Sennheiser Continues Mentorship Program With Two Major Sports Events

Sennheiser has made a habit of giving audio students hands-on broadcast experience through its mentorship program, which builds relationships between colleges and sports broadcasters. The company finished out 2010 by offering two big-game opportunities to students from the New England Institute of Art and Ball State University. In October and November, Sennheiser sponsored students to attend the broadcast of an HBO Pay-Per-View boxing event and the CBS broadcast of an NFL game, respectively. The mentorship program afforded the students a rare opportunity to shadow an A1 during a national live sports broadcast.

In Dallas, New England Institute of Art student Jeremy Paine worked alongside veteran A1 Randy Flick at a boxing match between Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao. The main event took place on Nov. 17 at 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,” Flick explains. “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,” Flick continues, “he was putting wireless mics on some of the trainers and referees. It really gave him a first-hand view of how things get done and how to get them done quickly.”

On Oct. 17, Ball State student Alex Kartman shadowed acclaimed A1 Phil Adler for a CBS broadcast of an NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders at Candlestick Park. Kartman got a behind-the-scenes view of the CBS crew’s NFL broadcast operations, both inside the truck and out, including setup, 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 says. “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.”

The Sennheiser program provided important learning opportunities 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 says.

Kartman concurs: “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.”