I had applied at some radio stations, but nothing came through so I was happy to accept a position as a Night Audit person at a Holiday Inn in the north east corner of Des Moines.
It sounded interesting and promised time on the shift for me to get homework done while learning some new skills that could help post-graduation.
I started on a Monday with normal day time hours for training. I recall learning how the rooms were set up; driving the hospitality van to area shipping companies (a lot of our customers were over the road truck drivers that we would pick up and then take back to their company at all hours); and he details of creating wake-up calls.
Then Tuesday, WHO radio called and offered me a spot as the overnight Board Operator. It was full-time hours, midnight to seven.
I told the Hotel manager about the call and that I felt I had to take the job but I was sorry to do that to her. She couldn't understand why I would do that (maybe she knew more about broadcasting and news than I did), but let me finish off the week doing a variety of tasks around the hotel.
One of them was taking the hospitality van to get washed. I drove it to the self-serve drive through, but forgot a not so minor detail - the van was more than eight feet tall since it had an extension so folks could walk around the van's seats.
I was reminded of this fact when I heard the fiberglass roof meet the car wash door frame. It pushed back a small section of the roof about 6 inches. Yikes, I had to take it back to the hotel and tell them what happened (so it was good I had another job already). The manager was not happy - but said the van was due to be replaced anyway and still let me finish my week. Whew, I was glad it didn't come out of my one week's check.
So long Holiday Inn (and a potential career in the hospitality industry); hello to 38 states and Canada from behind the mic on one of America's oldest radio stations.
For the most part my job was like my first radio gig in Janesville - playing commercials during the Larry King Show, producing the WHO Farm Show (live each morning weekdays, playing tapes Saturday mornings), and recording commercials and programs for use during the day.
It was me and an overnight news guy, Dan, and an engineer someplace in the big Radio-TV building downtown.
It's fun to tell folks that I worked at the same station as Ronald Reagan, just not at the same time. I worked with Jim Zabel (who passed away earlier this year at age 90) who would record his morning sportscast late nights when I was on the board. The Farm guys - Keith, Glenn, and Jim - were great to me, always friendly and taught me a lot. When I left WHO later for a news job the farm guys bought me a bag for my professional tape recorder.
My time on air was limited to weather forecasts, time checks, station identifications, and an occasional promo - but when I was on the air I knew folks for just a moment had to wonder who the guy with the tenor voice was on their radio.
When summer ended, I kept working through fall semester. Each "morning," I would wake up when Johnny Carson came on the air at 10:30pm and get to work between 11:30 and 11:45 after stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. Then I would head to class and studies before getting home around 3 in the afternoon.
This summer also marked my real independent living - an efficiency apartment owned by the people who ran KDMI. It was a good fit into my budget and a decent place to live away from campus. I could make spaghetti, mac and cheese, soups, hamburgers, and cereal. It wasn't much, but I got by just fine.
This whole time I was sending out resumes and cover letters to TV and Radio stations across the Midwest and even some big time places like New York.
One rejection letter that stands out came from WNBC - it was a typical rejection letter saying my skills weren't what they were looking for at the time. The envelope was addressed to me, but the inside letter was for somebody else. I always wondered if maybe somebody else got my job.
My final courses came to an end in December. I was finished and ready for the world - a tail-end member of the Drake Class of 1984.
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