"Ask me" meme

[figmo]

Stolen from khaosworks:

"This is the problem with LJ, we all think we are so close, and we know nothing about each other. I'm going to fix it. I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you."

Comments

[poltr1]

Sine I first heard of you through harrysmo many years ago...how did the two of you first meet?

[figmo.livejournal.com]

IIRC, he and I met at Chambanacon in 1993. It's a small con described as a relaxicon that wants to be a filk con.

Alas, I can no longer afford Chambanacon these days (all the radio $$$ I'd lose), but it was fun.

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

How did you get into radio? (Yes, this is a vague question.)

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I have a not-so-vague answer. :-)

I was always fascinated by radio and by TV news growing up. Even though there were no female DJs in the market, my friends and I would play radio and I'd pretend to DJ my 45s, "talking up" the songs and back announcing them.

When I was 17 I interned with the production crew at New Jersey Public Television. I saw the newsroom, and I realized then and there I wanted to be a broadcast news reporter. Several of the folks there said I had "a good broadcast voice" and should get involved iwth my college radio station.

At the very beginning of college, I signed up with the radio station. When they were slow in processing freshmen, I came to them and pestered them into letting me get involved right away. I was H-O-O-K-E-D. I had initially been a drama major, but after one semester I switched to "Communication Arts" -- that college's lumping-in of radio, TV, film, and journalism majors. I found I loved even the most "grunt work" type tasks, and figured I had nowhere to go but "up" in this field.

When I got married, my then-husband pulled me away from my beloved broadcasting and pushed me into computers. Eventually I couldn't get a computer job without a degree, so somehow I managed to persuade him to let me go back to school. In two quarters I had my Radio Broadcasting AA; 2.5 years after that I was on my own and had my BA in Journalism in December, 1990.

On Martin Luther King Day, 1991, I had the day off from my "day job." Since that got rid of Conflict of Interest, I was able to call Metro Traffic and ask if they had any openings. It turned out they were in dire need of a Saturday morning person. I squealed, "That's perfect!"

The gal on the other end of the phone said, "it IS?"

I replied, "I have a day job I have to hold onto."

They told me to bring over my demo tape and resume that afternoon. I didn't have a demo tape when I called, but I cranked one out at KSJS (San Jose State's radio station, where I was still News Director), ran back to Mountain View to put on my Job Interview Costume and grab a resume, then back to Campbell (30 mins each way) to turn them in. I was asked to do another demo, this time with their commercial copy and their outro (they call it a "lockout").

I did the demo the next evening in one take and drove it over. The following Monday I was hired. It was a classic Cinderella story, as most broadcasting jobs don't happen that quickly.