CNN Pressroom - Broadcasting & Cable to Honor CNN’s Bob Hesskamp with Technology Leadership Award

As the electronic journalism community descends upon Las Vegas next week for two of the premier broadcasting conferences, NAB Show 2008 and RTNDA@NAB. CNN will showcase its prominence and expertise in such areas as breaking news and election coverage, new technologies and online and digital ventures.

More than 15 journalists and executives from CNN will be speaking at this year’s NAB and RTNDA@NAB conferences. CNN Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips opens this year’s event by moderating the opening session, “Leadership Lessons for Breaking News Coverage” on Sunday, April 13, at 4 p.m., and CNN’s chief national correspondent John King will be moderator of the joint NAB/RTNDA Super Session “Election 2008: The Home Stretch,” on Wednesday, April 15, at 7:30 a.m.

The NAB Show 2008, sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters, takes place from Friday, April 11, through Thursday, April 17, and is the world's largest electronic media show covering the development, delivery and management of professional video and audio content across all mediums. RTNDA@NAB, is a conference and exhibition for radio, television and online news, and runs from Sunday, April 13, to Wednesday, April 16.

During the NAB Show, Broadcasting & Cable will present Bob Hesskamp, senior vice president for CNN Broadcast Engineering and Systems Technology, with one of its 2008 Technology Leadership Award. The award, presented during a ceremony on Monday, April 14, pays tribute to technology leaders who have displayed innovation, imagination and achievement. Hesskamp’s duties at CNN include leadership of engineering and broadcasting-related IT resources, technology installations, support and maintenance, and engineering management development at CNN’s production centers worldwide. Hesskamp directed the September 2007 launch of CNN HD, the network’s first 24-hour news network in high definition, and continues to guide sweeping upgrades to CNN studios and equipment around the world to handle the format.

The schedule of NAB and RTNDA panels, speeches, and presentations featuring CNN journalists and executives is as follows:

Sunday, April 13

· Kyra Phillips, CNN Newsroom anchor, moderates RTNDA Opening Session “Leadership Lessons for Breaking News Coverage,” 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Monday, April 14

· Sandy Malcolm, executive producer for CNN.com Video, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Mobile, Digital & Syndicated Content,” 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

· Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer for CNN.com, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Making User Generated Content Part of Your Overall Strategy – On-line and On-Air”, 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

· Dave Hennen, senior producer for science and technology for CNN/U.S, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Win the Weather War,” 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Tuesday, April 15

· John King, chief national correspondent for CNN, moderates NAB/RTNDA super session “Election 2008: The Home Stretch,” 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.

· Bob Hesskamp, senior vice president for Broadcast Engineering and Systems Technology for CNN, serves as a panelist for RTNDA,’s “The Digital Conversion Countdown: It’s Later Than You Think,” 9 a.m. to 10:30a.m.

· Chris Hinton, senior director of software development for CNN, serves as keynote speaker for the Creative Storage Conference @ NAB, 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

· Dick Tauber, vice president, transmission systems and new technology for CNN, moderator for the Content Distribution Forum @ NAB panel “What’s the Life Expectancy of SNG?”, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

· Arnie Christenson, operations manager, satellites and transmissions for CNN, serves as a panelist for Content Distribution Forum @ NAB panel, “What’s the Life Expectancy of SNG?”, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m

· Sam Feist, political director and senior executive producer of political programming for CNN/U.S., moderates the RTNDA panel, “More Than Just a Reporter's Cap: The Many Hats Journalists Wear in the News Production Process,” 10:45 am to noon.

· Tyler Moody, senior producer for CNN Radio, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Go Ahead. You Can Touch It,”11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

· David C. Vigilante, vice president of legal for CNN, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “What’s Legal Online?”, 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

· Michael Koetter, vice president of news technology planning & development for CNN, serves as a panelist for the Creative Storage Conference@ NAB “Entertainment and Media User Session,” 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Wednesday, April 16

· Jerry DeMink, vice president of CNN News Services, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Sound Streaming: Boost Your On-Line and On-Air Traffic Today,” 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

· Sandy Malcolm, executive producer for CNN.com Video, serves as a panelist for the TV World @NAB panel “The Billion Dollar Question: How Will Broadband Video Make Money?”, 12:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

All times Pacific

Labels: CNN High Definition, CNN Radio, CNN.com, CNN.com Live, John King, Kyra Phillips, Tyler Moody