Some continued reporting from AMPPR attendees. Valerie Stains is a freelance producer who spent many years at NPR doing a variety of jobs. She reports on two sessions:
FRED CHILD, host of Performance Today (Air Talent Training)
As he has done for past radio conferences, popular PT host Fred Child had sent out a pre-conference call for sample air checks to be critiqued at his session, “Air Talent Training.” When absolutely nothing arrived before the gathering,
I asked some of the attendees at the AMPPR conference in NYC to write reports for this blog. Here is the first of two installments:
From John Pitman, Music Director at All Classical in Portland OR:
While visiting the facilities of WQXR/WNYC, I felt like I was walking the halls of some vast intergalactic public radio space station: multiple floors, corridors, elevators, seemingly uncountable staff… it was most impressive.
Back in 1992, I spent 3 days in Warsaw, not really thinking much about Poland or Chopin, but intent on wrangling a visa to get into Russia. It wasn’t easy at the time. Warsaw was the back door. Those 3 days turned out to be life-changing for me. Yes, Chopin just happened to be my “desert island” composer, but my focus was a quick transit to Moscow to explore joint-venture opportunities in a newly open, former Soviet Union. Don’t ask. In any event, I was completely caught off guard – Warsaw charmed me.
A dear old friend of mine, long since gone, used to say when offered ice with her whiskey, “No thanks, that stuff sunk the Titanic, I’ll keep it neat.” She was a Belfast gal from way back.