May 1, 2019

UW-Superior student attends prestigious Public Radio Engineers Conference

UW-Superior student Eliot Sweere was awarded a scholarship to attend the Public Radio Engineers Conference in Las Vegas.

Eliot Sweere was one of only five college students to be nationally selected to attend the conference

Listening to the radio is usually a process done with a bit of a mindlessness task. Flip on the power, scan for the correct signal and enjoy music, news updates or the ball game. Yet in order for that process to happen, much needs to take place on the other end of signal. It’s this side of the dial that UW-Superior student Eliot Sweere finds most interesting.

At UW-Superior, Sweere has been involved for the last two years with the on-campus radio station and Wisconsin Public Radio affiliate KUWS. As a production tech director and sports board operations director he’s involved in much of the process in getting stories out to listeners.

With a knack for the technical aspect of radio and at the urging of Britny Williams, director of core engineering for Wisconsin Public Radio, Sweere applied for a scholarship to attend the Public Radio Engineers Conference (PREC) in Las Vegas.

“Prior to her suggestion, I had not even thought it was a possibility that I would make it out there,” said Sweere.

A communication major with a media focus and a minor in visual art, Sweere was one of only five college students to be nationally selected to attend the conference.

Over three days in April, the PREC featured a verity of presentations from industry experts from throughout the country. It also enabled Sweere the opportunity to form lasting connections.

“The best part of the conference for me was by far the networking I was able to do,” said Sweere, a third-year student from the Twin Cities. “I met some really awesome people that work in my industry – important, smart, and genuinely nice people. It was a great experience.”

Even for an industry insider like Sweere, the conference enabled him to discover more about what it takes to keep a radio station operational.

“I believe the main take away from the conference is just knowing how much work actually goes into each station and region,” said Sweere. “Between the transistor maintenance and the delegation of in-studio tasks, there’s so much going on behind the scenes that I never realized was happening.”

UW-Superior student Eliot Sweere was awarded a scholarship to attend the Public Radio Engineers Conference in Las Vegas.