All Good Things...

...as you can see, I am no longer updating my blog with any regularity. Facebook and Twitter have overtaken the longer form internet presence for me.

And so for anyone who may still wander past this blog I invite you to browse around, check out the posts if you care to that date back as far as, I think, 2006?

But I also invite you to join my far more frequently updated entries on both Facebook and Twitter by clicking on the logos.

If you're already a member of either or both, terrific. If you're not, it's free and easy to join. Hope you'll consider it!

Thank you.
John
webster@wilknewsradio.com

A Safe and Happy 4th of July!

Some More On What Happened

Some kind words in some comments on my Facebook page about my leaving 107 that included an assumption or supposition about the reason for my departure prompted my reply which I've decided to post here as well.


Jeanine, David, and Alice, thanks for the kind words.

I didn't ask for a single thing when I left. I left because I had been asking for things for years leading up to my departure. Not exorbitant raises (my last was 1.5%) but things that would make the show better.

But there was no imagination or creativity at management level going WAY back and couple that with a budget that got stingier and tighter every year and we passed the blood from a stone mark somewhere in the late 90's.

A new GM was on the scene and I was his "golden boy". I had more meetings in the last three months I worked there than in the previous three years and I was taken into his confidence. "I'm going to fire the program director. I'm going to take your partner off mornings and cut his pay, take it or leave it and it's going to be Webster in the morning and we'll hire a producer with your partner's pay cut." Frankly it felt very snake-oily and I was less comfortable there than ever before.

I don't know what they have planned for the morning now though I don't think what they're doing now is it. I wish them all luck. Eric is talented and Mike is ambitious.

I miss Ruth. I miss a few others who I can call friends there. I don't miss anything or anyone else.

I'm having a great time at WILK. Everyone has been very helpful, welcoming, and accommodating. Every morning flies by and Nancy is a great partner even when we lock horns on issues. It's a show first.

I've said it a thousand times over the years. If we KNEW that listeners would be attracted by someone standing in a studio banging on a pot with a stick, we could just as easily be doing that on the radio in the morning. It's a business first. We're there to attract listeners and tell advertisers "Hey, we have a lot of people who will hear your commercial!" Period.

Be that as it may, I'll say this. I'm early for work every day. I didn't know it could be like this.

Thank you again for the kind words. I'm grateful to you and to this business that allows me to make a living doing essentially what I used to get detention for in high school!

Gaga

First artist to reach over a billion online video views. More than just a pop culture musical artist du jour. Not sure what or how. Something more. A billion.

To boldly go...

The Friday Beerbuzz

Friday, May 7th marks the start of a new segment on "The Morning News with Webster and Nancy" on WILK.

It's "The Friday Beerbuzz" with Bill from MyBeerBuzz.com! Joining Bill, Nancy and me will be WILK's Joe Thomas and Sue Henry.

We'll be talking about and tasting craft and microbrews both local and from around the world.

So, maybe you already enjoy beers that are a little off the beaten path and that's great. And maybe you like beer but just not "that fancy stuff". Well don't think "fancy", think "tasty"! If you like the popular, mainstream beers, you might just find out that you could be liking beer even more!

"The Friday Beerbuzz", this and every Friday after the news at 8:30am on WILK 103.1FM or online at wilknewsradio.com!

TV

Everyday our morning radio show is on TV from 7 to 8am on FOX56. I won't get into why I think we're on, suffice it to say that during that hour I'm trying to learn to be less conscious of the camera while at the same time trying to remember to keep to keep my fingers away from the vicinity of my nose.

After we got off the air this morning, Nancy and I headed over to FOX56 to shoot some video for the show promo. We did some stuff together and individually which they will now cobble into some fifteen and thirty second enticements to get you to watch our daily little ersatz television offering. Nancy took a few pictures of me and I returned the favor.

I didn't love any of the shots of me but I do like this one. In it we see Kung Fu Kman conducting her video martial arts exhibition!