The Society of Broadcast Engineers, the association for broadcast and multimedia technology professionals, introduced a membership benefit enhancement called SBE MemberPlus in 2018. SBE MemberPlus includes all the benefits of SBE membership and includes access to all the live and archived Webinars by SBE in the library for one low upgrade fee. Adding SBE MemberPlus to a membership costs less than registering for two Webinars by SBE a la carte.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, the SBE MemberPlus benefit will add access to the complete library of SBE University courses as well. SBE University is a collection of online self-study courses. Each course is an electronic book that typically includes 8-14 chapters. 

Each course can be taken as the student's time allows and will keep track of the ongoing progress. There are currently 16 courses available in SBE University. Topics include AM directional systems, working with station staffs, several technical introduction courses and more. The added benefit will be automatically available to existing and new SBE MemberPlus members on Jan. 1.

SBE President Andrea Cummis, CBT, said, "SBE University and Webinars by SBE, while both educational offerings, fill different needs in the SBE educational portfolio. Adding them to the SBE MemberPlus benefit expands the SBE's educational mission."

SBE Education Committee Chair Geary Morrill, CPBE, AMD, CBNE, adds, "Adding the SBE University content to the SBE MemberPlus benefit creates an even more compelling value to those choosing to select it. They'll find some great information within."

SBE says its MemberPlus has proven to be popular with SBE members. More than 1/3 of SBE members hold SBE MemberPlus, which is available to Regular, Senior, Life and Student members. In 2022 through November, there have been 4,605 Webinars by SBE registrations by SBE MemberPlus members.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers’ enhanced membership program, SBE MemberPlus, has expanded its eligibility so that SBE Life and SBE Student members can join starting in January 2020.

The decision to expand the MemberPlus program was made at the Oct. 15 SBE Board of Directors meeting.

MemberPlus was created in January 2018 and originally was only available for SBE Regular, Senior or Associate members. The program offers access to more than 80 webinars produced by SBE. SBE reports that since launching MemberPlus, more than 1,000 members have upgraded to it.

SBE Life and SBE Student members will be able to add the MemberPlus benefits for an additional $90 to their annual dues. They can officially sign up as of Jan. 2, 2020.

“The SBE educational efforts have grown significantly in recent years, and SBE MemberPlus provides the greatest access to our leading educational tool: Webinars by SBE,” said Wayne Pecena, SBE president. “Providing access to Life and Student members allows younger, as well as more experienced SBE members, to continue learning by taking advantage of the popular benefit.”