Emmy® Awards

Steve Kurrent – President’s Award

If you have attended any of the Emmy Awards in the last few years you have seen the work of this year’s President’s Award recipient; Steve Kurrent. As an unsung hero of this event, Steve has not only produced the awards evening show but also was the creative force to secure the video presentation of our out-of-town presenters encompassing local on-air personalities in the Erie, Toledo and Indianapolis markets. His was the guiding force in assembling the hundreds of video pieces together into a neat three hour Emmy Awards show.

His efforts also included the print media. Steve’s was responsible for the lay out of the Emmy evening booklets for many years. If you were able to follow along in the booklet to know when your category is coming up, you have Steve to thank.

Steve is a director at WEWS-TV 5 of the local evening news and his Emmy Awarding program “Academic Challenge.”

He served seven years on the Board of NATAS – Lower Great Lakes Chapter and served as Treasurer ensuring the Chapter had the financial resources to conduct business produce these Emmy Awards year after year.

As Steve leaves the Board this year we wish him a heartfelt thank you debt of his years of commitment, leadership and vision and therefore we are proud to honor him with The President’s Award.

Gary Manke - Governor’s Award

What is a leader? Volumes have been written how a leader functions in an organization. It is someone who blends a vision, with a focus; who sees a goal and takes the steps to necessary to reach that goal. This Chapter is honored is have had such a person at its helm for the last four years. Gary Manke served as president of this Chapter since 2007 and has been instrumental in moving this Chapter into a new era.

Gary has also been an active member of NATAS Cleveland Region for years, from “just a member” to serving on the Board of Governors in the mid-1990’s, and again from June 2004 to the present. In June 2005 he was honored to be elected 1st Vice President of the Board of Governors and has served two terms as President from June 2007 until this month. He was recently elected as the Chapter’s National Trustee, representing the NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter nationally.

Under his guidance a new NATAS- Lower Great Lakes Chapter emerged as a regional organization with a new name; that meant the branding, supplies and of course the website. The National office created a new template and Gary’s vision moved this action forward for our Chapter. This allowed the Emmy Awards submission to be completed electronically. He initiated and won the approval for a new Chapter Administrator to assist in the daily operation and business execution of the Chapter to better serve the needs of the Chapter and its members.

Gary continued the work of former Chapter president Terry Peterson in reaching out to broadcasters throughout our area and was a guiding force in bringing the 43rd Annual Emmy Awards to Indianapolis, Indiana on June 2, 2012.

From producing documentaries to live/live-to-tape directing, Manke has been honored with numerous awards from Ohio’s Public Television stations, a Gold Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and five regional Emmy© Awards.

We are proud to offer The Governor’s Award to Gary Manke for his outstanding serve and wish him well as he continues to serve NATAS - Lower Great Lakes Chapter in the years to some.