As I was leaving work the other day, a woman approached my car at 14th and Meridian.

I cracked my window slightly to see what she wanted. Here’s the transcription of the conversation.

“Can you help the homeless?”

“I’m sorry, I only have plastic–” (which was the truth, I don’t carry cash often; but I was interrupted before I could finish)

“Do you have a cigarette?”

Wait, WHAT?!

At first I felt bad for assuming she wanted money, then was shocked because no intention of asking for money. The conversation was always going to go, “Can you help the homeless? Do you have a cigarette?”

“What in the world is a POP?”

That’s the question I’ll bet you’re asking yourself. Well, it’s one of those fancy TV acronyms like NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color or National Television System Committee), JVC (Junk Video Corp or Victor Company of Japan) or NAMBLA.

POPs are “Proof of Performance” spots; basically, a spot to promote what we did. You’ll often see POPs after ratings periods, following elections, at the end of the year and any time there’s a really big story that particular station covered especially well.

Here are two POPs we threw together during May sweeps. The same person wrote both, then I picked SOTs and edited/graphic-ed the spots.

So for the Indianapolis 500 this past weekend, the good folks from Extra graced us with their presence. My department got to help out with production do production for the show.

We shot all of the standups and wraparounds with Mario Lopez, plus an interview with Danica Patrick in her garage.

If you haven’t seen Extra, they open the show with people tossing around a “monitor” playing video of something. For anyone not in television, it’s just a flat piece of wood painted green, with a checkerboard pattern for motion tracking so it can be added later in post-production. They usually have the person toss the board at the camera to finish out the opening. Danica was holding the board, and it was my job to sit right beneath the lens of the camera and catch it as she tossed it to me.

The first throw was a little low, it kind of looked like she tossed it on the ground. Our photographer told her to “throw it a little higher, it’s got to fall.” Boy did she come through. The board made a pretty nice parabolic arc, and came down gracefully, right on top of my head. I was assaulted by Danica Patrick with a piece of green wood.

We did a third take which ended up being a keeper. You can watch the raw video from ExtraTV.com after the jump, and see all the pics we snapped while working with Mario.

Make sure you do your research.

That’s something we were always told in school. So why should things be any different in our careers?

I have been dumbfounded at the number of times I have overheard calls, read e-mails or listened to people make ridiculous statements that irreparably damage their credibility.

A few years back, during one of our large annual events that bring lots of guests through the station, a random person approached me to ask about our freelance opportunities.

Keep in mind this was an adult talking to me.

“Excuse me, are you with the TV station?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Ah, I thought you looked familiar.”

What?!  I’M NOT EVEN ON TELEVISION.

To be fair though, I did have my shirt tucked in and was wearing slacks (this was in my first year on the job, before I opted for jeans and untucked button-downs). Still, the conversation continued.

“So how would I get in to [field in broadcast television]? Do you hire freelancers for that?”

“Well, we have people on contract to handle stuff like that. But to get in to the field I would recommend [three or four things he could do to get experience/exposure]. Then contact [a specific person at the station].”

What I was thinking the whole time was, “this seems like an odd time for you to consider a career change into an industry you know nothing about.”

The other day we received a phone call from someone trying to sell us a product/service, where they referenced the fact we have Eric Halvorson and Angela Cain. Except we don’t. They both work at different competitors.

When you come in to a situation where professionalism can make or break your chances of being taken seriously, consider spending the extra 30 minutes to research the company/person you’re going to be talking to. Even if it’s just on Wikipedia and Yahoo! Stocks. It can help your credibility immensely.

Don’t walk in and say, “I didn’t know you were owned by the textbook company.”

It’s been one of those weeks.

What exactly do I mean by that?

Well, let me put it this way: On more than one occassion this week I walked in to the men’s bathroom, put my hands under the faucet and waited more than the appropriate amount of time for water to begin flowing. Note: We don’t have automatic faucets at the station.

Despite that awkward moment occuring more than once, I did manage to get some work done this week.

One of the quickest turnarounds in a long time was our new Recession Survival Guide spot. I think I only spent 4 hours on this spot that’s going to run more than a dozen times over the weekend.

By the way, the answer to your question is “Yes.” And the others are all co-workers.

Things have been a little busy around The Big 6 over the past few weeks. With the end of February/March sweeps and the week of fun that was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, there hasn’t really been time for anything else.

But I did have a chance to go out and visit the Extreme Makeover site; and I must say it was quite an impressive experience. We were out on Oxford, temporarily renamed McFarland Drive, for the big reveal when Bernard McFarland and his three sons saw their new home for the first time. Talk about an emotional experience.

It’s no wonder the show has found a way to capitalize on those “moments.”

After spending the week dealing with all of the extreme-ness, it was time to throw a Proof of Performance spot together for the 6 News coverage of the event. Enjoy (it’ll be running for the next few weeks).

And, here’s just a few of the photos I managed to snap on the ground at the site:

With the new year comes a whole new list of responsibilities for me at RTV6.

For the past three years I’ve worked at WRTV as Promotion Editor, producing and editing topical news promotion and special programming, while working to develop new online ventures.

As of January 1, 2009, I have been officially promoted to Manager of Digital Media. Not sure what that means? You’re not alone. I’m still figuring out what I’m supposed to be doing.

Here is what was sent out in the all-staff e-mail:

In addition to daily news and station marketing, he will work to develop and implement new e-business opportunities, particularly implementing new sales ventures on the web and in other media.

Basically my focus will shift away from cranking out topical promotion. I’ll handle some online promotion and viewer relations (to steal a title from a blog I’ll link to in a minute, “chief conversation officer”), research and development of new products for the Web, as well as managing those brands.

A big portion of the new job will be keeping up with blogs, Twitter and other social media, reading journals, and taking a lot of tutorials and courses. I won’t have anything to do with content on TheIndyChannel.com, but I will be working to market the site effectively.

As I’ve met more and more people on Twitter, I’ve started following more and more people who work at TV stations and those station’s websites. I stumbled upon a great article about how TV stations are “still in the dark ages” (oddly enough, that saying is used in both blogs to which I’m about to link).

I personally have a huge problem with a lack of engagement from companies on social media platforms. Some department head has seen a story ab0ut how Comcast is using Twitter and they think, “hey, we need to be doing that, too.” But they don’t follow through. They put up a Twitter account that only posts their RSS feed, or just publishes their sales every day. They don’t engage the audience. And that’s pointless and useless.

Here’s what Sheryl had to say about the issue on her blog:

All these news people, brands, etc pretending to engage with ‘us’ in social media like [T]witter, might as well not bother rather than throw up a site that isn’t engaging, or putting up a dummy account on twitter where no engagement happens at all.

Another issue TV stations need to deal with is new technology, especially the kinds spreading like wildfire within a certain niche. Too often, we start catching up too late in the game. This can be attributed to cost or lack of knowledge, but it is an issue. As iPhones and other smartphones become more commonplace, TV stations need to re-evaluate the presentation they provide.

On Random Gemini’s blog, she talks about iPhone compatibility with TV station websites:

[T]hen you get to watch your iPhone load the full bore web version of the news site, complete with video links that do not work and interactive screens that will not load because guess what folks? The iPhone doesn’t support [F]lash. In fact, these sites are so heavily encumbered with [F]lash that browsing them from an iPhone is not easily accomplished and I got so frustrated with one of the sites that I put my iPhone down and went to my laptop.

I completely agree with her frustration. For some stations, they’re stuck with what they have. This is thanks to big companies controlling styling for numerous sites; some don’t see the potential of having to develop different layouts for different devices.

Hopefully I can start addressing issues like these to improve the audience’s perception of 6 News and RTV6’s products.

Oh, and I hope to be able to improve our use of proper terminology. Since one time we had a story talking about “M3P players.” No joke.

We get a lot of comments on the blogs over at rtv6blogs.com. Most of the comments we receive are great: political, insightful, fun. Occasionally we get spammed on posts, or hit with spammed trackbacks. The worst are the readers who actually take their time to tell us that it’s a waste of space:

A new comment on the post #591 “A New Addition” is waiting for your approval
http://rtv6blogs.com/rtv6_toddandtrisha/2008/12/26/a-new-addition/

Author : Anchor fodder
E-mail : anon@anon.com
Comment:
Good Lord, this is a waste of space.  I can’t believe that WRTV pays these two bubble-headed goofballs to post every rambling thought that comes in their heads.  I’ll avoid reading their “blogs” in the future.

So what do they hope will happen because of their comment? That we’ll tell the anchors to stop blogging? That we’ll approve the comment and tell you that you’re right?

If you don’t want to read the blog, then don’t. Websites don’t have the pervasive presence of television or radio. When you turn your computer on, you don’t automatically get sacked with websites (unless you have a spyware or adware problem). So why complain about something you can avoid? It’s not like we’re pushing religious or political views (except on the Capitol Watchblog, and there that’s expected).

Just because you don’t think the content is worth your time doesn’t mean it’s not a blog. It’s still a blog. So watch where you put those quotation marks.

I just don’t understand the point of sending this e-mail.

Oh, and we don’t pay the anchors to blog. We pay them to be on television.

The Inauguration is closing in quickly. In just a few short weeks, Barack Obama will officially take office as President of the United States of America. And 6 News will be covering it, live in Washington, D.C.

Of course, there’s promotion to go along with a story of this magnitude. I put about 10 bench hours into this spot, but that’s mainly because the After Effects render of the :15 took more than 30 minutes.

Here’s the :15 version of the promo that starts airing Saturday evening on RTV6.

With the end of 2008 closing in, we had to prepare our year-end promo. Basically a highlight reel of big stories for Central Indiana over the last twelve months.

This spot really came together in the edit bay. I was provided with a script that had the big words for the spot (“challenges,” “controversy,” “change” and “hope”) and the desired cut of music. I dug up the soundbites and did the graphic work. This spot debuts Christmas Day on RTV6. Enjoy.

Next spot: Obama Inaugration. Starts airing Friday.

Our “Happy holidays” promo that starts running this Friday evening. You’ll see it through New Year’s Day, so I doubt you’ll miss seeing it on television.

Tomorrow night is the 42nd Annual CMA Awards live from Nashville at 8:00 PM ET on ABC.

We’ll hit the air at 7:30 PM with the RTV6 CMA Countdown, our live pre-show special from the red carpet. As part of the pre-production for tomorrow’s special, I was asked to put together the open for the broadcast.

Here’s what you’ll see tomorrow at 7:30 PM following 6 News at 7:00:

The CMA Awards are closing in quickly.

Every November you can count on ABC to pull out the “country’s night to rock” line. The awards are Wednesday night in Nashville, and aside from the actual awards show, we send a crew down for our live CMA Countdown from the venue.

Here’s an early look at the promo we put together. It starts running tonight during primetime. My boss produced the spot, Steve shot Paul Poteet and the gang from WFMS, Kirk designed the 3D logo and I edited and added effects. Take a look:

Should be a good show this year, I don’t even like country music, but the awards broadcast is usually pretty fun to watch.

I did my civic duty today. And boy, did it feel good.

It wasn’t even painful.

In Indiana there had been a lot of talk about how long it would take the typical Hoosier to vote. Some people have waited in lines for as long as 3 hours, just to get inside the polling place. I would have been glad to wait that long to make sure my voice was heard, but I didn’t have to.

My wait didn’t even come close.

I walked into Indianapolis Fire Department Station 5 around 9:50am; and walked out at 10:00am.

Easy. Simple. Painless.

Then I got to work.

Sweeps is always hectic at a TV station, but Election day at the beginning of ratings is especially crazy. I fully expect to put in 12 hours today, if not more. It’ll all be worth it in the end, though.

Instead of the typical “here’s what’s coming up at 5:00pm” promo, I took a different approach.

Here’s the spot that starts running in about 15 minutes:

We’ll see how long we’re on the air, and how long before we know who the President-elect will be.

(Some are betting we’ll know the next President by 11:00pm, I’m saying 2:00 or 3:00am)