Get a Job!

Recently, NEWS7 sports anchor/reporter Chris Miles and I traveled to George Wythe High School to meet and greet students at their annual career fair. Many local businesses were on hand to provide information to sophomores, juniors and seniors. I've found this is a fun time of the year. Since the fall, SkyTracker7 HD meteorologists have traveled from one corner of our viewing area to the other talking about weather and climate to thousands of students. While that's fun, it's a nice change of pace to go to high schools and talk with older kids about broadcasting. Many are familiar with the "on-air" part of the job, but few have a clue about the "behind the scenes" work. They are often thrilled to know about jobs such as graphic production, audio, directing, producing and sales. Students also are usually interested in how they should continue their education beyond high school.

Thanks to GWHS for inviting Chris and I to attend. I have a few more career fairs to visit the next few weeks. I look forward to meeting more students who may eventually decide on a career in the ever-changing broadcast news industry.

Home Show Friends

Just a quick blog to express "thanks" to all the viewers who came out to The Home Show at the Salem Civic Center this past weekend. The WDBJ promotion department requested the four SkyTracker7 meteorologists meet-and-greet viewers for the three day show. My day was Friday. I was amazed - not at the volume of people coming to our booth - but at the number of folks who thanked us for providing them a forecast in High Definition! One gentleman even noted he could see a "blimish" on my forehead last weekend! (True, it was there! Makeup can't fix everything!)

WDBJ has been providing you the area's only HD forecast for a year now, and viewers are saying they can really "see" the difference! Here's a bonus for our HD weather fans; we're now beginning to rollout new HD cameras on our WeatherBug sites. Baywood Elementary near Galax has already launched, and there will be more coming - very soon!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to The Home Show - and thanks for watching, in HD!

Severe Weather Coverage

Earlier this month, WDBJ sister station KWCH in Wichita, Kansas was put in an uneasy situation for broadcasters. When a tornado threatened, KWCH meteorologists "cut-in" over programming to deliver life-saving information. While this was valuable information for some of the viewing audience, it was distracting for other viewers who were not in harm's way. KWCH covers 67 counties in the Wichita area. It goes without saying that there could easily be severe weather in one part of this enormous viewing area, while completely sunny and pleasant somewhere else. Many KWCH viewers, not affected by the storm, were upset by the weather coverage which interrupted a KU basketball game. KWCH President/General Manager Joan Barrett discussed the station's action plan in a web post. In part, Barrett wrote:

"It's clear that we have made many fans upset. For that, I apologize. As you might imagine, it is certainly never our intention to frustrate or annoy our viewers - that's not a great business plan. I can't apologize for carrying severe weather coverage, it is what we do. It is something that we take very seriously." (Click here for full response from Barrett)

I bring this up because as severe weather season approaches, we could have the same thing occur around the WDBJ viewing area. For example, at the same time an EF-0 tornado touched down in Roanoke last summer, most of the viewing area experiencing "quiet" weather. Our storm coverage meant overriding prime time programming.

At WDBJ, we cover 26 counties across southwest and central Virginia. The FCC requires us to keep you, our viewers, informed of life-threatening weather events. We can't just ignore a severe weather warning because CSI, Survivor, The Price is Right or any of your other favorite CBS shows are on. On the other hand, SkyTracker7 HD Meteorologists try our best to provide you the information in a short, concise and detailed manner, thus returning you to regularly scheduled programming as soon as possible.

Just something to keep in mind as we wait for our first round of storms this spring! Fair winds! -Jay

I'll get back to you...

I'm not a technology guy. While my job has sparked an interest in technology in me I never thought I had, I'm not a technology guy.

What's a "technology guy" anyway? Anymore, it's more than knowing how to Google something. It's more than having an email account (or multiple ones). It's Twitter, texts, Facebook, Skype, instant messaging and more. My rough definition of a "technology guy" is someone who can actually manage all this stuff. They have unbelievable time management skills. I have "good" time management, but sometimes I wonder if it's good enough for 2009. I'm a perfectionist - but lately I find myself responding to emails typing in lowercase only. Texts don't have punctuation. It reminds me of an art teacher I once had. She told me while water coloring one day, "Jay, don't do it 'neat', just get the paint on the canvas. Just get it on there!" That's me, anymore. Just getting it done, but not perfect, at least in my opinion.

I "do" Twitter. I "do "Facebook". I read your texts. I get your messages on my cell phone. Despite recently figuring out some important emails were going to my "junk" folder, I get your emails and respond to them promptly.

Here's my problem...

There's simply not enough time in my day to monitor all the messages I get, whether that's on a social networking site or electronic apparatus.

Here's what I like...

Family time. Yard work. Grilling. Watching my NCAA bracket vaporize on TV before my eyes. Golf. A peaceful drive to the Shenandoah Valley on Route 11. Art. Model railroading. The list goes on...

The solution...

Maybe I need to realize every call, email, Facebook message, isn't worth responding to. It's always been my thought that if someone took the time to email me, I should email them back. I think it's time to only start responding to the really important, pressing stuff. The other day, for example, I received nearly 25 emails (on two different accounts), 4 texts, 3 missed Skype calls, 10 incoming calls to my cell phone, a few direct messages on Twitter, endless Facebook chatter, and 1 missed call on my answering machine at home. Most of these people just wanted to say, "hi".

I could sit in front of my computer all day and watch this stuff come in, and respond to it all. Instead, I'm "off" tomorrow and I'm not going to turn my computer on all day. Think of it as going Green. No juice running to this puppy all day!

Unfortunately, it's come to the point unless you're on my "short list", chances are it'll be a few days before I get back with you. Come on, you know you are wondering - who's on the short list? In no particular order: my parents, my wife, the weather team, and at the moment, my CPA.

Back to my original thought. A "technology guy" will probably respond to you instantly. I'm not a technology guy. Let me get your message, ingest it, process it, and... I'll get back to you.

Little Sis Visits the Weekend Diner

If you watched the Weekend Diner this morning, you saw our very special guest. My sister Suzanne made an appearance on NEWS 7 Morning and treated us to Tex-Mex Ravioli Casserole. Try it - it's fantastic! The morning crew ate every bite of it within a few minutes of wrapping up the newscast. It's an easy dish that can be prepared in a matter of minutes. For the recipe, check out our recipe page on wdbj7.com http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/category.asp?C=59666

In her prime (she would argue she hasn't hit her prime yet), Suzanne "a.k.a. Suz" was quite the basketball star. She scored over 1,000 points as a student at Narrows High School playing in the Mountain Empire District, and later scored around 900 points playing for the Lady Maroons of Roanoke College. We dug up some of her old footage from the NEWS7 sports archive and played that on the air this morning. You can tell Suz not only knows her way around the kitchen, but the basketball court as well.

I'm always looking for new guests on the Weekend Diner. Contact me at jwebb@wdbj7.com if you'd like to come on the show. All you need to do it cook and smile for the camera! --Jay

Success! The Joys of Parenthood

I'm so proud of our little boy, Parker! He has just about mastered potty training. This "obstacle" was probably one reason my wife and I (or at least "I") waited so long to have a child in the first place. Honestly, it's never been something I've been looking forward to - at all! The thought of it makes my stomach turn! Truth be told, my wife and our awesome child-care provider have done a lot of the training, and it's paying off!

Tonight, just before dinner, Parker announced to us he had to go to the potty. He was insistent to go by himself. I've seen him do "number 1" before, but never "number 2". After a few minutes, he called out to my wife and I to "come see!" He was so proud of his first successful "splash down" all by himself in the "big boy potty".

His reward, after praising him with "great job!" several times was a new pair of "big boy" Thomas the Tank Engine underwear. I'm going to have to get a matching pair, I'm afraid.