PBS has awarded KSMQ-TV’s Michele Hoeper the “Next Generation” scholarship to attend the PBS Technology Conference.

The conference is the premier annual gathering for broadcast engineers, information technology and traffic professionals, as well as general managers and senior executives within public TV, according to a press release. The event is April 11-13 in Las Vegas.

Hoeper, an Austin native, joined KSMQ in 2001 and is excited about the opportunity to attend the conference. She has held many roles at KSMQ, but is currently the traffic specialist/promotions coordinator. Traffic, Hoeper said, is where everything comes together before going out for broadcast. It accounts for every second of airtime and is the coordination of all the elements that are part of the broadcast chain. The end result is what the viewer sees at home.

“Broadcast is a fast-paced, ever-changing environment. I am always looking to sharpen my skills, and learn new things to stay on top of trends in the industry,” Hoeper said.