Matt Tompkins

Matt Tompkins, from the radio station “101.9 The Keg”, stopped by the University of Nebraska-Omaha to give students words of wisdom from his years in the radio and T.V. industry. Tompkins currently hosts the morning show at his station from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays. The show host is a graduate from UNO and credits his roots in school to his career path today.

In college, Tompkins was a part of MavRadio where he began his weekly radio shows. Along with his club involvement, Tompkins interned at radio stations KVNO and KFAB in Omaha, NE. Tompkins spent nearly 40 unpaid hours each school week and even on weekends to learn all he could at his internships. 

Tompkins encouraged the audience of UNO students to get involved early and learn every skill possible to make them an asset to any company. Tompkins learned video, editing, writing, radio, imaging and more to avoid being expendable. This proved vital as he was eventually promoted to an Imaging Director in radio. Tompkins knew that he wasn’t going to land his dream job upfront, so he learned all of the behind the scenes work first.

“It was learning how to do the things behind the camera that put my brother and I in front of the camera,” Tompkins said.
As for his T.V. side, Tompkins and his brother created “Omaha Live”, a comedy skit show that aired on WOWT NBC for six seasons. 

Tompkins relied heavily on three key words throughout his career which he shared with students. Those words are consistency, quality and resilience. He believes these three keys can lead students to success in any field. 

“Effort is such a key ingredient, far more than talent,” Tompkins said. 

Tompkins left the students with the note to reach out to him for any assistance or advice and mentioned that many of those in the media field are more willing to help students than many think.