Fredonia Radio honored at national conference for second straight year

Student members of Fredonia Radio Systems (FRS), along with their advisor, Dr. Laura Dean Johnson, attended the 72nd Annual Intercollegiate Broadcast Systems (IBS) Conference in New York City earlier this month. The cross-state trip was well worth it, as the team returned home with three new awards to add to its collection.

The IBS event is a three-day national conference that recruits high school and college radio delegates and webcasters from all over, offering sessions, tours, meet and greets, and live music. Panels feature an array of broadcasting professionals specializing in different areas. The sessions not only are a great way for students to get new knowledge and a broader understanding of the profession, but they also give students the opportunity to bring their own experience and success to the table.

This year, Fredonia Radio was nominated for four awards and won three, including Best On-Air Personality, which General Manager Jud Heussler won for second year in a row, as well as Best Show Promo and Most Creative Show, both of which were given to “The Morning Inferno,” one of the station’s most popular shows.

“I was quite excited that I actually won an award,” said Fredonia Radio News Director and Morning Show Co-host Jeff Wick. Wick attended the conference last year, but this was his first nomination. “I was kind of taken aback by the fact that I got an award and that I was announced twice.”

Heussler was recognized at last year’s conference with former general manager Nicholas Gunner, ’11, for their contribution to “The Morning Inferno,” winning Most Creative Show that year.

“It was really surprising. I didn’t think we would win the same awards time and time again,” said Heussler, a senior who has also been an on-air personality with Entercom Radio’s “Kiss 98.5 FM” in Buffalo the past two years. “But [it’s] kind of validating that what we do here is legitimate and that we really are a reputable radio program and we actually know what we are doing.” Fredonia Radio was also nominated in the Most Innovative Show category for its 2011 Fred Fest headline act announcement.

Despite being a small, community-based station competing against a variety of much larger, more widely known schools, FRS has managed to gain national notoriety, including being featured in The New York Times last fall, in addition to the multiple IBS honors. In the last two years Fredonia Radio has taken strides in building a distinguishable name. Winning back-to-back honors demonstrates how recognizable the organization has become and how hard work and ambition has paid off for this group of students.

To learn more, visit www.fredoniaradio.com or call 716-673-3420.