I'm often asked about my co-workers, if they are as they seem on
the air, or if we all really like each other. They are and we do. For
some shops you can fake it and play nice while broadcasting together,
but behind the scenes it's not pretty. Guess television is no different
than any other job, sometimes folks get along sometimes you don't.
This is my 5th year here, and I've got to admit that I've never worked
with a stronger weather team. All have thier strengths, personalities, all just a
little different, but I've never worked with a nicer bunch of folks.
Our meteorologist, Julie, George, and G.W. (our name for George
Waldenberger), love weather. All of them. They come to work each
day with a good attitude, a spirit of teamwork, energy, and look
out for each other. There is a passion here that is fun to be a part of.
They work together to make sure folks get their needed time off and
all seem to enjoy what they do. I think it shows on the air too.
Julie is perky...you can't fake what she does. She loves people and
enjoys letting viewers know what to expect in the weather. Her smile
lights up the room and she puts her own personal touch on everything
she does. She has more energy than the rest of us could ever hope for.
Coming up with graphic ideas at 4am takes a very creative person,
but she does, every day she brings her A game. She is honest, sweet,
and the class of our department.
George Flickinger, is a very hard worker. He is an excellent forecaster,
very innovative person, an outstanding storm chaser, is very insightful, and
a dry sense of humor that keeps us laughing. George knows and
loves meteorology. He may be one of the best meteorologist I have
ever worked with and is the sort of guy you would want to hang out
with and swap weather stories with. I enjoy watching is weekend show
because of all of the extra information he puts into every broadcast.
G.W. our newest meteorologist and we could not have asked for
a better co-worker. The guy gets along with everyone. He such a fast
learner it is scary, he is a motivated and comes to work every day with
a great attitude. He is a very good meteorologist, a true team player,
and is sharp as a tack. His first few weeks here, he tried so hard to
memorize how to correctly pronounce every town in our viewing area.
I know because he asked me about 40 or 50 towns and wanted to
make sure he pronounced "Chouteau" and "Inola" well enough so the
locals would not take offense. He takes a lot of pride in what he does
and wants to get it right.
When someone leaves our station to go to work somewhere else,
we all sign a farewell card or pat them on the back to tell them what
we think about them. I just thought I wouldn't wait until then, to let
our weather folks know how I feel about them.
These folks make my job so much easier. We all care about what
we broadcast, and are working to to better serve our viewers.
In the past couple of years management here has given us some impressive
tools to do our jobs, and continuing education so we can best utilize
the technology and improve our weather effort here.
Julie, George, G.W. , you guys do a great job, and I am honored to
be working with you guys. We had a good 2007, but 2008 is going to be
our best year yet.