Competing Medias

It's time to start putting together my literature review, and sadly enough, I'm a little excited about it. The best part of the assignment is you get to contact professionals in the field, and get insight from them.

I recently changed my topic to selling competitive media because it seemed harder to talk with a graphic designer than a sales representative. As a part of other projects in capstone, I have already spoken with three current or former account executives: Brad Grandon, who used to sell media and is currently working for Garmin, Bobby Fisher, who has sold various forms of media, and Stevi Nelson, who sells advertising for WTAE in Pittsburgh.

I have also contacted a couple radio, network, and cable television salespeople that I am either waiting to hear back from or have appointments to speak with them. In addition to speaking with these professionals, I gained a lot of knowledge of this topic from my RAB training to become a Radio Marketing Professional.

It's really interesting to hear all the different perspectives each person has on the different forms of media, broadcast and otherwise. Learning from what these individuals have to say gives me a more complete education on the various forms of media and ways to make them more appealing to clients. Plus, it never hurts to make a connection with someone, who also has connections, that has the job you want a few months from now.

Finished!

There's been so many things going on with my broadcasting life including directing Light Up Night and getting the internship at WPXI, I have yet to show off the New Castle Regional Ballet's Nutcracker commercial.

The two performances are in two weeks and the commercial has one last airing on Thursday, November 29th during the 7:30 broadcast of The County Line. It's already played around four times, and I believe the company plans to post the spot on their website because they were so pleased with the final product.

In addition to The Nutcracker commercial, the plan is to create a general commercial promoting the ballet company itself in the spring. It's purpose will be to raise awareness about the organization and hopefully draw new girls and/or guys to take classes or participate in their annual productions.

It's been great working with the New Castle Regional Ballet Company, and I look forward to building upon my already existing relationship with this client - one of the steps to successful selling.

A First!

Last night was a first for the Westminster Broadcast Department. A crew including members of the Video Production class, producer Pamela Marlowe and myself as director broadcast New Castle's Light Up Night parade live for the first time ever.

The event itself has been a tradition in New Castle for years, and I could definitely see why. Even with such a cold, rainy evening tons of spectators came out to watch the parade filled with nearly ninety area bands, floats and groups marching and riding through downtown New Castle.

Of course, being the first time we broadcasted this event, there were some kinks to work out. Directing was actually more fun than I thought it would be, but it was definitely very stressful trying to put on a good show for the premiere of the event on live television. However, I was proud of the announcers, the crew, and also the finished product. Again, a special thanks to all the people and organizations that helped make the event and the production such a success. Watch the replay Saturday, November 17th at 7 PM!

Paid Off...

The hard work I've been doing while here at Westminster, especially these past two years with my work in sales, is showing some recognition beyond the campus community. As I said in one of my last posts, I had applied for an internship at three Pittsburgh area radio and television stations. I sent my resumes out and each of the stations received them on Friday. When I checked my e-mail Monday morning at 9 A.M., there was an e-mail from Sharon Parkes, a Senior Sales Assistant at WPXI saying she would like to meet and talk with me further regarding the internship.

The following Monday I had an interview with her at the station's new building located just off the McKnight Road exit on I-279. I have one word to say about the location: amazing! There are flat screen HD TVs everywhere, it's environmentally friendly, and it is so expansive. I was blown away by the facility, but I really enjoyed the people I met as well. Sharon and her boss Gary Bogart, the General Sales Manager, were wonderful. They were extremely personable and I could tell they cared about me other than the fact that I want to explore broadcast sales.

Finally, Wednesday morning I received a phone call with the good news that they wanted me to intern with the WPXI Sales Department. I'm looking forward to this great opportunity to gain more experience in the field, networking with those working in my desired career field, and simply being in a professional network broadcast environment on a daily basis. The slideshow of photographs from WPXI's new building contains pictures of mostly the set and newsroom from the sales department's aerial view. Look out Pittsburgh - here I come!

Alumni Swap!

The last post said I was going to speak with Stevi Nelson for my alumni presentation. As always in the broadcast world, things change and I actually interviewed 2003 alumni Bobby Fisher.


He is one of the very few majors I know that went into broadcast sales - one of the main reasons I decided to contact him. I met Bobby originally when he spoke in Dr. Barner's Broadcast Sales and Advertising class. At that time, he was selling radio, newspaper and internet advertising at Steel City Media. He left that job about a year and a half ago for his current job with Dominion Enterprises in Pittsburgh. Bobby does inside sales for the company's publication The Employment Guide which is simply a paper full of job listings.

Other than finding out what Bobby's career path has been, I also asked him a lot about having a job in sales and any advice he could give someone entering this field. He talked about the top three characteristics of a good salesperson. He said number one is patience. You will not be an overnight success; in fact, Bobby said there's no money in your first year. The number two characteristic was being open to change, especially due to ever changing technology. Finally, number three was attaining new business. He says some of the veteran sales representatives get too comfortable, and forget that about 20% of business is lost to attrition every year. It's so important to increase billing regardless of what your account list and billing already looks like.

Not only did I enjoy talking with Bobby Fisher because he's so helpful, I know he's a contact I can use in the future. He has been in various sales jobs for five years so he's definitely knowledgeable, in addition to the fact that he has a lot of contacts that may be helpful to me as well. In fact, I sent him a copy of my resume today to look at and make suggestions for me. Thanks Bobby!