Wayne Pecena, president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, has announced that long-time executive director of the SBE, John Poray, has shared his plans to retire at the end of 2020. Poray joined the SBE as executive director on Oct. 1, 1992. During his tenure, the SBE has seen growth in membership, and in the society’s certification, education and frequency coordination programs.
With the announcement, President Pecena added, “John has been a fixture of the SBE since 1992 who cannot be replaced. We can only seek to find a successor!”
Poray’s entire 43-year career has been in the field of non-profit organization management. Prior to the SBE, he served with the International Headquarters of Kiwanis International, The Apartment Association of Indiana, The Columbus (OH) Apartment Association, and began his career with the Central Ohio Council, Boy Scouts of America. Poray was the first full-time executive director hired by the SBE Board of Directors, led at the time by SBE President Richard Farquhar.
With his announcement, Poray said, “I have been blessed to have had a long and productive relationship with the SBE, working with many great members, national leaders and staff. Together, we have worked to grow the SBE in size and stature and I believe the SBE is positioned well to continue to serve the broadcast and media engineers into the future. I look forward to a busy 2020 for SBE while assisting the Board of Directors with the transition.”
In the coming weeks, President Pecena plans to meet with members of the Board of Directors to begin the search process for the next SBE executive director.
