Moving on -a retrospective LP version

When you spend a significant amount of time at your job-career-something to do to pay the bills- it's a bonus if you really like what you are doing. I've had the fortune to enjoy the Media Business for 23 years as a vocation. I was a fan as a wee lad (don't think I wee'd all that much?) listening to AM stars on my Dad's radio like Gary Burbank, Wayne Perky and the stars of Chicago, and Atlanta markets late at night standing on my bed with coat hangers angled over to the window in attempt to improve the signal. I never missed a Sunday AM with Casey Kasem and Rick Dee's. I remember being mesmerized at their talent and the music I stole each week. Learning to start a cassette recorder at just the right moment to steal music was an art (This was Old school Napster). I was destined to be in this business, I always got in trouble for talking ever since 1st grade. My first radio job was at 1380 WHRS-AM in Winchester in the Fall of 1988 pushing buttons, doing the weather, swap shop shows, on a Big Band station. My great aunt loved the format. I ruled the 70+ demo in Birch! The sister station was the highly popular FM Radio station WFMI- later WLFX in Winchester. My first shift on the FM station- was A Sunday night overnight. I had made it, a DJ at last! It was great until 3am came. That's when your body feels like a train hit you and your mind starts imagining things like "was that a camel that just walked by?" Put the needle on the record! Then at 6am -The Skip Grinn and Ty Barrett morning show rolled in. I would then get in my car and nearly crash all the way home for many weekends after that until I got my own night time show, 10p-2a as Nasty (yeah right) Neal Thomas. But, I was living the dream. I went to work at a station in Glasgow (Owned by Steve Newberry- Former Mayor Jim's brother) right after college for about a year or so. I returned to Lexington to work for Ralph Hacker's Bluegrass Broadcasting Group based in the Central Bank building in 1994. I got 20 hours or so a week via Robert DoubleU Lindsey at the mighty 590 and worked at the Transmitter, where the blowtorch K-93 studios were located. I ascended to producing UK games, became PD at Arrow 101.5 the Rock station with Kruser and Missy Ward, then moved to the Heritage station K93 fulltime as Midday host thanks to Matt (Shuff) Austin, I maintained one of the last 20 plus shares in this market on K93. After Matt left, I got the chance to be PD at K93. But, under Cumulus it was a joke, as PD's now a days can attest. But, I have to say my biggest thrill in Radio was working on VLK AM in the Afternoon Drive opposite Jack Pattie. I guess mainly because he was the most popular radio personality in the market, my Dad knew who he was, and I grew up on AM radio. Jack is the best and will always be one of my favorite people in this business-a hero I got to work with.
I got married about this time, and you start to realize the importance of weekends, so I investigated getting into sales. I had seen Lee Harper in action on a Sales Call and said if he can mumble "you need to buy this" for an order for $25,000, imagine what could I accomplish-I'm going to be rich! I enlisted Harold Browning, Alan Stein and Terry Barton as my key mentors (swallowing hard), with help from Sallie Slone, Shari Paris to keep me honest and nearly raise me as their own. Connie Joiner and Rick Shaw gave me the shot to move in to sales in 1998 and I've never looked back. After the Cumulus boys came to town and bought out Ralph and others, the UK Broadcasting contract was lost to Jacor who begat Clear Channel or is that vice versa? I went across town to work for Keith Yarber, Gene Hardy, and Brad Hogan. I felt like it was time to move on after a couple of years there, radio wasn't what it used to be, corporations, daily reports, stockholders and commodity trading wasn't for me. I wanted to get into TV and work with the best and there was only one place on my mind. WLEX. They had the MaxTrack doppler so they had to be the best. Unfortunately, the good ol' Non compete signed in blood with Clear Channel prohibited that from happening until nearly a year later. But, In 2004 Mary West and Andrew Shenkhan gave me a shot of selling with pictures and I've been here ever since. Due to the shift in technology, need from the clients I work with I recently moved into the Digital side of the business within the company on Kristy Lowery's team in late January of this year. It's been a fun ride, (shorter upon reflection) with incredible people, characters and clients, and can't thank everyone in this unfortunately, the band is starting to play, and the light is flipping on and off but you may make the book! It's time to move on again and try to make a difference somewhere else. I've been offered a position with WebMedley, a Lexington based, Digital marketing company (Account managment, consulting, agency work so to speak), and it's a new challenge that I'm anxious to start on August 15th. But, this will be the first time in nearly 23 years that I won't have call letters next to my name. But, I will still be doing my favorite thing, working with clients and giving them solutions to their problems. You can find me everywhere;  nmetcalfe@webmedley.com or FB, Foursquare, Google+, Twitter @nealmetcalfe, I also answer to Dad, Honey or the old fashioned form of communication, call me 859-312-8069.