A perfect storm

The ice storm that rolled through last weekend knocked out power to most of Jefferson City.  In cases like this, we rely heavily on a big generator that sits just outside Clyde's office. On Monday, that generator went ker-plunk.  A clogged fuel filter and other issues caused it to fail and all of Learfield was dark. This meant we no longer had the ability to supply programs to our affiliates via satellite or internet. Even our phone lines were down.

In a situation like this, it is vital that we keep our affiliates in the loop... especially our news affiliates who rely on us for programming as much as twice an hour. So, with volunteers from accounting, sports, sales and the newsrooms, we huddled together and called everyone. Many people offered up their personal cell phones to help us make the calls. It was a great thing to see so many stepping up and asking "how can I help?"

All 400+ news affiliates were contacted in record time and most were saved the embarrassment of "dead air".  That is huge. One General Manager said that our effort "shows that you care".  Yes, we do.