I knew
I was destined
to be
a radio guy
The moment
I started working
at old CKY
As I said in chapter LII when Frank Osborn asked me to speak at his management conference, I said, “Yes Sir” even though doing speeches and going to conventions were no longer my thing.
I used to love radio conventions, but I never did any panels because I was there to hang out at the bar with some of the smarter radio guys and to reconnect with my old Canadian Radio buddies.
However, I still remember my first and last convention.
Being a rookie PD I was anxious to absorb all the radio stuff I could, so I went to every session and took copious notes.
Not only were all the radio legends there, but I also got to hang out with my former boss from CKY, Jim Hilliard.
Jim, was the PD of WFIL in Philly and had just accepted an offer to return to Fairbanks Broadcasting in Indianapolis, but this time he was going to be the CEO. Little did we know that within a few years, we’d be back working together again.
One of the better sessions featured Chuck Blore who had left programming to start producing award-winning commercials.
At his session, Chuck stated that the length of a commercial has little to do with its effectiveness, and he was about to prove it.. (Chuck pictured above)
Chuck played us a commercial that was only ten seconds long and went like this, “When we asked the ladies of Los Angeles what they thought about Hai Karate cologne for men,” they said, (women’s hysterical voice) “OH MY GOD!”
My last convention was in San Diego when I was visiting my brother Reg which just happened to be
Reg, who had created a concept called the rewards program, which ended up on 1100 stations worldwide, had a suite, so I went just to hang out.
I’d worked with Jeff and Jer when they first moved to San Diego, and now here I was twenty years later, trying to sneak into their session unnoticed.
Even though the room was jam-packed, I managed to find a seat way in the back and out of sight.
I’m sure that most of the folks were hoping that Jeff & Jer would share their secrets, especially about how to make the kind of money they did. However, I’m sure they didn’t want to hear the part about how much hard work it took.
Then Tracy said, “It’s time for some Q and A.”
One of the first questions was, “Do you remember the day you knew you were going to make it?”
Jerry responded, “I sure do, but it wasn’t a day; it was three days!”
“The gift,” he said, “Turned out to be a three-day programming session with a radio God by the name of George Johns.
Pam, Jerry claimed, said that after three days with George, you’ll know all you need to know about becoming #1 in San Diego.
At this point, Jeff jumped in and said, “At our first session, George told us to forget about the radio folks, the stars in this town are a TV Sportscaster and the Mayor, that’s who you have to beat.
“We spent the next three days figuring out just how to do that, and now, some twenty years later, we still do what we learned in those three magical days.”
Jerry gave me a big hug and said, “Hey man, why didn’t you let us know you were coming, we would have said some nice s*it about you.”
When they introduced me to their boss Tracy, he said, “Jeff and Jer meant every word they said about you but I for one am tired of hearing your name.”
He then went on to explain, “Whenever Jeff and Jer didn’t want to do something I wanted them to do, I got to hear George Johns warned us to never do that kinda stuff because it would ruin our careers!” (Jeff & Jer plus Tracy Johnson pictured above)