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Off the top I want to tell everyone how much I have enjoyed the stories here. My business is storytelling, I am a videographer / reporter at a local affiliate in Washington DC and have been doing this for over 20 years.
I have always had a soft spot for customer service folks, but after lurking here for 6 months I find myself bending over backwards to treat folks extra nice, so for that I think everyone here can be proud of the fact that a little collective good comes from the board.
And with that little rant, I'll toss in a story of my own. I've got a bunch, this is just one off the top of my head.
The key is to remember that although I don't have to specifically answer to anyone, since everyone is a possible viewer, everyone is technically a customer. As a rule of thumb if someone calls my station and rants about me, I can catch flack for it, and doing what I do does require I (generally) keep my thoughts to myself. Not always.
Case in point - the call was a police officer shot at in a jurisdiction just outside DC. His car was hit, the officer was ok, the badguys got away. Now my experience is that police are just human like me, however because they have to deal with nasty types all day there is a tendency towards brusk or authoritative behavior, which I do not suffer well. So I was quite pleased when I showed up and found the local officers were more than happy I was there and asked what I needed to get my job done.
Part of my job is to run the 'live truck' or microwave truck. Unlike a satellite truck which beams a signal to the geosynchronous satellite and back, microwave trucks require a line of sight radio beam from the live truck to a receiver at the tower. These trucks have the mast that raises up to 60' in the air to send the signal over trees and past buildings.
Well, you have to be careful where you park. Put the mast in a powerline? You die. Watch out for trees. Gotta think 'line of sight' at all times. So with a big crime scene, roads blocked off, I asked an officer if I could park my truck in the middle of a closed off road (right up against the crime scene tape) to send my mast up to get a signal. Sure I'm told, no problem!
Great! Truck's parked, mast goes up (between a maze of wires) and off I go to shoot the story, bring it back and start editing.
Fast forward two hours, a half an hour before the news begins, and down comes the tape and the scene is cleared. Now I am screwed, cause I am parked in the middle of a (minor) one way street, blocking traffic, and I do not have the time to break down, move and set up again before the show. However a Captain in the local PD said I was good to stay there for an hour or two and if I caught any flack, call him. After all, people only had to drive 100' to a side street to get around me.
Great! Get out of jail free card! I'm happy about that.
Newstime, I'm up behind a camera, the reporter is in front of the camera in standby.
SC: BEEEEEP! "Hey, what are you doing?!?!" Cue irate guy in Prius.
ME: "Police involved shooting sir. We'll be out of here in a few minutes."
SC: "I don't see any shooting!"
ME: "They cleared about a half hour ago. I'll be gone soon."
SC: "You're blocking traffic. Move or I'll call the cops!"
ME: "Police gave me permission to stay. I'll go as soon as I can."
SC: "What the hell is wrong with you? You think the first amendment is more important than blocking traffic?!?!"
ME: "Sorry, you can turn around there." I point to side street.
It was only later that it really dawned on me what he said, and what I could have said. Isn't it always the way?
I have always had a soft spot for customer service folks, but after lurking here for 6 months I find myself bending over backwards to treat folks extra nice, so for that I think everyone here can be proud of the fact that a little collective good comes from the board.
And with that little rant, I'll toss in a story of my own. I've got a bunch, this is just one off the top of my head.
The key is to remember that although I don't have to specifically answer to anyone, since everyone is a possible viewer, everyone is technically a customer. As a rule of thumb if someone calls my station and rants about me, I can catch flack for it, and doing what I do does require I (generally) keep my thoughts to myself. Not always.
Case in point - the call was a police officer shot at in a jurisdiction just outside DC. His car was hit, the officer was ok, the badguys got away. Now my experience is that police are just human like me, however because they have to deal with nasty types all day there is a tendency towards brusk or authoritative behavior, which I do not suffer well. So I was quite pleased when I showed up and found the local officers were more than happy I was there and asked what I needed to get my job done.
Part of my job is to run the 'live truck' or microwave truck. Unlike a satellite truck which beams a signal to the geosynchronous satellite and back, microwave trucks require a line of sight radio beam from the live truck to a receiver at the tower. These trucks have the mast that raises up to 60' in the air to send the signal over trees and past buildings.
Well, you have to be careful where you park. Put the mast in a powerline? You die. Watch out for trees. Gotta think 'line of sight' at all times. So with a big crime scene, roads blocked off, I asked an officer if I could park my truck in the middle of a closed off road (right up against the crime scene tape) to send my mast up to get a signal. Sure I'm told, no problem!
Great! Truck's parked, mast goes up (between a maze of wires) and off I go to shoot the story, bring it back and start editing.
Fast forward two hours, a half an hour before the news begins, and down comes the tape and the scene is cleared. Now I am screwed, cause I am parked in the middle of a (minor) one way street, blocking traffic, and I do not have the time to break down, move and set up again before the show. However a Captain in the local PD said I was good to stay there for an hour or two and if I caught any flack, call him. After all, people only had to drive 100' to a side street to get around me.
Great! Get out of jail free card! I'm happy about that.
Newstime, I'm up behind a camera, the reporter is in front of the camera in standby.
SC: BEEEEEP! "Hey, what are you doing?!?!" Cue irate guy in Prius.
ME: "Police involved shooting sir. We'll be out of here in a few minutes."
SC: "I don't see any shooting!"
ME: "They cleared about a half hour ago. I'll be gone soon."
SC: "You're blocking traffic. Move or I'll call the cops!"
ME: "Police gave me permission to stay. I'll go as soon as I can."
SC: "What the hell is wrong with you? You think the first amendment is more important than blocking traffic?!?!"
ME: "Sorry, you can turn around there." I point to side street.
It was only later that it really dawned on me what he said, and what I could have said. Isn't it always the way?
welcome, and thank you for trying to make the world a better place. 
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