BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A Bethlehem woman has taken first place among her student radio station peers from across the country.
Devon Koch, business manager at Kutztown University radio station KUR-AM 1670, won Best Business Director (Radio) this month at the 86th Annual Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Awards.
Koch is a junior majoring in Animated Arts and minoring in Cinema, Television and Media Arts.
KUR also took runner-up in five categories: Best On-Air Pledge Drive, Best Specialty Music Show, Best Sports Play-by-Play/Women's Basketball, Best Sports Pre-Game/Post-Game Show and Best Use of Video in the Radio Studio.
Last year the station won gold for “Best On-Air Pledge Drive” for its 1866 Minute Giving Challenge, a team on which Koch also participated.
Koch is a daughter of Karen Koch of Bethlehem and Dan Koch and expects to graduate next spring.
Koch sat down with LehighValleyNews.com to describe her role as business manager and why she thinks she came in first place in the country.
Here's an edited transcript of the interview:
What do you do as KUR’s business manager, and why do you think you beat the competition? Congratulations!
Koch: "I mostly deal with the club budget and any purchase requests/orders we make. I go through the system to approve those all, put the orders in, and handle anything if something comes up money-wise.
"I also have worked to design and order merchandise for our station/club, including KUR stickers and anniversary t-shirts that will be at KUR’s anniversary party this spring.
"Other than that, I also work with the rest of the club board members and the advisor, to plan events for the club and handle all of the technical things we need to do.
"Oh! And I write up the budget for the next academic year, so that we can get a good budget each year to continue improving our club/station.
"And thank you! It was such an honor to have won out of all the other stations who were at IBS.
"I think one of the main reasons I won was due to what the vice president, Abby Regensburger, wrote about me. For the individual awards such as the one I won, other board members [students] submit letters on the other person’s behalf, and she wrote the one to nominate me.
"It just makes me happy being able to do something good for KUR and the other people in the club."
When did you take on the business manager role, and why? What have you learned from that, that you can apply to everyday life?
"I took on the role as station treasurer at the beginning of this academic year, last fall.
"I have one music show at the station, 'Movie Music Mayhem,' where I play songs from movies and have my audience guess what movie they’re from.
"Besides doing my show, I frequently am at the station helping to train new members on how to work the board and use the equipment.
"I also participate in the 24-hour broadcasts and have spent some nights in the station [on air] because of those!
"I ran for treasurer because I wanted to help the radio station become the best for its current and new members, so that everyone can have the same awesome opportunities to grow and follow their passions in anything related to radio."
You’re studying animation and film. How does radio fit into that and do you see yourself in radio down the road?
"Something that I love about all that I do at Kutztown is that I get to learn about so many different fields and see how they connect.
"It also gives me the opportunity to combine different fields and be more versatile, which had already helped me find opportunities in the career world.
"Being involved in radio helps open up opportunities that I didn’t even know existed before, and getting to know so many awesome people in the field has helped me build up contacts and friends in the industry.
"I do see radio in my future, and I’m excited to see all of the different ways I can incorporate it into it."
