Ah, the smell of blooming gardens & spring!

What a treat to be able to spend part of my afternoon with wkyc meteorologist Bruce Kalinowski and his lovely wife!

In Cleveland, there seems to be a show at the I-X Center every weekend.....we are lucky because throughout the winter -early spring, we actually have 2 home and flower/garden shows to get us primed for spring! This week, a Home and Garden Show has been out at the I-X Center....

wkyc has manned a stand every day to allow our customers to meet our on-air personalities, to acquaint the viewers with our facebook and twitter information as well as allowing people to sign up for an ipad.

While I was on hand, it was a blast seeing how many people came up to Bruce telling him how much they love him and enjoy watching him on the weekends....Bruce was the very first weathercaster on the Weather Channel. Exciting factoid!

I also brought along some candy to pass out to any little kids or adults who were still young at heart!

I liked interacting with the viewers, taking in their comments --good and bad and getting a handful of story ideas as well.

The people you meet. They are tremendous!

The downside of being behind the scenes is that people don't know you...though they are still just as nice. And once Bruce left for the day, I still carried on, but it is more difficult when people don't readily know who you are.....nonetheless, I still like volunteering at these events to interact with our viewers!!

I was able to sneak away and take a look at the absolutely beautiful gardens in the gallery...which give such hope that soon, very soon, those same plants and flowers will be blooming outside everywhere around town!

All in all, a very successful day spreading the good news about wkyc, sto, and all of our websites!!

Vacation came to a screeching halt

Holy cow! No matter how much I love my job, holiday vacation came to a screeching halt the minute I walked in the door!

Don't get me wrong, there is still a bit of 'festivity' hanging around..seeing friends and co-workers you have not seen in a week....still exchanging holiday cards and gifts....and of course, it would not be a newsroom without food-- home-baked cookies, candies and other foodstuffs on the center newsroom table!

We even had an unexpected visit from a former co-worker. Chris Savastano --affectionately known as 'Sav' --popped in to see us all. He left Channel 3 for an exciting job directing (among other duties) in Orlando at the Golf Channel.

Thank goodness I actually went through one section of my email at home. Sunday night I waded through 500 email messages.....most of which I could delete. When I logged on today, I only had to wade through another 100 new messages! Made life so much easier!

I still have 388 messages in another section of the computer but those can wait.

It's a web day for me as well.....so much of my focus today will be placing stories and video on the website.

One sticking point today was efforting video from WPXI in Pittsburgh. We were snake bit. I had to book that window three times....the 1st time, WPXI was having problems with their PUP. The next time, we had technical difficulties--the video we took in was recorded over or erased or 'something' mysteriously happened to it! Third time the charm! We finally received the video news reporter Dave Summers needed for his story. Whew!

But, that's not the worst of it.

Some of our staffers actually have 'fans' who sometimes take things a bit too far. I guess you could call them 'stalkers.' I've spoken of the viewer callers who call on a regular basis and they are ok. We talk to them or just listen to them as they call over and over and over again.

These so-called 'fans' sometimes take it a bit too far. So far, that when they call we actually have to alert our security folks and human resources /business office folks. Mr. Henry has been calling more and more lately. I jot down his number (216.227.__) but nothing seems to happen. He keeps calling for the same staffer over and over, day in and day out. So far, today, he's only called about 15 times. That's 14 times too many for me. It's rude and disruptive. I even told him, 'Sir, I can not believe you continue calling disrupting us in the midst of our jobs....I would not be rude and bother you at your place of employment or home a dozen times.' But sometimes these folks are a bit unstable and just don't get it.

The top caller of the day was an EXTREMELY belligerent man who called--at the same time that 4 other people were calling --so I put him on hold so I could answer all lines in the order they called!

Well, this 'viewer' was put out at being put on hold --must have called me a 'skagg' about 12 times....oh some of the other great descriptions tossed my way included 'blond bimbo'.....'skinny ass whore'.....'young in-experienced whore who must not have a bachelor's degree.....just answering the phones.'

I'm sure if I told him I had 7 Emmy Awards and 12 Press Club Awards among many other accolades, he would have come up with some degrading response!

Nice, huh! I honestly do not get paid enough to speak to these abrasive, ignoramuses.

If the Haines 2007 Directory Telokey Criss Cross is correct, I'm sure Mr. Tom O'Malley (216.281.90__) is beaming and very proud at the way he man-handled a female Monday. I feel sorry for you, sir--having to demean and belittle someone else to feel so high and mighty about yourself!!

Charmed, I'm sure!

I met a charming group yesterday! A group of our 'customers' (also known as viewers) popped in for a visit.

Oftentimes we open our station to visiting tour groups. The visitors may consist of an employee's family members or friends...a school group....girl scouts or boy scouts....possibly a group who is holding a meeting or event in our 3rd floor conference room....and advertisers or clients.

Micki Byrnes, our Vice-President for Advertising and Promotions here at WKYC-TV, lead this particular tour group.

Our engagingly attentive guests made a pit stop at the News Assignment Desk. Micki gave them an overview of what happens at the News Assignment Desk and what duties fall under my tutelage. Honestly, I was delighted to hear her rattle off the long laundry list of things we do. The News Desk, in my estimation, is an invaluable tool for a Newsroom.

But, this is not a pat on the back for those of us up here in the trenches (pat pat). And nothing is ever a sure thing.

I genuinely enjoy meeting our customers, our viewers. This group was fetching! They really listened to what Micki and I were sharing and had follow-up questions & feedback about the process.

I could have chatted with them all night!

It's a changing business. At one point, one of the gentlemen looked awestruck and asked me, "You are up here alone? You handle all of this by yourself?" I answered that most of the time I do and it is quite ok. He then responded by telling me that I have job security. Well, as I've said before, nothing is a sure thing, but I smiled and told them all, "I sure hope so!!!!"

I thank our charming visitors for their hospitality and their encouraging words! Please come back and visit us real soon!

History-making Election Day, 2008

We are in the midst of a history-making election day, whatever the outcome.

In fact, it's been a long time since I have seen so many people occupying the newsroom. It's a great sight!

For me as the assignment editor, the bulk of my duties today consist of fielding calls, dealing with the phones and our customers....along with manning the news desk, scanners, and everything that goes with that!

We have extra programming today beginning at 5pm. I need to make sure that everyone is in place for all of our live shots and our live cut-ins throughout the evening......I also need to make sure the necessary information is passed along to our morning producers for their continuing election coverage on Channel 3 News Today, which begins at 430am Wednesday morning.

Leading up to these big events, we have a number of planning meetings where we decide:

1. What we are covering, the bulk of the content
2. Reporter assignments
3. Who is working with whom (reporters & camera crews & truck operators)
4. Live truck assignments
5. Signal tests & logistics at each location
6. Making graphics
7. Compiling lower thirds
8. Dividing up the races, issues, election info
9. Assigning remote designations
10. Doing all of the above for our web coverage, blogging, & mobile phone coverage
11. Making sure we have ample staff in all departments to cover all of the above
12. Assembling our bloggers
13. Getting appropriate credentialing
14. Obtaining parking passes
15. Assigning our student helpers
16. Ordering food--top of mind for everyone!

Well, you get the idea....the list is endless! There is a lot of hard work and planning that goes into an election night and it is truly a full team effort!

There are always unexpected issues that arise every election day. However, if everything is properly planned and done just right, then honestly, there is not much left to do on election day except EXECUTE!

When I walked in today, I thought I would get inundated with viewers having various election issues, complaints, problems....

Believe it or not, I only got a handful of election snafus complaints....

I AM getting inundated with calls, but it has absolutely nothing to do voting problems.

Apparently, Channel 3 is having audio issues. The calls started coming in shortly after 5pm and continue as of this writing. I was told our HD channel is having transmission problems. The viewers I have spoken with have various stories: some have HD, some do not, some have been experiencing this problem for the last week, some just today....

An awful predicament to be in on one of the most important nights of the entire year.

Rest assured, the problem is being addressed. We hope to have the problem rectified as soon as possible and everything back to normal for the rest of our extended election coverage throughout the night into tomorrow.

Not everyone has a computer

As the person who answers a majority of the viewer phone calls, I have to be cognizant and sensitive to our viewers' concerns and complaints.

We do not get many of these calls, but every week we DO get them.

Today a viewer called in and asked, "why do you tell us to go to wkyc.com for more information? I don't have a computer. And I would hope that any pertinent information we need to know will be given in your newscast!"

Our viewers are very savvy.

I can commiserate with these callers because I know that many people do not have computers. True, anyone can walk into a library or even a coffee shop and possibly log on, but that may not be convenient to many including the elderly.

I log these viewers' concerns and do pass them on...however, also expressing that the pertinent information IS given on our air. Anything the customer needs to know about a situation, especially regarding health, or let's say, a boil alert (as an example) is given out during our numerous news shows throughout the day.

Let's face it, though. It is 2008 and we are in a new dimension. A world of computers, the Internet, the ability to get the news and live broadcasts on your cell phone. Technology, if used for good, can be an amazing adventure.

I also share with our viewers that in this age of the Internet, we have details on our website to augment the story that aired on our news broadcast for those who may want to delve into this topic matter a bit more. We may have links for those really hot on what aired. And, anyone can comment on any story that is on our website. I encourage our viewers who are passionate about a certain story or who want to voice their opinions they can interact. They just have to log on and leave their comments, opinions or views on a certain subject!

There is only so much time allotted for a live broadcast. Only a certain amount of minutes for news /weather /sports. We'd love to air as many stories as we can, and of course, as much on a certain story, but that's not possible. Our website is an exciting mechanism to give our viewers, our customers even more information that they can peruse at their leisure!

We do know that everyone out there does not have a computer. We will give as much information as possible during our live broadcasts!

Thank you all very much for watching Channel 3 News and logging onto wkyc.com!!

Keep watching!

Olympics score big numbers!

Not only did the United States win the most medals during the XXIX Olympiad with 110, but NBC scored high marks as well!

WKYC Program Coordinator, Donna Kropf, released figures for the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

She said NBC Universal tallied 214 million viewers over the 17 days!

According to Nielsen, this was the most watched event in U.S. TV history topping the Atlanta and Athens games.

Thank you, Cleveland, for tuning into our local athletes performances as well as the big name story lines! It was an exciting 17 days!!!