On June 9, 2018, the SBE conducted a professionally facilitated, all-day strategic planning meeting attended by members of the Board, chapter chairs and national staff. The result was a list of 46 action steps to accomplish objectives of growing and retaining membership, attracting new and younger members to the SBE, and increasing participation in SBE activities among members.
SBE President Jim Leifer enlisted a special Strategic Planning Task Group to review the 46 action steps with the intent to prioritize, group and refine them to a manageable number. They brought their recommendations back to the Board at its meeting on Oct. 2, 2018. At that meeting, the Board adopted the recommendations, which identified 14 priority action steps, each assigned to one of three priority levels.
The Board voted to establish five task groups, enlist three of our existing committees and create a new Technologies Committee to research the resources and outline the steps needed to accomplish the objectives of the 14 action steps. The task groups will be chaired by members of the Board and include other SBE members, including other Board members. Each task group will have a member of the SBE staff assigned to it to serve as staff liaison.
On the task group and committee assignments, SBE President Jim Leifer said, “It’s important for the SBE to set specific plans to guide the future of our organization. This first round of tasks will lay a firm groundwork to help serve our current and future members more effectively and grow the SBE.”
Each task group and committee will research their assigned priorities (objectives), establish a list of action items to meet the objectives, recommend timelines for completion and assess the impact on SBE resources in terms of volunteers, staff and budget.
The following groups and group chairs have been established. Also shown are the first priority tasks assigned to each group, which have project deadlines for a report to be submitted at the April board meeting. Additional tasks have been assigned to each group, but those have later action dates.
Task Group 1
Chair: Wayne Pecena
Expanding SBE Membership Scope
Research the non-traditional tech professionals and begin to generate a list of other mediums that use similar skills and knowledge as traditional SBE members.
Task Group 2
Chair: Kirk Harnack
Expanding Member Participation
Create monthly virtual program for member engineers, technicians and other broadcast professionals, wherever they may be.
Task Group 3
Chair: Jim Leifer
Public Relations/Marketing
Research the advantages and disadvantages of redefining Society mission and name/branding. Task Group 3 to include several Executive Committee members and others. (Report due Oct. 15, 2019.)
Task Group 4
Chair: Kevin Trueblood
Public Relations/Marketing
Develop a “first responder” broadcast team, activated to help other broadcasters in time of disaster.
Task Group 5
Chair: Roz Clark
Website, App and Social Media
Bring website up to date, while keeping it functional. Research the advantages and disadvantages of an app and its application to SBE.
Certification Committee
Chair: Ralph Hogan
Certification
Expand SBE Certification programs to include newer technologies and review existing programs for their accuracy and relevance.
Publications Committee
Chair: Andrea Cummis
Expanding Member Participation
Create archive of program resources (tutorial videos) for use by individual members and chapters.
Social Networking Committee
Chair: Kirk Harnack
Public Relations/Marketing
Advocate the value proposition of SBE membership – education and certification, to broadcast management via state broadcaster associations and the NAB.
Website, App and Social Media
Improve and increase SBE social media presence, primarily to reach younger people.
Technologies Committee
Chair: Shane Toven
Strategic Planning
Create a Technologies Committee that includes Board and chapter representatives, dedicated to seeing that new technologies are integrated into SBE educational and certification programs.
Education
Identify content to educate an expanded scope of membership (the new audience).
Research and recommend to the Education Committee, and for purposes of certification, to the Certification Committee, expanded educational and training materials to include 5G and future multimedia content delivery technologies including streaming, OT and all non-traditional distribution mediums.
Board and Executive Committee
Chair: Jim Leifer
Strategic Planning
On an ongoing basis, regularly evaluate success/progress of strategic planning objectives and action items.
