe only like 5%, 5to 10% in my classes,
but I expect to only see more of that overthe next couple of years.
Right now, I do all of my demoing in AdobeCreative Cloud using software
like Premiere Pro and Auditionand After Effects.
But I don't know, that might be changing.
(26:26):
I might need to add some demosfor DaVinci Resolve in there as well,
which of course
kind of goes backto our conversation of "do
we teach tech in class?"Because it definitely does make it harder
as an instructorthat you have to make sure
that you are continuing to learn and growand keep up with the different softwares
that are in play.
Because DaVinci Resolve is becominga pretty key player in this area.
(26:47):
That's an overview of everythingthat I got to experience
and learn at both BEA and NAB.
And like I mentioned,this was my very first time
attending either of those conferencesand my first time in Las Vegas.
So it was a really big deal for me.
I loved every second of it
and I am super hopeful to continueattending this conference in the future.
(27:08):
So again,I'd like to say thank you to my department
at the Elliott School of Communicationfor funding this experience.
And I'll say, "Seeyou next year, Las Vegas!"
Thank you so much for listeningto this week's episode.
It's not lost on methat this is kind of a niche episode.
It may not have hit for everyonein my listenership as it's, it's
quite targeted righttowards audio/video people.
(27:29):
But even if this wasn't your favoritestyle of episode, don't worry!
We've got a lotof really interesting interviews
with stellar storytellerscoming up in the next couple of weeks.
Next week,we're going to talk to Kyle Ellison.
He is the executivedirector of Heroes Academy.
And we're going to discusshow he's empowering young people
to write their own narrativesregardless of the circumstances
(27:51):
they've been given or whatthey've been told that they have to be.
Then the week after that,I sit down with local author
Matt Calhoun to talk about his book,The Knowledge of Sin.
And guys, it's so good.
I started reading The Knowledge of Sinon the plane ride home from Las Vegas,
and then I ended up
finishing the entire thing in one daybecause I got completely hooked on it.
(28:13):
So we don't, you know, say any spoilersin the interview with Matt,
so you don't have to have read it beforeyou listen to the podcast.
But I will sayI think it would be a lot more interesting
to listenif you had already read the book.
That's going to bein a couple of weeks, about two weeks. So
if you want to go out and get the book nowso you can be prepared
for when that comes out,I would highly suggest it.
(28:36):
So thank you againfor tuning in this week.
This is something that I look forwardto every single week, and I'm honored
that you all take the time to listento this little passion project of mine.
Have a great week and I'll see younext time on Create Space.
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