Berklee Distinguished Alumni Award

I was bestowed one of the greatest honors of my career tonight. My alma mater, Berklee College of Music, holds a banquet each year during the AES Convention. Each year they recognize one person with a "Distinguished Alumni Award" at the banquet, and this year, I received the Award. So, there were easily over 100 people at the banquet, many of them very distinguished alumni in their own right, many of them were young alumni or still students with wonderful careers ahead of them yet to unfold. I had to give an acceptance speech to this crowd. People tell me my speech was very good. It was certainly from the heart. I've become pretty good at public speaking over the years, so it really doesnt bother me to get up in front of a crowd and speak, though that crowd of all Berklee Alumni and faculty, with Berklee's storied history and reputation, it was a bit intimidating at first. The nerves lasted about ten seconds then the thoughts just flowed.
One of my former professors, and someone i consider a mentor, Carl Beatty, introduced me tonight. What an honor to have someone who i admire so greatly both personally and professionally, and who has helped me so much in my own career, give my introduction. All of the Berklee faculty in attendance tonight was really great. I even saw the guy who gave me my first job in a studio interning at Downtown Recorders Studios in Boston. Mitch Benoff, thanks so much Mitch, that job set off a series of events leading me here. To you youngsters out there. Get internships, they are more valuable than gold in both experience and resume building. Without Downtown Recorders, I probably wouldnt have gotten hired at the next studio or the next or the next. Of course the same can be said of Berklee. That education facilitated all of it.
Anyway, its late, but I still have work to do. I'm so humbled to be recognized in this way by Berklee. Out of everyone they could have chosen, I'm honored that it was me.
- Ken