How I got to Music City

I decided to start this second blog as a way to share my adventures in Nashville with all my friends and family.  Up until now I have lived my entire life in "the North" as a "Yankee" as the southerners call them.  I grew up in a small town about an hour east of Cleveland, Ohio called Ashtabula (don't worry you're not missing anything because you've never heard of it).

After I graduated from high school I packed up for college and made the 7 hour journey to the Hoosier state, and moved into my dorm at Earhart Hall on the campus of Purdue University.  2001 would be the first of my 6 1/2 years in the state of Indiana.  I would only return to Ohio for the summer of 2002 (between my freshman and sophomore years), from that point on Purdue was my home, I made sure to take classes every summer to be able to stay on campus.  I love Purdue and the Lafayette/West Lafayette area.  In 2005 I changed my major from Aeronautical Engineering to Communications and never looked back.  In the summer of 2006 I secured and internship at WLFI, Lafayette's local TV station....

Let me digress for a moment and tell you that it was fated I should end up in a career in television.  As a child I was fascinated with TV.  My first word(s) was even "TV Guide" (or so I'm told).  I have a somewhat unnatural obsession with television.  I watch more shows than a normal person should.  Living with my parents I had my own TV and VCR in my bedroom and the VCR was always set to record something.  My first big obsession show was actually a show in reruns on Nick at Nite - "Bewtiched".  I taped every episode that was on and kept the collection of VHS tapes to watch (of course now the show is available on DVD which I am currently in the process of buying).  My next serious TV obsession was "Savannah", a short lived soap-esq drama on the newly formed WB network, I even did some freelance episode summarizing for a website and in return they sent me a poster and a t-shirt and a few other trinkets.  Just as "Savannah" was ending the next great obsession was beginning..."Buffy the Vampire Slayer".  This show would take me into my college years where the obsession grew and the DVR was invented (this is, in my mind, the greatest invention ever!).  I'm not even going to go into the details of how much TV I DVR in a week but let's just say my other blog TV is My Life pretty much sums it up.  Now back to the post...

After a my summer internship at WLFI was over, I was asked if I would be interested in a part-time position at the station 3 days a week.  Of course I jumped on the opportunity to get my feet wet and continue to learn.  By the end of 2006 the weekend director, who I credit for helping me get to where I am today and whom I still try to keep in contact with, told me she thought I would make a good director and wanted to train me.  And then in the early months of 2007 luck would come my way yet again.  Not one but two directors were planning to move on from WLFI and it was my opportunity for a full-time directing position.  I submitted my resume and continued to train and by April of 2007 I was a full-time employee, and the new weekend director (I was also still a student at Purdue Univeristy - full time).  By the end of summer I went from directing Saturday and Sunday to adding Friday to that list (Fridays were a two anchor show where the weekends were only a one anchor show, Fridays required more attention and quickness).

I was loving life and my job at WLFI, I had no complaints and was not actively searching to move on to a new station when our sister station in Dayton, Ohio sent an email to all of the LIN stations stating they were looking to hire a director and anyone who was interested should apply.  After debating the situation I decided to apply for the position for two reasons.  First, it was a large jump in market size (Lafayette was 189, Dayton was 64 - there are 210 markets), and second, it would bring be back to Ohio and closer to my family (Lafayette was a 7 hour commute where Dayton was only 4).  Fortune came my way again and at the end of April 2008 I was offered the position in Dayton.

In June of 2008 I began work at WDTN in Dayton, Ohio.  This station had a big difference, it ran an automated system for directing.  I had to basically learn how to direct all over again, but I am quick to learn computers and picked up the system within the first 4 weeks of work.  In the 3 years I worked at WDTN I interviewed with several stations and almost left a few times.  In February of 2009 I interviewed at KOCO in Oklahoma City where my former co-worker from WLFI was working.  I was offered the position, originally accepted but then backed out, it just didn't feel right.  In 2010 I interviewed at WCIV in Charleston, SC and at WISH (another sister station) in Indianapolis.  I was offered the position at WISH but again turned the position down.  Then in 2011 I sent out my resumes again and interviewed at WSMV in Nashville, TN.  After a long interview process I was offered the position to direct again using automation but this time the updated HD version of what we had in Dayton.

On June 20, 2011 I started at WSMV.  So here I sit a "Yankee" in the "South".  Nashville is an amazing city, I have been here almost 3 weeks now and have had a blast so far.  In my next post I will catch you up on all the fun I've had in the city so far....So begins the newest chapter of my life....