Hero on a White Horse
Julie Brinks
The story books paint the picture of the lovely maiden looking for a hero to come riding in on a white horse to save her from the evils of the day. While I have never had that kind of hero show up in my back yard, I have a handful of individuals who have been my version thereof. Broadcast Engineers. Yes. That’s right. The team members in the back room of your radio or television operation who baffle the majority of us in the front room as to what they actually do. My love of the art and science of engineering began in my college days, but that will be a story for another day.
Today, April 5th, 2014, marks the 50th anniversary of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. There will be thousands of engineers in attendance at NAB this year, working the massive halls displaying the latest engineering technology and sharing innovative concepts for the future of an integrated media world. Here is my story about one such hero.
In 1999, I was charged with launching a start-up television station in Peoria, Illinois. I had hit the ground running with all of the roles familiar to me – locate potential studio space, line up a CPA, start interviewing for sales and staff positions, plan and acquire the program content. And then my phone rang. It was a call from the president of the company expressing his concern that the build-out at the transmitter site had stalled and he needed me to go out there and get a report back to him immediately. I had barely been in town a week, so navigating to the remote location took a bit of time. To my shock, the only road in was an insanely steep incline to the bottom of a dry riverbed, and back up again to the transmitter location. My report was as follows: “There’s no one here. The building is locked. There is an antenna on the tower, but I don’t see any transmission line. There is no evidence of air conditioning units on or around the building, and the big crate sitting outside in the mud reads Acrodyne. I think it’s your transmitter.” Fortunately my love of engineering had provided me enough knowledge to be reasonably intelligent in the assessment.
His directive was very clear. You need to get it built. The construction permit expires in 3 weeks, and the FCC won’t give an extension again. Millions of dollars are at stake. Find a consulting engineer.
I sat on the hood of my car, pondering the situation. How in the world was this going to be possible? I knew no one in the region, and really good transmitter engineers don’t just drop from the sky. I had been starring at that sky for 10 minutes or so - just in case - when it happened. A hero on a white horse came to my rescue. Ok, make that in a shiny white pickup truck. He stepped out of the vehicle, asked who I was, and then responded with “I came down from Iowa City today just in case. I’ve been waiting for someone to show up.” And the pact was made. He had the ability to get the job done. I had the gold card.
Sometimes the Leader's job is to provide the support, and then get out of the way.
As a leader, we can often be most valuable by removing any and all obstacles in order for our team to accelerate their performance and to rise up to overcome challenges, and make them as comfortable and encouraged as possible during the situation. Upon driving the president to his first inspection, he declared he would only walk into the sight from that point forward. In meeting with the road commissioner, he indicated that the grade would not have passed code, except that it was a private road so he could do nothing about the situation. At a certain point, the site became virtually inaccessible due to weather conditions, losing a vehicle over the cliff. Suppliers refused to drive into the site, leaving our team to transport or physically carry equipment and supplies. Torrential rains stranded an electrical installation team on the opposite side of the river with no way out of the site overnight.
The project was fraught with issues, from an insufficient power supply resulting in less than desirable outcome, parking a remote production truck at the site to provide a temporary control room to commence operations, to figuring out how to get a truckload of glycol, considered hazardous material, on site. Every step of the way, my engineering hero was there with his trusty sidekick to ensure solutions so that we would make the deadline come hell or - literally -high water.
It was a crazy, stressful, exhilarating time for everyone involved. I learned more about transmitters than I ever imagined from my engineer. But there are two things that have really stuck with me. Number one: the moment when my engineer showed me a television monitor with a test pattern on it, and with great pride on his face, pointed to the tower, simply stating “It’s coming from up there”. We’d made the 3 week deadline…with about 18 hours to spare. And number two: the importance of ensuring a well fed crew, especially my heroes Cap & Coke with a special order of Bimini Shrimp at the Outback Bar.
Unsung engineering heroes are all around us. Make sure you recognize who they are and appreciate the heck out of them. Today, and every day.
Throughout her career, Julie Brinks has naturally migrated toward challenging and complex senior leadership positions in the broadcast industry, successfully bridging technology , content, marketing and business roles. Regarded as a turn around specialist, she serves as a business consultant and executive coach with a focus on helping leaders overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.