Director of media and technology
Wyoming Public Media, Laramie
Age: 30
In three words: “Persistent, strategic, supportive”
What colleagues say: Alec started out as a part-time data manager and recording technician in membership. This work expanded to recording and producing short audio modules for Wyoming nonprofits and cultural organizations. Then he began producing, scripting and editing Wyoming Public Media’s national podcasts and StoryCorps segments.
Somewhere along the line, Alec started hanging out with Wyoming Public Media’s engineers and discovered that he liked the world of towers, transmitters, generators, snow vehicles and construction sites. Before we knew it, he was an indispensable part of the engineering team, traveling hundreds of miles through Wyoming and living the nomadic life of our engineers. When a full-time position opened up in engineering, Alec kept moving up the learning ladder and acquiring his professional certifications.
What Alec says
Decision to work in public media: I always enjoyed listening to public radio. When I was in college, I started volunteering at Wyoming Public Media. I had many opportunities to become more involved, and eventually they led to a part-time job editing audio. After many years of applying myself to almost every opportunity, I was hired to a full-time engineering position.
Key accomplishments: Last summer I completed the build-out of the first two new signals that I designed and implemented. While there were mistakes made and lessons learned along the way, I was proud to see the two new signals launch, increasing our coverage and bringing WPM’s radio services into more homes.
Inspired by: My coworkers and mentors. I have been very lucky to have such knowledgeable, patient and passionate colleagues. When I entered this field, I had no RF [radio frequency] knowledge or experience, but I was able to learn and become a contributing member of the team.
Advice for young public media professionals: Try new things and take every chance you get to learn something new. You never know what untapped talents you may have.
Advice for public media leaders: Listen to the people you work with. They’re a smart crowd and you’ll learn from them.
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