The inaugural Hubbard Radio Talent Institute debuts strong today (Monday, June 13) on the campus of Central Washington University in Washington State.



Ginny Morris, Chair and CEO of Hubbard Radio, opens the Institute followed by Larry Wilson, Founder and Chairman of Alpha Media. Keith Champagne, Associate Dean for Student Development and Scott Drummond, Associate Director of Campus Life and Activities at CWU, welcome the students. Erica Farber does the closing session ten days from now with “Now is the Time to Start Thinking like a Pro”.



Ginny Morris commented: “Compelling and relatable on-air talent is what separates local radio from all other audio entertainment services. Our investment in the National Radio Talent System at Central Washington University is an extension of Hubbard Radio’s commitment to do our part to nurture and grow the talent pipeline for the industry. We are proud to partner with Dan Vallie and his team in this important initiative.”



Marc Kaye, Vice President/Market Manager for Hubbard Seattle, will lead a session as will several of his team from the Seattle Hubbard cluster, including the Alan and Ashley morning show, Warm 106.9, broadcasting live on Friday morning with the students as the live studio audience.



Additional broadcast pros from the state and region leading sessions include Carl Gardner, Vice President/Market Manager of Bonneville International Seattle; Tim McNamara, Vice President/ Market Manager, Entercom Media Portland; Jackson Dell Weaver, General Manager, KAYO and KGY Olympia and Doug Harvill, Senior VP/Market Manager, CBS Radio San Francisco.



Associate Dean of Student Development, Keith Champagne, commented: “Having a nationally award winning college radio program in KCWU-FM, the partnership with Hubbard Radio and the National Radio Talent System was simply a perfect match.”



Greg Strassell, Senior VP/Programming for Hubbard Radio, headlines a programming session as does Ricky Villa, PD of MOViN 92.5; Ron Harrell, PD and Shellie Hart, Air Talent from WARM 106.9 Seattle; Adam West, Production/Imaging Director of Hubbard Seattle; Pete Gammell, Director of News and Programming, KIRO; Ron Upshaw of the Ron and Don Show at KIRO; Andy Winford, Brand Manager of KIT-AM and KATS-FM, Townsquare Media Yakima; Jaye Albright and Becky Brenner from Albright & O’Malley & Brenner Consulting and Jeff McHugh, Media Talent Coach, The Randy Lane Company.



The one day off campus is when the students are bused to Safeco Field and Century Link Field for sessions with Kevin Martinez, Vice President/Marketing, Seattle Mariners and Brian O’Connell, Director of Broadcasting, Seattle Seahawks, and Brock Huard, Co-Host of The Brock and Salk Show on KIRO 710 ESPN and Color Analyst for ESPN College Football.



Travis Box, radio veteran and General Manager of college radio station KCWU, said: “The unparalleled, professional foundation of Hubbard Radio, coupled with the expertise of the National Radio Talent System, will now give west coast student broadcasters the opportunity to launch their careers with an unprecedented skill-set and real-world understanding of the industry and what it takes to succeed.”

Dan Vallie, Founder and President of the National Radio Talent System, stated: “We are thrilled and flattered to have Hubbard partner with us to continue growing the talent farm system for radio, discovering, coaching, and incubating young talent who have a desire and passion to be in radio broadcasting. As critical as embracing technology is to our industry, eventually everyone has access to the same technology…what makes the difference, always has and always will, is people. This young talent is our future.”



To date, the majority of students completing an Institute began their career in radio or a related field and have gone on to work for Alpha Media, Entercom, CBS, iHeartMedia, Beasley Media Group, Cumulus, Commonwealth Communications, Greater Media, Curtis Media, Forever Communications, CNN, and others.



Individual broadcasters, groups or organizations who would like to join the National Radio Talent System in establishing and sponsoring a Radio Talent Institute on a campus in their state and region should contact DanVallie@NationalRadioTalentSystem.com or call 828-262-1502 or go to www.NationalRadioTalentSystem.com