Watch Julie Lythcott-Haims’ TED talk to learn how you can help your children thrive — on their own

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Here’s what the checklisted childhood looks like. We keep them safe and sound, and then we want to be sure they go to the right schools, but not just that, that they’re in the right classes at the right schools, and that they get the right grades in the right classes in the right schools. But not just the grades, the scores, and not just the grades and scores, but the accolades and the awards, and the sports, and the activities, and the leadership.

We tell our kids don’t just join a club, start a club, because colleges want to see that. There’s no time for free play. There’s no room in the afternoons, because everything has to be enriching, we think, and we even absolve them of getting enough sleep as long as they’re checking off the items on their checklist. We spend so much time nudging, cajoling, hinting, helping, haggling, nagging as the case may be, to be sure they’re not screwing up, not closing doors, not ruining their future, some hoped-for admission to a tiny handful of colleges. And all of this is done to some hoped-for degree of perfection. We expect our kids to perform at a level of perfection we were never asked to perform at ourselves. With our overhelp, our overprotection, overdirection and hand-holding, we deprive our kids of the chance to build self-efficacy. 

If our children are to develop self-efficacy – and they must – then they have to do a whole lot more of the thinking, planning, deciding, doing, hoping, coping, trial and error, dreaming and experiencing of life for themselves. And if we could widen our blinders and be willing to look at a few more colleges, maybe remove our own egos from the equation, we could accept and embrace this truth and then realize, it is hardly the end of the world if our kids don’t go to one of those big brand-name schools. And more importantly if their childhood has not been lived according to a tyrannical checklist, then when they get to college, whichever one it is, well they’ll have gone there on their own volition, fueled by their own desire, capable and ready to thrive there.

CSB Media Arts Center – Around The Campus Podcast talks to CSB Grad Mikey V – Radio 104 and 102.9

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Mikey V talks to Jim Robinson from The CSB Media Arts Center. Mike graduated from The CSB Media Arts Broadcast Media Program “Connecticut School of Broadcasting” and works at Radio 104 and The Whale 102.9.

CSB Media Arts Center Broadcast Media Students talk about Learn By Doing

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CSB Media Arts Center Broadcast Media Students talk about Learn By Doing – Connecticut School of Broadcasting

Join Jim Robinson, President of CSB Media Arts Center as he interviews students of the Broadcast Media Program at the Farmington, Connecticut campus.

Creating a YouTube Channel Has Never Been Easier, but Should You?

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youtube channel

There are now billions of hours of footage on YouTube from millions of different creators, all of them wanting their voice to be heard and content to be seen. The question many new creators ask is “Should I start producing original content for YouTube?”.

Whenever you decide to pursue a creative career on the digital landscape, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself.

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The Basics of Video Conferencing and How You Can Up Your Game

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video conferencing

Video conferencing has become so common that almost everyone in the country is familiar with some kind of conferencing software such as Zoom, Teams, or Facetime. It has become the new “norm” to now meet with your colleagues in a 2 dimensional world as it’s ideal for safety, and less so for communication purposes. Video conferencing cannot compete against face to face, but it does have it’s benefits, especially when the very best of the technology is used properly. 

Multimedia professionals agree, video conferencing can be enhanced by better tech, and especially better technique. You don’t have to spend a fortune to create a professional looking view of your living room, kitchen, bedroom, or office space. 

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With More People Staying at Home, Media Professionals Turn to Voice Overs as a Potential Career

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voice over microphone

You can be driving down the highway with the radio blasting, sitting at home watching your favorite TV show, checking out groceries at the self checkout station, or even watching your kids play with their new Christmas toys. In every one of these scenarios, voice actors are impacting your life in some way. You hear voices come through your speakers so often that eventually, you stop paying attention to what’s behind the voice. You become desensitized to a man or woman in a studio actually recording that commercial you’re listening to or your favorite video game character shouting during a battle scene. 

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Is Satellite the New Pirate Radio?

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satellite pirate radio

When most people think of the word “pirate” they think of bearded, dirty, rotten teeth, foul mouthed criminals. Others, especially those in radio, think of “freedom”. Pirates are notoriously associated with taking orders from no one, no government, and certainly not the FCC. 

Radio is regulated by the government agency, and therefore there are rules and regulations they must follow and adhere to to ensure they are not fined, or worse, lose their license. Every terrestrial radio station on your dial must be registered and licensed. Ever since the telecommunications act of 1996, any company can purchase multiple licenses/stations in the same market, therefore removing any competition. This created oversaturation in certain markets, and media giants like iHeart, Entercom, and Cumulus began buying up stations like hoarders. Although this allowed professionals in radio to begin working at various stations simultaneously, these titans in media began implementing new “Corporate” regulations that began transforming radio from a freeing and vocal artform for truth into a corporate office where even wearing the wrong kind of tie could get you into trouble. 

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Podcasting, the New Titan of Digital Media

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Vintage Microphone

The concept of podcasting was originally conceived by the former MTV video jockey Adam Curry and software developer Dave Winer. Podcasting, originally called iPodder, was a software that enabled users to download internet radio shows to Mp3 devices like iPods. The term “podcasting” came from journalist Ben Hammersly who was attempting to combine the concepts of the software like blogging, independent media, amatuer radio into one term. It’s credibility was in its infancy. In other words, non existent. That was until a year later when larger companies started to recognize it’s potential. Apple was one of the first to pick up the software, allowing users to download podcasts on the newest version of iTunes. 

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