Last night, I had the privilege of joining Shawn Smith at Richmond’s NBC affiliate, Channel 12, for a night of blogging, webcasting and commentary. Having not been in front of a camera for more than a decade, it was somewhat intimidating to think that my ugly mug would be beamed into unsuspecting households in central VA.
But hey…I’m far less scary than some (where’s Will Vehrs when you need him?) and it turned out to be both great fun and educational.
Initially, I thought we might actually be on television. Mercifully, that turned out not to be the case. Instead, we were webcasting several segements where, lead by Gene Lepley, Shawn and I poured over the returns, gave trenchant analysis and even tossed in a joke or three. There are a number of kinks to be worked out before the experiment is repeated in November (more lead-ins from the news readers would be nice, and tell folks where to look for the video link, willya?). But the general format seems to hold a lot of promise, both for broken down old bloggers like me, and for network affiliates looking to tap into the new media.
I also learned a few key lessons:
1. Get to the station even earlier, otherwise all the pizza will be gone.
2. Remember where the men’s room is…this is key.
3. Park on the other side of the building (and remember that the gate opens automatically).
4. Smile more.
5. Stop mixing metaphors.
6. Keep a weather eye on Gene Cox.
And most of all, find a way to capture the video of our discussion so it can be replayed later…purely for betting purposes, of course.