HAS OUR BUSINESS LOST ITS HEART?

Just yesterday, a big radio broadcast company eliminated 3% of their work force just like that. Over 500 people. Counting the 1800-plus they dropped back in January, it adds up to a total of 12%!!!! I have alot of friends in that group who were doing their job and doing it quite well but just became a number on someone's "books" that needed to be erased. Now, even more than ever, we have national DJ's on local stations. One of the legendary Top 40 stations, just north of here, now has only ONE, LOCAL, LIVE personality on the air. The message being sent to aspiring jocks is "stay away, we don't need you". So, what happens to the talent of the future? And what is happening NOW to radio? I am proud to say that we, here at Max media, have more live and local personalities than any other group in this and a bunch of other markets. I'm not selling our company at all. I am saying how sad it is when we have to brag about something like that. Your thoughts?

A DAY FOR PERSPECTIVE

Occasionally, as with anyone, I get all caught up in the minutiae of my life. Lots of thoughts about work, of course. This past Saturday, I had the privilege of being involved with something that gave me a fresh perspective - something that God has His way of giving me, periodically.
I was there, with 97.3 The Eagle, at Pier 14 at the Norfolk Naval Station, with 10,000 other folks, to greet the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group coming home after a seven and a half month deployment. I saw parents, wives with their children in tow, excited girlfriends, etc. When the actually carrier pulled in, the Eagle was playing, very loud and proud, Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA". That scene, with the sailors manning the rails, was amazing. What came after that, though, is there the perspective showed up.
As the sailors left the carrier, I saw hundreds of them racing to the arms of loved ones but 3 scenes especially struck me. I watched a Chief Petty Officer greet his family - his wife and toddler daughter and, for the first time, he got to see and hold his new baby who arrived while he was deployed. The smile...the pride..was something I'll always remember.
The second scene was seeing a sailor rush into young lady's arms with family surrounding them and then seeing him drop to his knees and propose marriage there on the spot. The elation from everyone involved after that was priceless!
The final scene was the one that struck my heart the most. As we were packing up the Eagle Big Blue Truck, a female sailor, alone, with her bags came by to ask us if there a cab company near by and that this was her first time in Virginia. We called the company for her and arranged for a cab to pick her up. After she thanked us and walked away, we couldn't stop talking and thinking about this young lady. As we began our drive off of the base, we saw the young sailor standing waiting for the cab looking so lost so we decided to give her the ride she needed. We found out that she went from basic training right to the carrier and had never been outside of her native Texas prior to this. She was going to rent a car and "hang out" in a mall until her friend, whom she was to meet a day later, would contact her. Turns out that she was going to spend the night herself somewhere at a hotel in Virginia Beach. She was a little afraid but alot excited. Couldn't have been a day over 20. She really wanted to explore the area on her own. We, of course, made sure that she had our contact numbers just in case she needed anything.
I can't stop thinking about this young lady. Hoping that she's okay and that she was able to stay where she wanted and do some of the things she talked about. She had no friends...the only people she knew outside of her unit, was our group. The whole thing made me realize, once again, the importance of relationships, friends and family. When we have our final meeting with God, he will never ask how many hours we spent on the job.....he will ask how many lives we may have touched. So, today, work doesn't seem as crucial as it did yesterday. It's a livelihood, yes, but it's something I know I won't take with me.

Change Is Definitely Here

The times they are a changin'. Bob Dylan sang it way back in the 60's but it might as well apply today. I'm not talking about the "change" promised by our new President. We won't know if that even will happen for another two or three years. I'm talking about how our lives are changing right now and I think for the better. With less money in our pockets (and less jobs for some of us), we are finding alternate means of entertainment and recreation and it's getting us closer to our loved ones - family and friends. I also notice that people seem to have a genuine concern about each other's well-being. I've seen more generosity over the past 6 months than I had witnessed in the 6 years before that. We're all going through this patch of roughness together so everyone can empathize. Let's not EVER forget this period in our lives for that reason alone!

MY TEN-YEAR OLD TECHNOLOGICAL GENIUS

I'm in the radio broadcasting business which means I have access to, and use, a number of technical "items" every day from operating a control board to using digital editing equipment. You would think I would be strong on the technical side BUT, when it comes to the home TV system, my little 10-year old daughter rules the roost, for sure. Her latest technological find is something I had no idea we had. She showed me last night how I can go right to a specific channel on my digital cable and get weather for Virginia Beach and any fairly large city in our country. Then, she showed how I can see all the news channels at once and all the sports channels at once!!! A veritable plethora of information at my fingertips and I had no idea it was there. NOTE: we have had this cable setup for close to 3 years....she was the one who showed me how to use the DVR. Again, I had no idea. Is it me or are we learning more from the young ones these days than our parents learned from us?