Yes, I was being overly dramatic and intended to be humorous. I did not mean to offend you or your great work. Will, Gloria, and I did have a good time. I have no regrets attending, even though I avoid awards shows. Thanks for being a part of the group. Feel free to comment in the future.
On Oct 31, 1:34 pm, DavidFJackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Tom (and everyone), > > To be certain, this was a celebration of Bay Area radio, and was > probably the greatest gathering of local broadcasting talent in one > room, ever. I've been a great fan of Alex for as long as I can > remember, and it was an honor for me, personally, to present him into > the Hall of Fame. > > The program itself lasted a bit more than an hour and a half. That's > nowhere near as long as many awards shows last. > > > Since most of those being recognized are dead, it seemed like a funeral. > > Spouses, children, and grandchildren mourned the loss of those great radio > > talents as they accepted the awards in their absence. > > There were sixteen people inducted. Ten of them are alive and were in > attendance. Would you have preferred that we skipped over the few (not > "most") that are no longer with us? > > > (Ben) Fong-Torres was one of the few minorities in the room. I saw three > > blacks, and two of them were honorees. > > Tom, if you want a list of "minorities" who were in attendance, I'll > send you a list; otherwise, I'll just chalk it up to you not having > paid attention, or that you are trying to be dramatic. > > Renel Brooks-Moon received more votes this year than any other > nominee. At her table were her mother, brother, and other family > members. And her manager (Filipino). KGO's Rosie Lee Allen was a top > vote-getter and an inductee. At the next table, with Dave Sholin, was > Gary Mora (Hispanic). Should I keep going? > > If you're suggesting that there was something racist in the make-up of > the audience, I can go table-by-table to prove you wrong. > > > Alex warned us over a decade ago of the damage deregulation would do, and > > now it has come to pass. The audience at the luncheon did not want to hear > > it. Deregulation was the elephant in the room, and Alex was doing an > > intervention. > > If you are suggesting that the people in the room -- many of whom have > lost their jobs in radio recently because of the consolidation of > local ownership -- don't know what's happening in their own industry, > then you are naive. The audience didn't want to hear it? The audience > is LIVING IT. > > Barely two weeks after the BARHOF program, KFRC changed formats and > Dave Sholin, Celeste Perry and Ben Fong-Torres were fired by CBS. I > can name the friends of mine in that room -- dozens of them -- that > are struggling because there simply aren't any jobs in radio these > days. Do you think they are unaware of the current situation in the > industry, or that they disagreed with Alex's spot-on assessment of the > current state of terrestrial radio? > > I'm sorry that you thought the show went on too long. I wish that > somebody had started the Hall of Fame thirty years ago so that more of > the honorees were still alive to attend the ceremony, and so that we > would only be inducting four or five new members each year. We're > trying to do something special, and I know we can't please everybody. > > That said, the response I have received from the honorees and those in > attendance has been overwhemingly positive. We'll try to do better > next year. > > David Jackson > Executive Director > Bay Area Radio Museum > > http://www.sfradiomuseum.com/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AlexBennettProgram" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/alexbennettprogram?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
