I've been walking around the office telling everyone that. "Happy 8-8-08" It feels like a holiday. "What a day." That keeps rolling through my mind ... over and over and over again. I may have been one of the last to get here -- just about two weeks ago -- but that doesn't make me any less excited to have finally arrived at 8-8-08.
I just got here, but this whole adventure started several months ago. For me it all goes back to March. Matt Miller, news director here at WMBF News, called and left a message on my voice mail, interested in talking to me about this new station they were starting in Myrtle Beach. I called him back, but really thought, "This is just a courtesy call." I was a couple weeks away from getting married and had just told my husband that we could stay in Lynchburg, Virginia forever (it's his hometown). Well, Matt and I played phone tag a couple more times -- the last message I left for him was three days before we were leaving for the Florida Keys to get married -- I told him I'd be out of pocket for a couple of weeks. I didn't hear back from him before we left and frankly kind of forgot about the whole thing.
Fast forward two weeks. I'm back from my honeymoon about a week and get this call from Matt again. We talk for an hour and I hear all about WMBF News in Myrtle Beach, SC -- the place where I had no plans, whatsoever, to move. An hour later my interest was peaked. Heck, I was brimming with excitment. My husband came home that day and I said, "You know how I said I never wanted to leave Virginia? Well, I got this phone call today and there is this opportunity in Myrtle Beach that I just have to find a little bit more about."
From there I interviewed, visited and did a lot of soul searching. Was this the right path? Should I move my brand new (little) family away from everything we loved? We had great friends, I loved my job (even if I got up at 2 AM) and life was good. Was it necessary to change it all? Why on earth should I rock the boat?
I took that leap of faith and can tell you have never looked back. More importantly, my husband trusted in my judgment -- that this station was worth changing our lives for.
While everything we've been working on for months now culminates with this first newscast, this is really just the beginning. This is the beginning of a huge endeavor that few people will ever embark on in their lives. There is some gravity to that. This isn't a day in age when companies START television stations. They close them, they lay off staff, they fore go technology in an effort to grow the bottom line. It is a business after all -- and we are living in a world with cable television. The local news is becoming obsolete in some ways. Plus, most of the stations have already been on the air -- they had their launch in the 60s and 70s. Those times are gone, except in Myrtle Beach.
With this launch there is an excitement like I've never seen in the three stations I've work in so far. There is a staff that really LOVES what they do. There are no nay-sayers. No one is jaded. I find that I love my career more than I ever have before. That is a pretty amazing feeling. I'm so thankful that I returned that call...and took a chance. It changed my life.
Danner,
Myrtle Beach's gain is our loss. We miss waking up with you here in little old Brookneal, Va.
Good Luck to both you and your husband and I will be sure to check your show when in the area.
Posted by: Dave Stump | August 14, 2008 at 07:23 AM