While working as a senior designer for the Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1989, Scott Perkins attended the Broadcast Design Association conference. He was one of four African Americans he saw at the entire 1800-person gathering. And it made him mad.

"Here I was, going to a little BDA cocktail thing and I'm standing there, looking around, thinking ‘Where are we? Am I it?'" says Perkins, 38, Design Director at CNN. "Then I asked myself ‘why?'—Why was I the only black person standing in the room. I began to evaluate the problem and realized it was the result of the industry's indifference to helping lift black designers and black designer's blindness to the opportunities that awaited them in broadcast design. I decided to do something about it."

What Perkins did was to consciously, persistently attend and promote the work of his designers at the subsequent BDA's. His BET team won design awards the next eight years in a row. And he used his position at BET to hire more talented people of color. A speaker at his second OBD conference in Atlanta, Perkins told listeners how vitally important the OBD conference had become.

"We, as a people, have not been good at helping lift each other," he said. "This conference presents an opportunity for change. Anyone can get caught up in his or her own success, but if you don't share that success with others, what good is it? If you don't create opportunities and use your influence and knowledge to lift others, how can you consider yourself successful? That's why I invite anyone at this conference to call me or email me if they need advice or help."

Perkin's email and voice inboxes have been full since April. It might take him a few days to answer each call, but he does it, happily. For him, being in the position to help other young black designers is a gift, a way of paying back a debt to those who put him on the fast track more than a decade ago.

Perkins concludes, "The OBD conference is young but the vibe it has created among black American designers is simply astonishing. People there are genuinely committed to reaching out to help the young people at the conference, kids with dedication, determination, and passion in their eyes. You care for them. You love them. They are your family and the OBD conference is our reunion."

- Scott Perkins, Design Director, CNN


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