|
|
Staffer Memories
by ANNA EASLEY
FOR THE LOVE OF KUAM IN THE 80’s
At first I came on board as an Account Executive. I was hired away by a competitor and then rehired by Lawrence Berger to run the Sales Department. We had about 6 Account Execs to handle all three stations. We even had a copywriter!
I loved the camaraderie at KUAM. We were more than just co-laborers in the field of media. We were a unit; loyal and closely knit. Sure, we got frustrated with things like rats outnumbering us, dilapidated and antique equipment, and egos. But those frustrations were tempered by our unified goal of being Guam’s broadcast leader. We also knew how to laugh together and that in and of itself saw us through a lot. It seemed to be the glue that we all understood kept us together. We fought, laughed, worked and played just like a real family. We had that unspoken love for each other; it was just a given.
I was there in the days of Harry, Janice, and Nestor (last names not required of course!) in the newsroom. Some of the pleasant memories of that department included the anchors running up and down the hallway to get their stories done and their faces ready for airtime. I fondly remember anchors with no shoes, ants crawling up the anchors’ faces, and booboos made when the camera or microphone was inadvertently not turned off or due to miscues. We watched our reporters deliver their stories stumbling over their words or stuttering their way through. Sometimes even gasp-worthy words jumped out of mouths and we just cringed and hoped our clients weren’t watching.
Ah, our clients! We all strived to present a real classy operation to the advertisers. We trained the sales people, worked with production, tried to balance that ever-so-fine line between credible news story and big advertiser when the two were one and the same client. Ouch! Ron Tangye got an earful from me on many occasion. He tried to fight for the story and I fought to keep our advertisers happy. I assume that fight still exists and probably always will.
We had a varied and talented radio crew too. J.Q., Rick, Ray, Tote, Gerber, Dave and the rest. KUAM AM and FM rocked the island with talent, games and lots of loyal listeners. When the Chamorro show started in the evenings, the phones went crazy. I tried really hard to be gone by then! It was my daily goal and a lot of others scattered then too. Remember vinyl records and backing up the record to cue it? Oh yes and the infamous 8-tracks! Our radio station(s) sponsored recording artists, groups, contests, and a whole slew of other promotional events.
I remember taking all the publicity photos sent by the networks and passing them out to advertisers as a sort of carrot to get them on board or appease them. Since we had so many, I decided to plaster the walls (every square inch from ceiling to floor and all the way around!) of our little sales room with carefully chosen and strategically-placed photos. After all, we were in the television business and the walls sure needed help from that hum-drum paneling and those sad curtains. The room was a sight to behold, I am sure! People would walk in and stop talking. Breathtaking or ‘you gotta be kidding me?’
SuperBowl was so much fun. Who worked? That was the time to bring food in and have a morning-long breakfast spread. The reporters and some on-air staff hobnobbed around the island watching the game, and the rest of us stuck around and ate and ate and ate. Don’t bother doing a story or seeing an advertiser because the big game cancelled out everything—kind of like our own holiday for half the day!
Let’s not forget our little friends, the rats. After all, they outnumbered the staff and occupied the building longer than most of the staff. I remember interviewing potential sales people and having rats run races in the attic. I kept a radio on my desk and had to leave it on so that not only could I monitor the stations and our ads, but the music would drown out the rat races up top. Funny, rat races. I sure didn’t want to frighten a potential sales guru; at least not until they were on board with us—then they were fair game! Both my office doors had rat openings so the rats really did have full access of the Ordot camp. How they got into my desk drawers, I still don’t know. Rat evidence greeted me most mornings, right there on top of my desk, like a present. Sometimes their little offspring greeted us in the sales cubicles. I remember a rat running across the hand of a morning radio news person while her microphone was open and she was delivering a story. Yeah, you guessed it! She did and I would have too! I still have mental pictures of Joe carrying out all those rat traps with victims attached.
Once there was a very peculiar odor up in the production area. Seems a cat died between the walls. Rather than trying to take the dead animal out, the area was doused with disinfectant, but the odor was still detectable. We tried really hard not to bring clients back there to see their commercials while the stench permeated the area. That was crafty too—trying to explain why they couldn’t come to the station. I mean, did we really want to divulge the truth? Meanwhile, the poor tech staff had to take frequent smoke breaks just to keep from passing out.
We had conscientious employees that really did a wonderful job. On the other side of the spectrum, we had some who needed a reminding push. We had to retrieve them from self-designated rest spots. I remember a moment when our equipment was desperately in need of being destroyed. A hammer or axe would have been more merciful than to slowly watch everything fall apart. We were down to one functioning camera in the newsroom and reporters were taking their personal video recorders to do their stories. It was a very low time for us. Employees were leaving, morale was in the gutter and it looked like it was all but over for KUAM AM-FM-TV. When I said to a tech that it ain’t over till the fat lady sings, he replied, “Yeah, but she’s already tuning her piano.” And KUAM still pulled through. The same grit, determination and dedicated staff (different faces of course) made sure that the media flagship of Guam would live on. And KUAM does live on in the hearts of many, many former employees. Still, despite everything and everyone, there remains a sentimental soft spot in our hearts for our beloved KUAM. We have moved on, but the memories live on. Congratulations KUAM!!!!