Originally schedule to take place in Montreal this May, due to the Covid-19 crisis, the conference took place virtually using Zoom.
The Centennial team was honored to be part of the opening plenary session and lead a panel presentation on Thursday, May 21 at 11am.
Click here to view the full program of the 2020 virtual conference.
Panel abstract:
Canadian Marconi started an experimental radio station in Montreal in December 1919. By May 1920, XWA offered a somewhat regular program. This was the earliest radio broadcasts to the public ear in Canada. Canada’s radio programing quickly had to respond to radio policies and practices from the United States, which lead to the forming of the CBC and Radio Canada in 1936 as government run radio stations while private Canadian stations continued to exist. This is still the set-up of Canadian radio today.
Our challenge at the Musée des ondes Emile Berliner is, how to commemorate the significance of the centennial of radio, how to communicate the 100 years of broadcast history and spark curiosity in our population to engage with the subject in a reflective way.
In our panel discussion, Anja Borck, director of the MOEB, will introduce you to the museum’s projects and the goals for the centennial celebration. Alain Dufour, radio collector and enthusiast, will talk about the collaboration between the museum, the Société québécoise des collectionneurs de radios anciens (SQCRA), and additional collaborators which are realizing together the program for the projects. Denis Couillard, director at Ultra Electronics, will speak about the challenge in recreating the first radio broadcasting in Canada in today’s environment. Mariana Mejia, Project Coordinator of the Centennial of Broadcasting in Canada, will present on her work and challenges of organizing this year’s activities.
