KOSU Gala event registration deadline approaching

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Participants have until Friday, September 19 to reserve their seat for dinner and program  featuring NPR Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan; panel includes America’s youngest mayor
 
(September 16, 2008  Stillwater, OK) – KOSU, the state’s public radio (91.7 fm Stillwater-Oklahoma City, 107.5 fm Bartlesville-Tulsa and 101.9 fm Okmulgee-Henryetta) will continue to take reservations for History in the Making: An Evening With KOSU through Friday, September 19th.  The first ever gala benefitting the station will be held Friday, September 26, beginning at 6 o’clock with a corporate sponsors’ reception and 7 o’clock for dinner at the Oklahoma History Center, 2401 N. Laird in Oklahoma City.  Individuals and businesses are invited to be part of this very special evening. Tickets are $100 each and the student rate is $50 each.
 
History in the Making: An Evening With KOSU will feature a dinner and panel discussion on the race for president moderated by NPR Talk of the Nation Host Neal Conan.  Conan brings three decades of news and radio experience to the show, which reaches nearly 3 million listeners a week on more than 280 NPR member stations, including KOSU.

A familiar voice on NPR for the past quarter century, Conan has worked as a reporter based in New York, Washington, and London-he served as NPR's Bureau Chief in both New York and London-and anchored NPR live coverage of events including national political conventions, inaugurations, and an impeachment. For five years, he hosted Weekly Edition: The Best of NPR News. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Conan played a major role anchoring NPR's continuous live coverage, a part he reprised during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2004, in Des Moines, Iowa, he hosted the first radio-only presidential candidates' debate since 1948.

Conan's awards include a Major Armstrong award for his coverage of the Iran-Iraq War, a prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award as part of NPR's coverage of the Gulf War, another duPont and a George Foster Peabody Award for his part in NPR's Coverage of Sept. 11 and yet another duPont for NPR's coverage of the war in Iraq. During his time at All Things Considered, the program won numerous awards, including the Washington Journalism Review's Best in the Business award.

Panelists include former Second District Congressman Brad Carson, former Governor David Walters, political consultant and former State Senator Jim Dunlap and America’s youngest mayor, Muskogee Mayor John Tyler Hammons.

The dinner will include classical and jazz music entertainment from OSU music department.  Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Dr. Bob Blackburn will welcome guests and present an historical perspective of Oklahoma’s connection to national politics.  OSU President Burns Hargis will then welcome NPR’s Neal Conan, who will lead the panel discussion. The interactive conversation will also feature audience questions for the panelists and moderator.  Audience members will also have the opportunity to win one of several prize drawings throughout the evening.  The program will be recorded and broadcast on KOSU.  
 
Corporate sponsorships are available for the KOSU Gala event.  Stillwater National Bank, The OSU Foundation and The Oklahoma Historical Society are among the major sponsoring organizations.  For reservations, call 800-228-4678.