We were watching Facebook yesterday as our many Iowa friends were posting pictures of the violent weather. Fierce storms rolled through dumping lots of rain, downing trees and perhaps even killing a person in Cedar Rapids.
I got a call from my clients in Cedar Rapids asking me if I could do them a favor. They were running on generator power which only keeps the on-air studios up and running. Since I have a production studio in our home, they asked if I could voice and send them a couple of things that needed to be done pronto. Of course I said yes. The copy was emailed an hour later and the finished product was emailed back to them a half-hour after that.
It turns out the announcement was for one of the electric companies instructing folks what to do if they come across downed power lines and damaged transformers. Julie, the general manager there (she posted the picture below) said they were thinking about people who still had power who could produce the announcement. She suggested me, despite the fact I'm a thousand miles away in Massachusetts. It doesn't matter anymore.
The KZIA Studios
As Lauren and I talked this morning we couldn't help but remember the "old" days. What we did yesterday would have been impossible 20 years ago. I can do more in my home studio with a very fast PC, Adobe Audition, Audacity and several video editing programs, than I could do in any million-dollar radio studio I ever worked in.
The situation also pointed out how quickly we can move data from one place to another. I remember when we had to get something on-air right away from a remote location, the physical magnetic tape had to be hand carried either via FEDEX or a local delivery service. Now it's a touch of the button.
I'm glad we can do all those things now and I'm not nostalgic for the old days. I was never very good with a razor blade and editing tape, but I'm really good with a mouse and keyboard. I'm just amazed at how far it's all come in such a short time and glad I'm part of the evolution. Can't wait to see where it goes next!
To my friends in Cedar Rapids I wish for no more rain for a while, plenty of sun and knee high by the Fourth of July.
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