Its all about the NETWORKING baby

Some guy keeps harping in my ear that connections and networking are the most important aspect of broadcasting. Then I sit in class and all I hear is more and more about how important it is to network. Then I go outside and meet people and ask for advice and all they harp on is networking and networking, and skill has a bit to do with it but network some more. So I thought to myself “self, there must be something up with this whole networking thing.” And by golly there is.

I am in a sports broadcasting class and by chance my professors is Bob Hannon from WYTV in Youngstown. He is the director of sports. Anyways I figured that this would be someone to meet and to know, and it has paid off. About two weeks into school he offered our class a chance to go down to work on an ESPN crew at an OHIO STATE FOOTBALL GAME. Well that was a double for me because I got to see OSU play and I’m a big fan and I was able to work for a network station.

I worked my butt off, I met every person I could, and was friendly polite and had a lot of fun. Well I guess that it worked because I was later called to help at an Akron vs. OU game, and the following week (which I was not able to attend) go to Miami of Ohio. I have been told that I did a really good job and to look for more jobs during basketball season.

Also Westminster hold concerts and Wayne Newton was at our school while he was on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Well they were looking for story assistants for the show, and my professor recommended me. It was weird to see how fast pace but how calm everything was. It was long day (from roughly 6 pm to 2 am) and we shot over 4 hrs of video. And they shot even more in the two days that followed for a minute thirty of air time. But after they left they called me to try and find a bag that was left there. I was fast asleep but NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK so I went on a goose hunt trying to find it. The guy I work for currently has my resume and helping me rewrite it and make it look impressive as possible, and hopefully can get me a job when I am out of school.

I feel wasteful and frustrated because I am making great contacts, but I am still in college and it is limiting what I am able to do with them. How much is the point were you are just bugging someone. And I’m not able to pick up and move until after May. So where do I go from there.