by Kelly Rogge
Audio professionals, students and interested community members visited Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Thomas R. Burke Technical Education Center recently as the audio engineering program was host to “Pro Audio KC!”
The event, which was Sept. 22, was designed to allow individuals to network and find out about what everyone does in the pro audio industry in the Kansas City area.
More than 25 people attended the event, which was the first open to all, non-specific professional organization activity held in Kansas City. Students from KCKCC, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Central Missouri also attended.
Companies represented included:
• 825 Studios
• BRC Audio Productions
• Chapman Recording
• Crayton Corp.
• Element Recording
• Josh Barber Recording
• Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
• KCKCC
• Missouri Western State University
• MixNaster
• off-beat-open-hats recoding and sound reinforcement
• Platte Woods United Methodist Church
• UMKC
• Unlabeled Records
At the event, those attending introduced themselves, spoke about what they do, how they ended up doing what they do and then took questions from the other participants. Some showed video content, while others played some of their audio work. After the initial introductions, light snacks and refreshments were available, and attendees had the opportunity to network and talk in smaller groups or individually.
Ian Corbett, audio engineering professor at KCKCC and event organizer, said he wishes to repeat Pro Audio KC! several times a year, perhaps eventually opening it up to more sectors of the industry, and rotating it around different host venues in the city.
“The event was incredibly informative, and some great information and insights were shared,” he said. “Next time we’ll have a timer for the introduction section of the evening, so more time can be spent more sociably rather than in ‘presentation” format.’”
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.