FastStart Radio Scholarship Provides Tuition for Minority Students

Posted in News on May 15, 2006

For the fifth year in a row, BMI is sponsoring the FastStart to Radio Success Minority Scholarship, a needs-based program that provides full tuition for 25 minority students to the Gary Fries Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) Radio Training Academy. The application deadline is June 30, 2006. Application forms and the schedule of classes, dates and locations can be found at www.RAB.com.

Recipients are selected by the FastStart Scholarship Committee, which bases its decision on various criteria including ethnicity, overall need, enthusiasm toward a career in radio sales, and recommendations from the applicant's professional associates. The committee includes radio industry professionals with credentials and/or interest in the ethnic and cultural diversity of the radio business.

Each scholarship is valued at $1,200. Recipients may choose either a one-week program at the RAB's Dallas campus, or a two-and-a-half-day extension program conducted in cities around the U.S. Over 100 scholarships have been awarded to date.

"Radio and the RAB are fortunate to again have the generous support of BMI on this very important initiative," noted Gary Fries, RAB President and Chief Executive Officer. "Since we embarked on this program five years ago, BMI has made it possible for some of radio's most promising individuals to benefit from invaluable learning experience at the Academy. We are delighted to partner with them again on a program that benefits the entire radio industry."

"BMI is proud to partner with the RAB and invest in the future of the radio industry through the FastStart Minority Scholarship Program for radio's minority sales executives," said Mike O'Neill, Senior Vice President, Licensing at BMI. "Since its inception five years ago, the scholarship has been awarded to over 100 applicants, providing them with the tools to help them build successful sales careers. It's been a rewarding program for us, and we're thrilled to be a part of the careers of so many talented individuals, as well as to participate in the future growth of radio."

"The FastStart program gave me a wonderful opportunity to not only learn about radio sales, but to also find the confidence within myself to be the best sales person I can be," said past scholarship recipient Isabella Laforet, Account Executive at WBLS FM in New York. "I returned to New York with more knowledge, drive and focus and I have been doing very well since then. I truly appreciate BMI and the RAB for recognizing the importance of diversity in our industry and giving young sales people like myself a platform to succeed!"

The Gary Fries RAB Radio Training Academy in Dallas, Texas, and the Academy Off-Campus Extension Program offer a variety of sales and management courses at beginner and advanced levels. For information on any of the RAB Training Academy programs, call 972-753-6756.

The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) is the sales and marketing arm of the radio industry with nearly 7,000 members including close to 6,000 stations in the U.S., and over 1,000 associate members in networks, representative firms, sales and international organizations.

SOURCENews TAGS Artists Isabella Laforet