Friday, October 26, 2007

LIFEHOUSE LIVE

Calling all LIFEHOUSE fans! The talented band will be performing at our Annual Tree of Lights festival taking place at The Streets at Southpoint. It’s hard to believe the holidays will officially be kicked off on November 17th. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Lifehouse, as soon as you listen to their music you will become an instant fan. In fact, you’ve probably already heard some of their hits such as, You and Me, Falling Even More In Love With You and their newest single First Time. Come join the NBC17 Staff ring in the holidays with local entertainment, Santa and the incredible sounds of Lifehouse!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

TV Live Trucks

There is something different about our microwave trucks.

For those that don’t know, a microwave truck is what allows us to go live from all over the Triangle. If you have ever seen a live truck, it’s a ford van with metal pole that extends up from the middle of the truck…into the sky. We call that a mast.

Anyways, over the past few days, our live trucks have undergone makeovers. We ripped the old logos and decals off the trucks and had them shrink wrapped with new designs to reflect our evolving product. Wrapping a truck is not magic. It’s a process of printing images on large pieces of vinyl adhesive and than sticking them to the vehicles. It does, of course, take extreme time and precision to ensure each piece lines up with the others to create seamless finishes.

Here’s the old look:

Here’s the new look:

What do you think?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Can You Capture A Smile In A Bag?

As a child my mother always told me to never look directly into the sun. Yet the other day I found myself staring directly at it.

This sun had a smiley face and was printed on the side of a small purple bag. One of our reporters, Liza Weidle had approached my desk the other day and handed me this small gift. She smiled and walked away. It was not something expensive but rather a small and simple gift. The day before I was having a difficult day, and she knew it. You know, those days when nothing seems to go right? Well she gave me this small bag as a way of shining a little light on my day (and of course getting me to smile). Inside the bag was an assortment of candy, luquid to blow bubbles and a few of those rubber bouncy balls.

The newsroom is a stressful place to work. We are always under deadlines and looking for the latest news. We often spend more time with each of our co-workers than we do with our families, friends or loved ones. As a result, we are tight knit group. And, since her small gift brought a smile to my face….the answer is yes—you can capture a smile in a bag.

Have you done something nice for a co-worker? If so, what was it?
Share your thoughts in the comments section.

-Jason Clough

Friday, September 28, 2007

Going Between the Lines

I am a person who enters the world of blogging selectively. I read what others point out to me or community blogs when I can find them and of course writing this blog. (I have to say since writing these it seems more like a journal entry but in the new world it is called blogging because that sounds so much cooler. A man had to come up with “blog” so he wouldn’t have to admit he wrote in a journal on the internet.) 

Blogging has become a bigger part of what I do and where I get information these days. I have to say blogging is very new to me but I am enjoying it. Today I just wanted to share another blog in the NBC 17 family.

Reporter Steve Sbraccia loves to talk back and is doing just that in his blog. It takes a look at the funnier things in life and gives you a pretty good idea of what Steve is like behind the cameras. He always has the best stories and after working as a reporter all these years has seen some of the funniest things. Take a look, drop him a line and enjoy as you go “Between the Lines” with Steve.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Weekend Warrior

Ever wake up on Saturday or Sunday and feel like you should just take it easy since it’s a weekend and all?

Ever been there, wishing you were off at the end of the week when friend are off. Or, maybe you just want to lie in bed until the morning passes or get to something you’ve been putting off or, even, lounge all day long. For most people the end of the week is a time, at the very least, to slow down the pace, but that’s not an option for weekend warriors, especially those whose job it is to cover news. Weekend warriors, like me, work on Saturday and Sunday. We hold down the fort, keep production going and act as a conduit for those two days between Friday and Monday.

It’s not so bad. Weekends in the newsroom tend to be quieter, calmer, a little more laid back. Don’t get it wrong though, we break out the news, up in here, on the weekend. Weekend workers get the job done on a shoe-string staff, but the newscasts have the same look and flavor.

If you’re a weekend warrior take heart, if you do like I do, you rock “whatever” days make up your weekend. 

Got a comment, drop me line.
-saundra
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