Each year, the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the association for broadcast and multimedia technology professionals, conducts a member recruitment drive. The drive calls on current SBE members to encourage their non-member colleagues to join the association. This year, 65 individual members and three Sustaining members were recruited.
The SBE Membership Drive ran from March 1 until May 31. As a recruiting incentive to members, the SBE asks for prize donations from SBE sustaining member companies. In addition, the recruiter will earn $5 per new member (up to $25) off his or her 2024 membership dues. Eight sustaining member companies plus the SBE provided prizes this year, ranging from shirts and online hats to broadcast equipment. The SBE donated logo items, a copy of CertPreview, and a free Webinars by SBE registration. The theme for the 2023 drive was The SBE and You: The Perfect Fit.
All the recruiters were eligible for the Membership Drive Grand Prize: A trip the SBE National Meeting this fall. (A cash prize option is available if the winner is not able to travel to the SBE National Meeting.) That meeting will be held during the 2023 Midwest Broadcast & Multimedia Technology Conference in Columbus, OH. The Grand Prize winner this year is Randy Lee of KXXV-TV, Waco, TX.
The SBE thanks the sustaining members who provided prizes: BSW, Davicom, Dielectric, Heartland Video Systems, Nemal Electronics, Orban, Telos, and Tieline. The list of prizes and the winning recruiters will be published in the August 2023 issue of The Signal, the SBE’s bi-monthly newsletter, and on the SBE website.
The close of the drive resulted in 68 new recruited members, who were sponsored by 57 current members. The recruiters represent 43 different SBE chapters.
The SBE also recognizes the chapters that recruit the most members during the drive with the order Golden Recruiter Awards. Chapters are divided into two classes: Class A chapters are those with fewer members than the chapter member average, Class B are those with equal to or more than the chapter member average.
Golden Recruiter Award, Class A: 6 Montana, 21 Spokane, 38 El Paso, 86 Greenville Area, 148 Eastern Europe
Golden Recruiter Award, Class B: 39 Tampa Bay Area, 48 Denver
| Prize Donor | Prize | Winner | Location | Chapter |
| SBE | trip to the SBE National Meeting | Randy Lee | Waco, TX | 67 |
| BSW | Shure SM7B microphone | Robert Owen | Missoula, MT | 6 |
| Davicom | $50 Amazon gift card | Troy Jones | Shreveport, LA | 44 |
| Dielectric | Dielectric polo shirt | Andrea Cummis | West Orange, NJ | 15 |
| Dielectric | Dielectric polo shirt | Eric Scace | Boulder, CO | 48 |
| Heartland Video Systems | $100 Amazon gift card | Steven Heaton | Spencer, IA | |
| Heartland Video Systems | Rocketbook smart notebook | Martin Stabbert | Reno, NV | 139 |
| Heartland Video Systems | stadium throw | Heidi Roach | Luzerne, PA | 2 |
| Heartland Video Systems | Heartland Video Systems clear glass tumbler | William Floyd | Marfa, TX | 38 |
| Heartland Video Systems | Heartland Video Systems coffee mug | Isaiah Chavez | Largo, FL | 39 |
| Heartland Video Systems | Heartland Video Systems wireless charger | Zhulieta Ibisheva | Honolulu, HI | 50 |
| Heartland Video Systems | graph-ruled notebook | Robert Cram | Spokane, WA | 21 |
| Heartland Video Systems | Heartland Video Systems blue glass tumbler | Robert Cram | Spokane, WA | 21 |
| Nemal Electronics | $100 Amazon gift card | Cary Gaffney | Easley, SC | 86 |
| Orban | 1101e card and breakout cable | Marc Roost | Omaha, NE | 74 |
| Telos | iTunes gift card | Amanda Hopp | Aurora, CO | 48 |
| Telos | Telos swag bag | Isaiah Chavez | Largo, FL | 39 |
| SBE | SBE-logoed hat | Andrea Cummis | West Orange, NJ | 15 |
| SBE | copy of CertPreview | Peter Femal | Chicago, IL | 26 |
| SBE | SBE coffee mug and magnet | Dale Baker | Nashville, TN | 103 |
| SBE | SBE coffee mug and magnet | Christopher Pulliam | Aiken, SC | 101 |
| SBE | $25 gift certificate to the SBE Store/SBE Bookstore | Dean Phannenstiel | Edgewater, CO | 48 |
| SBE | Webinars by SBE registration | Richard Thomas | Okemos, MI | 91 |
| Tieline | Yeti insulated cup | Robert Owen | Missoula, MT | 6 |
| Tieline | Yeti insulated cup | Isaiah Chavez | Largo, FL | 39 |
| Tieline | Yeti insulated cup | David May | Lexington, KY | 35 |
