For obvious reasons, I can’t go into much detail here. But it was a risk I had to take, to honor these brave young men and women.
October, 1994 (continued): A few days after my nasty brush with Kenny Loggins, I landed in Topeka, Kansas, where I conducted THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT and AIR PERSONALITY PLUS+ for Harriet Lange and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.
Harriet and I had a fascinating encounter with the audio-visual company that was supposed to provide the equipment. But it would take too much explaining to tell the story here. (Ask Harriet about it.)
The Kansas seminars were on a Wednesday and Thursday, and on Saturday I would speak in Chicago. Ordinarily, on Friday I would have flown from Topeka to Chicago. This time, however, I flew back home Thursday night and left for Chicago on Friday morning… accompanied by my five-year old son, Matthew. I had promised him I’d try to find a trip to take him on, and this one worked out perfectly.
Wally Gair had engaged me to conduct THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT for the Illinois Broadcasters Association Convention on Saturday. I’d be speaking for three hours, in the afternoon. My oldest friend, Evan (whom I’ve known since the age of 12) lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Evan and his 14 year-old son, Tyler (whom I still remembered primarily as an 11-month old), drove the three hours to Chicago and took care of Matthew during the seminar. They went to the zoo while I conducted the seminar, and by all accounts none of them missed me.
The convention was held at a fancy golf resort, and the restaurant had a child’s menu…which meant that with every meal, Matthew had french fries. Which meant he was in heaven.
We chased the geese that inhabit the club’s grounds, Matthew hit a golf ball, Matthew played board games with Evan and Tyler (Evan’s family loves board games), we played pinball machines, Matthew and I had a couple of great pillow fights. It was a great weekend.
Thinking that everyone in Chicago spends their time chasing geese, playing golf & pinball, eating french fries and having pillow fights, Matthew summed up the trip by saying, “I LOVE Chicago!”
Next Week: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles learns an expensive lesson in Customer Service.
Some say it was to win a bet; others say it was to prove a point. Whatever the impetus, Ernest Hemingway once wrote a 6-word short story:
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Pretty powerful, that.
And a handy excuse for another, impromptu contest.
The Challenge: Write a six-word commercial for Harlan Hogan’s upcoming teleseminar class, STARTING YOUR VOICEOVER BUSINESS: Everything You Need To Know To Turn Your Dream Or Your Sideline Into A Business.
Where To Find Class Info, Hints For Possible Approaches, etc.: http://TheVoiceoverClass.com.
The Rules: Exactly six words. In English. Only one entry per person.
The Winning Entry will be the one that is the most persuasive. If two are equally persuasive, the most creatively persuasive one wins. Remember, although it might be wildly offbeat, it does have to “sell” the teleseminar class.
Also Influencing The Judging will be the quality and quantity of comments other people make regarding specific entries. (Those comments will go in the “comments” field beneath this posting.)
Submit Your Entry by posting it as a “comment” on this posting.
The Prize: The winner chooses any two of my mp3 seminars and/or my e-books.
Fine Print: If fewer than 20 people enter, the Judges Committee (me) reserves the right not to award a prize. So if you enter and you want to win, you’ll probably want to nag a bunch of other (less talented) people to enter, too.
The Winner Will Be Announced On This Blog, One Week From Today.
When a radio group brings me in to work with its entire air staff, often I’ll teach them my method for defining their Unique Listening Proposition.
The goal isn’t necessarily to come up with blockbuster ideas. Rather, the air talents, producers and programmers identify “mundane” things that occur regularly on their program or station and generate original ideas — alternative methods of delivering that each particular element in a way that makes more of an impact on the listener.
A visit to Singapore’s SAFRA Radio resulted in dozens of original ideas, including the Traffic Excuse:
Each day, the traffic reporter offers a new, original new excuse for the day’s big traffic jam:
“Traffic isn’t moving at all on Highway 27 south of the Pass. A flock of homing polar bears has built a huge nest on the exit ramp….”
Okay, readers: Got some good excuses for today’s (or tomorrow’s) traffic tie-up?
