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Courtney Blankenship, director of the WIU's music business program, is pictured with WIU alumnus Neal McFarland.
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WIU Alumni Collaborate with Online Classes for Music Business Students

April 3, 2020

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MACOMB, IL – As the Coronavirus has necessitated the transfer of all Western Illinois University spring courses to an online format, many professors have found unique ways to teach students the subject matter online. One of those professors is Courtney Blankenship, director of the University's music business program.

The students in Blankenship's music products class were scheduled to travel to Niles, IL, this semester for a tour of the top-ranked, internationally known Shure Microphone Company. Through the Google Meet video conferencing application, students heard from and asked questions of Michael Pettersen, Shure's historian, who talked about the company.

"He shared some great stories from his 43 years across sales, product development, applications engineering and his 25 years of serving as liaison with the White House Communications Agency" said Blankenship. "When I asked him to paint a picture orally of what the facility is like, he provided many details on the seven-story glass encased building, equipped with a performance hall, recording studio, archival library and displays of every microphone built by the company since 1939."

Last week, the class virtually hosted WIU alumnus Tad Goldner, who works as a Piano/Steinway sales representative at family-owned West Music in Coralville, IA. Goldner is a 2017 WIU graduate with a bachelor's degree in music. Coincidentally, Jordan DePatis, a 2014 WIU music graduate, also works at the same store in customer service.

Over the next several Thursdays, Blankenship's class will host other virtual guest speakers, including next week's guest, WIU alumnus Neal McFarland, who works as a resolution specialist at Reverb, known as "a marketplace for musicians" in Chicago. McFarland is a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in music, and served previously as store manager at Nick Rail Music and marketing intern with Yamaha's Band and Orchestra Division, both in California. In Spring 2018, McFarland hosted Blankenship's class on site at Reverb and Chicago Music Exchange.

For more information about WIU's music business program, visit wiu.edu/musicbusiness.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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