Opportunities for formal education in radio broadcasting are few, and usually confined to the academic world. That’s why RCS introduced the RCS Academy, which offers opportunities for training and certification in Zetta, GSelector and Aquira. One of our beta testers and first graduates of the GSelector certification program is Ken Payne, Assistant Program Director and midday personality for KOOL 105.5 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Payne has been a long time user of GSelector, starting out with the 1996 DOS version of the program. When he was contacted by course developers Drew Bennett and Nate Mumford, and asked if he wanted to participate in the beta, he didn’t hesitate.
All RCS Academy courses are offered online and self-paced. They’re broken down into segments with an exam on each. Once you pass, you earn a micro-degree. When you have completed all the chapters, you can take the final exam. If you pass, you’re certified. As Payne noted, “It’s interesting and exciting, but you’ve got to pay attention. Some modules are intuitive and easy, others are difficult and challenging, and you can get caught napping if you’re not careful.” But no worries, if you fail a module, you can take it over again.
Even with 23 years of experience under his belt, the Academy course showed Payne things about GSelector that he didn’t know. “It’s really a journey into the dark corners of the program, tab by tab. GSelector is so intuitive that you can teach yourself how to use it well enough to do the daily music scheduling. But deeper in the program, there are tricks, shortcuts and powerful tools that can make you a better programmer. Taking this course really opened my eyes to what I didn’t know about the program.” He adds that he now uses GSelector differently, and that his music logs and troubleshooting skills are much improved.
For Payne, GSelector certification is another way for him to connect with his coworkers. “I like to help people out, and as the local expert on the program, I’m better able to do that. I usually start out by asking what they want to accomplish with GSelector, and we go from there.”
Certification has its rewards. You can order a diploma to hang on your wall, a lapel pin, and digital badge that can be used on professional sites such as LinkedIn, or attached to your e-mail. Your name and contact info are also listed in the RCS directory of ‘Super Users’, where potential employers can seek you out.