Backstage

More New Faces!

  It's Monday in the WMBF Newsroom & that means 2 things- catching up from the weekend and NEW FACES!  It isn't just the newsroom that's growing. We got a slew of new production people today, but that's someone else's blog!   I will just tell you about the new hires in the newsroom! Today, we were joined by Paula Caruso, Shari Stuerenberg, Meredith Harvie, Justin Felder & Jamie Arnold.  Paula is one of our morning anchors.  Shari & Meredith are producers & Justin is our weekend sports anchor.  Jamie is our weekend meteorologist.  I hope I am not leaving anyone out. I spend most of the morning meeting afraid I will skip someone or call someone by the wrong name. I have done that a couple of times- and felt terrible!

We are crammed into this temporary office. Just getting to my desk this morning meant weaving around and through crowds of people trying to get to know each other. I am so glad everyone is here. I can't wait to get into our building- and get the news on the air. I am proud to be part of your new LIVE LOCAL LATE BREAKING station. I know we will deliver a great newscast on August 8th.

Jennifer  | jdale@wmbfnews

Friday in Florence!

My day got off to an earlier than normal start! I had the chance to visit our Florence newsroom this morning.  Matt (our News Director), Brian (Production Manager), Ray (Promotions Manager) and I left bright and early this morning for the Pee Dee.  Today was my first visit to our Florence facility. I must say, I was VERY impressed.  You might have seen Lindsay Housaman out and about. I think she's visited just about every town in the area!  Today's visit addressed some technical issues with our live capabilities there.  It was also a chance for me to get to know Florence a little better. 

When we got back to Myrtle Beach, I was met with the typical newsroom chaos. Organized chaos, of course!  Reporters flurrying around trying to get stories edited, producers lining up newscasts, and LOTS of writing for the web! The afternoon flew by!

After work, I tried out another one of the Grand Strand's favorite past time.  GOLF!  Until today, I had never even picked up a club-- except maybe as a kid playing putt putt.   I enjoyed it. I won't lie. I am not very good. I lost 2 balls to the water.  We played 9 holes on a course that were all Par 3.  Do you like that golf lingo?  I learned it tonight.  I shot 21 over par.  By far, the worst of my group. My husband,Jon,  WMBF News Internet Director Tim Donley & his wife, Kim, all did MUCH better. For the record, Tim hit a ball in the water, too.

Jennifer Dale | jdale@wmbfnews.com

Training and more training...

It's a fun time getting a new station up and running. You're never quite sure what's around the corner, but before we get on the air there's a pretty good chance that what's around the corner is training.

The kind folks at WorldNow, or I should say specifically our client services rep Carol, came to our temp offices for two days of training on their content management system - that's the program we use online to get the news on to wmbfnews.com.

Over those two days (Wednesday and Thursday), we looked over the CMS, posted some "test" stories with a fun twist, and learned about the video encoder and how we'll be getting our video stories online.

Nearly everyone is trained; we still have a few journalists around here that were not able to make the training, so I'll be training them on Monday and Tuesday. All this is gearing up to that 08.08.08 launch and your new live, local, late-breaking station in the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.

Timothy Donley | tdonley@wmbfnews.com

Change is happening all around us

Nikki Gaskins, morning reporter, and I just finished another "photo session" at the new studios on Frontage Road.  To our surprise, things have changed even MORE since we took the "official station tour" last Tuesday!

This week, there are quite a few new faces at the construction site building the cubicles in which we will work.  When we arrived, quite a few were set up and being aligned according to station layout plans.

If you drive by our new home, you will also notice that we finally have a parking lot!  Now all we need is landscaping, and the station will be looking pretty snazzy :)

Activity will be picking up around the station even more in two weeks as we prepare for our BIG MOVE IN!  Everyone is excited to get settled into the news station and out of our cramped temporary offices.  If you could see our morning production meetings and the crowd that attends, you would probably agree with me in saying that "cramped" is an understatement at the WMBF temp offices!

Look for more pictures in the next few days as the changes keep coming!

Meghan Miller - bio | email

New Faces & Tight Spaces!

As we get closer to our August 8th launch, space is getting tight at our temporary offices on Grissom Avenue. Some of us are literally sitting knee to knee!  Today, 5 new people joined the WMBF News family!   Matt Nordin will be one of our afternoon anchors.  He's no stranger to the Carolinas, in fact, he used to work at a television station upstate.  Brandon Herring also started today.  Some of you might know Brandon! He's from Lumberton.   Kenny Hitt, one of our photogs is joining us from our Raycom sister station in Albany.  Two of our producers started today, too. Catherine Franklin & Shannon Mortimer will be helping us put together our shows.  Catherine, Shannon, Jennifer Robinson (one of our Associate Producers) visited the station today.  I wanted them to see first hand our AMAZING set.  They will be helping me decide how best to use our tools in our shows!

We are so happy to have everyone here! I can honestly tell you, this is one of the sharpest groups I have ever seen! I know they are going to deliver the best LIVE LOCAL LATE BREAKING coverage possible.

I still want your story ideas. 

Jennifer | jdale@wmbfnews.com

Studio construction continuing...

Work at the studio is ongoing... we now have a parking lot, that's not gravel!

Timothy Donley | tdonley@wmbfnews.com

Getting Ready to Roll!

       It's Friday in the WMBF Newsroom, but that doesn't mean we will be leaving early! Our crews are spead out across the area, digging for stories for our viewers.   Check out Kyle's post on the On Assignment blog for a closer look at what we are covering.

  What am I doing today? I am glad you asked.  I am sifting though resumes, looking for the perfect candidate for our last open position.  I will spend the rest of my day reading over our reporter's scripts & making sure we cover all the news that's important to you!

You might have noticed WMBFNews.com has a new look!   Our new site launched today.  Take a few minutes & get to know the faces that will be delivering your LIVE LOCAL LATE BREAKING newscasts in 48 days.  There's even a little blurb about me on there, but no picture. I'm a behind the scenes kind of person!

Got a story idea for us? I would LOVE to hear it.  Email me: jdale@wmbfnews.com

Jennifer

A sneak peek of the WMBF sets

Just a little update on set construction:  The set is complete and words can't describe how incredible it looks.  Immaculate, beautiful, stunning, sophisticated, top-10 market... point blank - it's out of this world. 

Check out some of the pictures below during the week of "set construction."  We are dying to show everyone in TV/web land the final product, but what would the big surprise on 08.08.08? 

Check out all the pics here!

 

On the Road, On the Air & Online!

    WMBF News has been spread across the Grand Strand & the Pee Dee today! Our reporters tackled stories in Georgetown, Loris, Conway, Florence & Myrtle Beach.  You can see some of our stories tonight on our sister station WIS.  We are also working on some special reports that will start airing August 8th, which, by the way is only 49 days away!

This morning, people who listen to 107.9 Gator got a sneak peek at what's coming up.  Our morning meteorologist Katy Morgan filled in for Korby Ray.  If you missed out, you'll get another chance to get to know Katy tomorrow morning. She's filling in for Korby tomorrow, too.

  There's another big event for WMBF News tomorrow, as well.  While you have been getting a few hints about our WMBF News team through these blogs, tomorrow, you'll get an official introduction to your new LIVE LOCAL LATE BREAKING news team!

I'm still looking for story ideas.  If you have them, shoot me an email! jdale@wmbfnews.com

Jennifer

 

   

Korby's Crown

We just added a new blogger this morning! It's great to have Gator 107.9 DJ Korby Ray as part of our radio partnership with Gator. We're very excited to have Korby join us.

Korby's giving us a look into the Mrs. South Carolina pageant this week. Check it out - Korby's crown.

Korby will be giving us the scoop with videos, pictures, from behind-the-scenes.

As part of the radio partnership with Gator, our very own meteorologist Katy Morgan will make her Grand Strand and Pee Dee debut tomorrow and Friday - she's co-hosting the morning show with Blue!

Tune in and listen!

Timothy Donley | tdonley@wmbfnews.com