Sennheiser Continues Mentorship Program with Two Major Sports Events, Cultivating Young Talent

Dec. 15, 2010 - PRLog -- OLD LYME, Conn. – December 13, 2010: Audio specialist Sennheiser continues to bring valuable broadcast technology experience to professional audio students through its collaborations with major sports broadcasters and higher education institutions. In October and November, Sennheiser sponsored students from Boston's New England Institute of Art and Muncie, IN-based Ball State University to attend the broadcast of a major HBO pay-Per-View boxing event and the CBS broadcast of a National Football League (NFL) football game. The mentorship program afforded the students a rare and potentially life changing career opportunity: to shadow an A1 during a national live sports broadcast.
 
A Texas-Sized Boxing Match in Cowboys Stadium
The most recent Sennheiser mentorship event saw New England Institute of Art student Jeremy Paine working alongside veteran A1 Randy Flick at a Texas-sized HBO pay-per-view event: a boxing match between Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao.  The main event took place on November 17 at the spectacular new Cowboys Stadium, drawing an audience of approximately 40,000 fans.

Flick wasted no time in putting Paine to work over the course of his three-day experience: "Thursday, Jeremy was with me in the truck all day learning about how all of the communications interface throughout the stadium on a broad scale. "On Friday, we turned him loose with the A2s in the field and he helped in the building of the different broadcast stations around the stadium: at ringside, back in the locker rooms and in the RF transmit/receive sections of the building." By the time the show came around on Saturday, he was putting wireless mics on some of the trainers and referees. It really gave him a first-hand view how things get done and get them done quickly."
 
A Hard Hitting NFL Broadcast in San Francisco
A month earlier on October 17, Ball State University student Alex Kartman was given the opportunity to shadow another industry-acclaimed A1 -- Phil Adler -- for a CBS broadcast of a National Football League game: The 49ers vs. The Raiders at San Francisco's world-famous Candlestick Park. Kartman got a rare, behind the scenes view of the CBS crew's highly successful NFL broadcast operations -- inside the truck and out -- including set up, preparation and execution of live programming.

"Alex had already done some college-level remote work before he arrived on-site, so it was not a completely foreign environment for him" Adler recalls. "The experience must have been valuable, since students simply can't get this kind of knowledge in the classroom. Sennheiser has come up with a great program here, and to my knowledge, there is nothing else like it in the industry."

Cultivating the Elite Broadcast Talent of Tomorrow
Sennheiser's mentorship program was an outstanding learning forum for both students. "So many things in broadcast happen live and on the fly that you can't possibly learn it all in the classroom," Paine observes. "Being in the thrilling atmosphere of a live production was priceless; it was great to work alongside real professionals who have won top awards and acclaim for their craft," Kartman adds. 
 
"Initiatives like these are incredibly important for the future of the television industry and it is commendable that Sennheiser is able to provide such a strong program for youngsters," comments Jason Cohen, director of sports production at HBO. "To be successful, these programs need participation from networks like HBO. It is important not only to open the door for these individuals, but also to keep them involved and inspired." 

"We are pleased to see major networks like HBO and CBS, as well as fine institutions like New England Institute of Art and Ball State University, supporting our mentorship program," says David Missall, national market development, broadcast and film for Sennheiser. "By getting involved on such a grass roots level, we can all play a very important role in shaping the talent pool that will drive tomorrow's broadcast industry."

For more information on the Sennheiser Mentorship Program, visit http://www.sennheiserusa.com/mentor.