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A number of items:
1. At the recent NAB in Philadelphia my client
www.TicketsNow.com
and I had the pleasure of hosting a party for five of
America’s “radio doctors”…in alpa order Gary Berkowitz, Mike
McVay, Dan Vallie, Rusty Walker, and Guy Zapoleon. (Next
year in Dallas we will introduce four more). Also, we had a
special guest….Cal Ripken, Jr. Cal is the former Baltimore
Oriole GREAT and Major League Baseball’s IRON MAN!!! Cal was
wonderful to the invited guests….he mingled, signed
autographs, and told baseball stories. I had never met Cal
and was looking forward to it. When he and his group entered
the room there was a hush. Cal is much larger than he looked
from the twenty first row of the baseball stadium. His 6’2
height looked like 6’6….because of his very large frame. On
handshake his hand felt like three times the size of mine.
And the women in the attendees told me afterward that they
thought he should be on TV or in the movies….a handsome guy
with blazing blue eyes. I had read a full page article about
Cal in USA TODAY about two weeks prior to the convention. He
was everything they stated and more…..very polite, always
smiling, and clearly enjoying himself. As he left he told
me, “you guys throw a great party”. Well, HE made the party
great. Rarely does one find a celebrity as nice as Cal
Ripken, Jr.
2. While at the convention I ran into Erica Farber, the
publisher of Radio and Records weekly and Rand R daily
e-mail (which I check first thing each morning). As we
talked I noticed that Erica was in a super mood (she always
is come to think of it). And no wonder she was smiling!!! I
did not know what she knew till several days later…and that
is the NAB Radio Show and R and R are joining forces for the
annual, fall convention next year in Dallas. That should be
a terrific combo. I know that some wanted the NAB Radio Show
and the Radio Advertising Bureau to combine for the next
meeting…and I’m sure they will in future years. But, for
now, the convention will double in attendance and have more
of a show biz flair to it with R and R’s contribution. And
just a comment about R and R: I think Radio and Records has
done an outstanding job since its first publication decades
ago. Under the leadership of Bob Wilson, Dwight Case, and
Erica Farber over the years the weekly R and R publication
has become better, and better, and better. We are fortunate
to have such an excellent trade magazine in radio. I plan to
write a column about R and R soon. Congratulations to all
who have turned a dream into a dream team.
3. Next week I am going to write my thoughts regarding the
resignation of Eddie Fritts as head man of the NAB. He did a
great job. But, I am a little nervous about where the NAB
will track from here. Eddie has done a great job for 23
years FOR RADIO, and as an industry we don’t want to go back
where we were a few decades ago…when TV was the big deal,
and radio the little deal at the NAB. I am going to share
with you some history of how we radio people made radio a
deal at the NAB. I was right in the middle of it…Yep, I WAS
THERE!!!!!!
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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