December 31, 2021

Dear NATAS Chicago/Midwest members:

I would like to wish a Happy New Year to all of you, as our board and our chapter prepares for an active 2022.

2022 is a year of hope for the NATAS Chicago/Midwest chapter, as we look forward to the real possibility of being back in public with you at our major events, including the 2022 Silver Circle Honors Presentation in the late spring and the Emmys® in late fall. We know that the Emmys® and the Silver Circle Awards are meant to be celebrated live and in person. These events are the highlights of the broadcast season for me, just as I know they are for many of you. That said, we will always cautious when it comes to public events during this pandemic. So we will always be aware any alarming trends involving Covid 19.

The new year is also one of hope and change for our overseeing office, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, headquartered in New York City. Our National office oversees Chicago/Midwest and 18 other regional chapters and is responsible for the Daytime, News and Documentary and Sports Emmys®.

In 2022, National is launching a new awards ceremony — the Children & Family Emmys®. And National continues to work closely with the L.A.-based Television Academy (which administers the Primetime Emmys®), as the two organizations have realigned the Primetime and Daytime Emmy® Awards competition, with an emphasis on prioritizing content genre over program scheduling. This is the most significant collaboration between NATAS and the Television Academy since 1977, when the two organizations split to become separate entities.

Our Chicago/Midwest chapter begins 2022 as it ended 2021 — virtually. We will be staging at least one  virtual workshop a month starting on Jan. 8, when we partner with the National Association of Black Journalists for the Zoom-based webinar, “Storytelling the Black Experience”. It is the first of a number of co-sponsored virtual events with other like-minded organizations, including the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Society of Professional Journalists. We may ultimately consider planning live or hybrid workshops as well in the coming months, depending on current health events.

Our Junior Board will also continue its weekly podcast, “The Pursuit,” a series of interviews conducted by Junior Board members, who will talk to established members of our broadcast community about a variety of subjects. This fascinating series has produced incredible interviews with established members of our broadcast community.

The NATAS Chicago/Midwest Junior Board was one of our chapter’s major initiatives in 2021, The Junior Board, which had its first meetings last spring, is comprised of 30 students and young professionals, all under the age of 26, who either attend school or work in one of the chapter’s eight television markets: Chicago, Peoria-Bloomington, and Rockford in Illinois, South Bend-Elkhart in Indiana, and Green Bay-Appleton, Madison, Milwaukee, and Wausau-Rhinelander in Wisconsin.

They now work with the NATAS Chicago/Midwest Board of Governors in the chapter’s mission to advance and promote broadcasting and excellence in visual media in the region. The Junior Board, however, is explicitly tasked with engaging younger members of our broadcast industry.

In addition to the podcast, this group will also be working with our Education Committee in 2022, executing an outreach plan to schools in the city and suburbs, with diversity in reach being the ultimate goal. Other committees will be involved in a more robust social media presence for the chapter moving forward.

Our other primary mission is to identify and foster future talent, through the NATAS Chicago Foundation, which provides scholarships to deserving high school and college students who are studying or intend to study journalism, broadcast television, television production and communications. Deadlines to apply for our annual scholarships are fast approaching — the deadline to apply for College and Graduate Scholarships is on Feb. 18, while the High School and National scholarships are in March. Please visit our website for more information.

We are looking forward to serving you in 2022. And hopefully, we can be together for our spotlight events soon! In the meantime, please continue to visit our website for any news about our chapter.

May you all have a happy and healthy 2022!

Sincerely,