Julie Bruno, '85. on Reconnecting as an Alum

Julie Bruno, '85. on Reconnecting as an Alum

Author: WJPZ September 18, 2023 Duration: 30:09
WJPZ at 50
HistoryEducation

A few days before Banquet 2023, Jag sat down with fellow Massachusetts Native Julie Bruno from the Class of 1985.   Julie's from the small town of Mansfield, and was the first in her family to go to college, and quickly went from being a big fish in a small pond to the opposite.

She met people from the far away lands of Long Island and New Jersey, and learned that she (gasp) had a wicked accent.   But she had the good fortune of being friends with the coolest girl on her floor - Merry Mary Mancini.  It was easy to follow her over to WJPZ.

To use Julie's own words, she was a "tertiary player" at WJPZ, but when she returned from a semester in Italy and the station went on FM, she saw just how popular WJPZ was getting.   She looks back at what that group accomplished, getting the station on FM, and can't believe what that team pulled off.

Following graduation, Julie worked briefly at WXXX in Burlington, Vermont before deciding the on-air route was not for herShe went home and worked at her home town's new outdoor concert venue, Great Woods.  From there she got connected to media sales where she sold television and then radio in Boston, culminating as national sales manager for legendary rocker WBCN.

Julie spends some time talking about how unique and special the WJPZ bond is.  The Banquet has reconnected her with so many classmates and helped her form relationships with folks who came up through the station after her.

The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.

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Want to be a guest on the pod or know someone else who would? Email Jag:  jag@jagindetroit.com.

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Connect with the WJPZ Alumni Association: https://wjpzalumniassociation.org/


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For fifty years, the student-run airwaves of Syracuse University's WJPZ at 50 have been more than a radio station; they've been a launchpad. This oral history project captures that legacy not through dry facts, but through the voices that built it. Each episode is a conversation with a different alumnus, from the pioneers of the 1970s to recent graduates, tracing how their hands-on experience in what's called the "world's greatest media classroom" shaped careers in broadcasting and far beyond. You'll hear personal stories of late-night broadcasts, technical mishaps turned into triumphs, and the forging of lifelong bonds that created a unique professional family spanning generations. This podcast digs into the real, often messy, work of learning by doing, revealing how a campus station became an enduring institution. Tune in for a collection of fifty interviews that together form a living archive, celebrating the people, not just the programming, behind five decades of student-led radio.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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