Big, Or At The Least, Very Imposing, Brother Broadcasters

CORPORATE RADIO NEW HOUSE RULES, STRUCTURE, DRESS CODE...

When I entered radio a few decades ago, Programming was recognized as Top Priority, from where the money came. That which is on the air RIGHT NOW was paying for everyone's groceries and its Fearless Leader and those who worked under the Programming banner were respected, if not understood. As long as the ratings were good.

Times have changed, as Radio Solutions Experts (Time Peddlers) love to tell me when I visit any station in L.A., for example. "SALES is in charge NOW," they boast. Hmmm... Since when has the listener bonded with Sales?

More, since Sales is the new boss, what are they doing with that ability to attract, entertain and maintain an audience? I'll tell you this: when the coin obsessed don't know a thing about entertainment or broadcasting, they outsource it. They hire a programming consultant. Some of these radio consultants are priceless. I've even heard of one "expert" with a consultant of his own: a fortune teller. It was true; he mistrusted his own instincts so much he had to pull in Madam Turban and her crystal ball. Funny, and inadequate is REALLY funny.

A monstrous Conference Call of Radio 'Who's' for This One Corporation In Particular was reported to have taken place last week. It was between Those Who Tell Others What To Do on your air waves, (what songs to play, who to hire and fire, what costs to cut) and Those Who Must Obey.

The conference call was held by radio programming consultant Mike McVay, who,  among other dictates, apparently informed his troops, "All contracts with programming consultants will be severed immediately." If this is so, Mike just axxed himself, a first that deserves to be applauded.

But, dang, no. There was an even more recent interview, designed to spin the previous one, and, in it, we learn he didn't say, or especially MEAN that.

Nor did he mean there were 500 corporate managers and programmers on the line. That was just the inability to spin a lower number of attendees, is all. But there were enough on the call, maybe 350, to eventually realize everything he said would turn out to be otherwise.

So - when he said, "Jan Jeffries is the head of Country, Top 40 and Hot AC stations." what he meant is that Jan has been doing that all along. Still doing it NOW. I guess he just threw that in or thought it required repeating.

 

The statement, "Programmers will also receive a list of...(song) adds, other(s) ... will be subject to corporate approval." in fact turns out to include an open season reverse loophole: "...we're going to give those PDs the ability to decide the songs they want to play." (from that list they received?) "Part of my whole thing is that I want to get the very best broadcasting minds in the business in our company..."

Well! That's a big difference, even though that last sentence was completely irrelevant to the topic of Choosing Music or Following Corporate/Consultant Play Lists.

But, let's keep rolling. The edict made during the conference call, mandating "Stations will no longer be permitted to talk with record company promotion personnel..." is ACTUALLY: "...100% wrong," according to McVay. "They can absolutely talk to record company promotion personnel and can go to lunch or dinner or with them. I did say we have rules and regulations we all must live by, and I want record company promotions to run through corporate." Then McVay added, to underscore absolutely no point made earlier: "By the way, it is all about entertainment."

Well, I AM being entertained. By the acrobatics; indefatigable flip-flipping.

When, during the vast conference call, it was said, "All adds by all stations will be reported exclusively to Mediabase by one person in Atlanta," McVay INTENDED to say, rather, that they want the programmers to report all adds exclusively to Mediabase by one person, John Kilgo here (in Atlanta), who has always (done that)..." And to clarify, "I don't ...think that's too much to ask for a programmer, particularly if we're utilizing their input in the music they provide to us."

Huh? trying to follow that sentence was not unlike following a Mobius Strip. You give up trying to make sense of it and wait for it to end. but it just goes on and on. I lost the scent of reason at the part of the trail where "all stations were to be reported by ONE PERSON."

What about the new rule: "Programmers will have to make 'good arguments' if they choose not to carry Citadel Media-supplied programming?" What that really meant, says McVay, "...wasn't said in those words, either...What I said is that...if we have shows on our network that you're interested in and they're available in your market, I encourage you to take them....I heard one of our stations playing music and rolling sweepers with no air talent whatsoever, no voice-tracking, nothing that connected us with the community on a holiday weekend. [editor's note: nice to see that even the suits notice the effects of their own cost-cutting. OK, sorry]...I'd rather you carry syndicated programming than just play music and sweepers...."

And IF that Programmer WOULD RATHER NOT choose from Citadel Media-supplied programming, NOR finds interest in any other syndicated shows, THEN, before hiring anyone to do weekends, she can start writing out those "good arguments," right?

That tidbit about "Sometime in October, a new 'Programming Operating System' will be put into effect..." doesn't exactly mean that either. It goes into effect within days (or a few days ago, depending on when you're reading this) and it's absolutely not new; nothing different about it at all. The so-called 'New' Programmimng OS is not at all unlike what McVay called his Media's Systems Management Manual for years. Looks like the man is recycling his assets.

The news blip that said "Format Managers will be appointed, and programmers are being encouraged to apply for those posts" had a spin.  (And, of course they'll want to apply! It's either that or lose their income. That's a typical, undignified, cookie-cutter corporate scheme to avoid bestowing raises: eliminate the position, then create it again with a new name and make proven employees go through the application process.)

McVay says that, after the telephone conference, he "...got about 150 emails from individuals inside Cumulus who are interested in being brand managers, format captains, more involved in programming and having their responsibility and role enlarged." [read: keep pulling in a paycheck even if it means extra duty at less pay]

"So," says the Big Brother-man who keeps HIS paycheck and security at the expense of an entire corporation of others, "I'm really looking forward to digging within our company, as well as without, to find the best programmers and give them greater responsibility."

Gut it, Mighty Hunter Mike. Fill it with the desperate. Then sell it.

Here's the so-obvious-that-he-now-denies-it-Big-Brother-line: "...individual employees are not permitted to talk to the trades." That would be against Free Press, so... Not true, right, Mike?

Big Bro Mike says, "Not true; it never came up on the call. I would encourage our programmers to be interviewed and have profiles... the names that I'll announce sometime in the next 30-60 days are ones who ...I'll want ...to be interviewed. (In other words, re-apply for your old job IF you have created a corporate profile)

Finally: "...A dress code has been implemented: no blue jeans, flip-flops, piercings or exposed tattoos."

The next day, McVay was interviewed and said, "...Honest to God, it was never mentioned. I mean, today is casual Friday. I am wearing jeans, no socks, brown shoes and I have on a shirt that's tucked out."

I'm aghast, Mike, you hippy. He goes on, "...I've been saying I want to change the culture...SVPs stuck a note on my door that said, "I'm changing culture, not clothes." (Bet that SVP is wearing a gray suit, white shirt and red tie today)

And the Corporate Choke Chain, gagging your drones at Big Broth... um, corporate cluster of radio stations, that's all in our minds and not at all true either, right Mike?

"I'm sure if you're in Cumulus", he said, using the old scaffold analogy, "you feel like the noose around your neck was loosened. And I'm sure if you're in Citadel, you went, 'Hey, there's a noose around my neck.' So it's all perspective."

If you say so, sir. Point of View, then, got it. Way ya look at it, sure. Shee... I practically have a blog with that name...

Here's a POV: Instant irrelevance. A gentleman I've always had a nice chunk of admiration for, as I watched his radio programming consultancy move along over the decades, suddenly blows all that perseverance in one conference call. Now he's sounding like a writer for Rush Limbaugh. It's like one of those zombie virus movies.

--0--

Add Another Dimension.

YOUR VIDEOS MORPHED INTO 3-D
How could YouTube, owned by Google, get bigger and what good can come of it for you? Well, strap on your 3-D goggles and hang on.

With zero cost for expensive new gear, another dimension has just been added to your video-making. That's right! Your vids can be seen in 3-D.

I was spying, um, researching... Ok, Ok, my FB friend Robin shared a link with me. That led to another, and so on, until it became so dimensional. Literally.

From the official YouTube blog, this week, of Product Manager Shenaz Zack Mistry, entitled "Additional Creator Tools from YouTube," these gems:

Sparkler-1: One-click 3D video conversion! It's beta but before this cutting edge app showed up, you had to set up two cameras, combine the footage from each, and use special software to synch it up and make it look just right. No more. Today with Youtube you can enjoy 2D to 3D conversion. "Converted videos will be viewable by everyone in 3D." Yay.

Added Luster: No more time limit.

I HATE that online streaming dialog box that pops up saying, "you have already watched 72 minutes of Mega Video. Sign up or go away for a specified amount of time." As of today, less limitations. "The Google-owned video site announced... (select users will) no longer be limited to 15-minute videos."

In a statement that could have been written by Steve Jobs, the Marriage Of Humanities And Arts With Doing Business was once again underscored, "YouTubers are some of the most innovative, entertaining and inspirational people in the world, and their creativity often needs more than the current upload limit of 15 minutes."

Sparkler-2, and 3: Free apps! To edit your video and add ost production effects. "We’re adding two additional video creation platforms for you to make your videos even better: Vlix and Magisto. Vlix lets you spice up your videos by adding cool effects and text to the video intro and closing. Magisto takes your unedited video and automatically edits it into short, fun clips."

Just a few decades ago, it seems, computers started showing up in homes and the spread didn't stop. With them came the entire publishing business, from type-setting to word processing to printing with lazors.

Ray Kutzweil  seems to be right on about ubiquitous machines and exponential costs. Today, it seems the computer makers are stumbling all over each other to bring us the video industry.

--0--

AN UPLIFTING UPDATE

Twin Tower Remembrance, Rebuild

As this month begins we'll see a lot of different points of view concerning what has enterd our lexicon as The Nine-Eleven Tragedy.

Of all the stories you've heard, could you ever describe one as a story
you like? Well, maybe one or two.

A  picture's worth a thousand frames.

Certainly this one.

Here's a future memory. It's something that will have your chest thumpin', make you proud to be an American again.

Also you'll probably feel uplifted and delighted with the hard working New York construction crew in this great video, sent along to me by a friend, passed on to you likewise, as yet another of the endless Views and Ways.

--0--

BEFORE CORPORATE RADIO : REMEMBERING IT ALL

The Inaccuracy Of "Nothing But Good Times"
Radio was the carnival I ran away from home to join, the raft I sailed through the infinite river of my Huckleberry imagination, the obsession with which I wrestled all my life.

As I began my career in broadcasting, it was limitless in scope, with the future as promising as living in the house right next door to Heaven. It was show biz, it was exhilarating, it was a slice of Eternity.

But it wasn't all good times, and to sequester the favored moments is flawed perception. A personal choice of limited outlook can only be described as delusional. The good times that, in fact, there were, stand out as even better only when one recalls the everyday flaws in the mix.

Memory isn't for just looking back on the so-called "good times," but all times -- every kind of situation that can be imagined squeezed into that dynamic duration.

Look again:

Remember the anxiety as ratings were yet to be announced?
Remember the things promised you that were never delivered?
Remember the disappointment when part of the team shirked their duty?
Remember when you found out a so-called friend turned out not to be?
Remember the sinking feeling when your ratings took a dip?
Remember when the listener called to ask you to play a song you just played?
Remember the many times you weren't acknowledged for your contributions?
Remember the embarrassment when inadvertently doing something not in the format?
Remember the suspense when you did something deliberately not in the plan?
Remember the empty feeling when a good programmer was replaced by a lame one?
Remember the lousy feeling when an entertainment choice was sacrificed for financial gain alone?
Remember when the phone never lit up?
Remember the drive in to work, through a drop-dead beautiful day, to a dank, closed-off studio?
Remember when the other guy was late for his shift, leaving you stuck?
Remember the phone calls asking, "What did I win?" when you weren't having a contest.
Remember wincing when the new boss delivered a stupid, minor market, newbie directive?
Remember being sorry for the good people axed in favor of an imaginary budget?
Remember losing a great jingle package for a newer, lesser one??
Remember records being replaced by playback media with no labels to see rotating on the turntable?
Remember knowing what you were capable of and being hobbled by a supervisor in fear??
Remember finding out that a few others made more money than you?
Remember wading waist high in the doubt created by others on the team?
Remember the PD coming back from a convention or focus group with bad ideas?
Remember the good ideas you had that weren't considered?
Remember breaking the rules and how it felt when you were wrong? Right? And then, caught?
Remember being typecast?
Remember reading and re-reading stale liners; worse: cut-and-paste copies from the last regime?
Remember how you felt when you learned your boss had to taught the names of the Beatles?
Remember imported programming stooges who always said, "The way we did it back in (town)..."?
Remember headphone hair?
Remember when the only motivation for career furtherance was being fired?
Remember having to clean up the mess in the control room from the previous pig?
Remember the multitude of means available for feeling isolated?
Remember the lay crowd talking glowingly about the other station?
Remember constantly having to prove yourself? Especially to each newer, younger PD?
Remember working when sick?
Remember having to apologize for something you still think was funny at the time?
Remember being told that the one who hired you was fired?
Remember when the lyrics you knew so well meant different things when heart broken?
Remember when you pushed a button and nothing happened?
Remember knowing it was a bad idea and having to sell it anyway?
Remember having to cross plug another jock you didn't like?
Remember feeling inadequate?
Remember finding your headphones, used by another, broken?
Remember fighting for an absolutely essential budget?
Remember when the other station's jocks had jingles and you didn't?
Remember discovering you were cheated out of money you rightfully earned?
Remember being misused, as opposed to properly being used?
Remember cue burns?
Remember control room filth, built up like plaque from lack of regular maintenance?
Remember your plans for the future beyond Boss Radio?

Do yourself the kindness of remembering it ALL, good and bad. Helps you see the future.

There were plenty of great experiences, but you would hardly remember them if it wasn't for their counter balance, the less-than-good times.

--0--

BILL THE SLAUGHTERED

Utility Plans To Charge Customers For Pipeline Repair

One year ago a tragedy that could and should have never happened blasted its way onto front page news in the Northern California Bay Area. Sept. 9th, 2010: a PG&E pipeline exploded underneath a San Bruno killing eight people and turning 38 homes to which they provided gas into toothpicks and shrapnel.

Get out your checkbook.

Now the Utility Company wants the VICTIMS AND CUSTOMERS TO PAY for repairs for which it is solely responsible. After what we've since learned, are not all customers of PG&E, essentially a monopoly, now its potential victims? Seriously.

That PG&E is completely at fault has been verified by tons of evidence. There were people in the PG&E organization well aware that they had a seam weld risk - for some reason it wasn't getting addressed. As one example, a company engineer recounted a visit to a site earlier where an inspection crew was checking for corrosion on a pipeline in the immediate vicinity known as Line 132. He reported learning that before he got there, crews had identified as many as 20 suspected cracks on an angled bend in a short piece of pipe.

Royce Don Deaver, an out-of-state pipeline consultant who worked for decades in the pipeline industry, agreed that the discovery of a gap in the seam weld as well as a crack on the pipe that was about 1 1/4 inches long. should have triggered inspections across all of Line 132.

"Had they addressed this," Deaver said, "and if they had investigated this thoroughly, they might have found problems with other parts of the line, even where the line failed."

He wrote that he had found a gap in the seam weld as well as a crack on the pipe that was about 1 1/4 inches long.

The maintanance crew had dug up the line when it lost electronic signals, an indication that corrosion might be present in the pipe. When workers kept digging they found the flaws, the engineer wrote. but, after reporting the problem, NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT IT.

State and Federal investigations investigating the tragic explosion have also uncovered bad welds, inconsistent testing for safety and documentation so disorganized as to suggest suspected concealment. This scrutiny has shown us records so inconsistent and shoddy that it becomes obvious the Utility didn't at all know what condition most of its pipes were in, probably doesn't right now.

At first. it might seem a relief that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is, at last, planning a long overdue, extensive upgrade to its natural gas system. That it is proposed in the wake of the San Bruno tragedy, unfortunately, indicates the plan is an afterthought. Makes it seem as if they HAVE to do it, but otherwise wouldn't. (One can imagine a board meeting, "Only eight people? We have thousands and thousands of other customers piping money to us, so what if we lose a smattering?")

Cementing the cold perspective of their lack of compassion and sincerity, comes news of PG&E's stunningly callous intention to make their customers pony up almost 90 percent of the $2.2 billion cost necessary to replace miles and  mles of more defective pipeline, that could actually blow up more neighborhoods before even one valves is upgraded.

As you would expect, the idea of forcing PG&E customers pay the far greater portion of the project's costs enrages both the Utility's customers and critics.

Our Assemblyman Jerry Hill (Dem, 19th dist.), who represents San Bruno, was waiting for this. "We knew this day was coming, when PG&E would expect the ratepayers to pick up the cost of the repairs," he says. "This $2 billion capital expenditure will increase their profits down the road. That should be looked at carefully. They should not be allowed to profit from this."

How does Pacific Gas and Electric feel about passing this enormous bill on to their customers? They simply avoid that key issue and redirect attention to their delinquently configured patch-up. PG&E Happy Face and Executive Vice President Nick Stavropoulos, who was only recently hired this spring, AFTER the deadly Big San Bruno Bang, prefers to speak of what's going on his resume: the blueprint to overhaul the company's gas operations,"What we're proposing here is a massive, order-of-magnitude change to the way we've done business in the past," he said.

This would only matter to the relatives of those lost in the San Bruno catastrophe in that it is as near a direct admission of the Utility's guilt as could be found. You don't make massive changes unless there's been massive wrong doing.

But - where IS the change? One may ask: What's so different about the way you're doing business now? Have you designed a new manner in which to continue to ignore your customers?

Is the differing element in the "order-of-magnitude" that part where the customer pays for the slovenly maintenance of his Utility? Why should those threatened with harm because of deferred maintenance and cost-cutting pay to replace 186 miles of gas transmission lines, then go on to foot the bill in order to retrofit nearly 200 miles more, putting in place machines that can inspect the pipes properly from inside? Is this a business transaction or "protection money?"

PG&E says they will replace 228 shut-off valves, when actually it is you who will pay their workers, put their kids through college. You'll front the whole operation with your cash.

As newer models of faucets, valves and pipes, that can stop the flow of gas automatically or by remote control are installed, you are intended to pay the cost. While the company centralizes and digitizes all its pipeline records, as they should have done years ago, you will finance the undertaking. And the cost is not only beyond enormous, it is behind schedule by decades.

The big deal, yipee-skippy, intricate PG&E Pipeline Replacement Plan was only very recently filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. It went public the last Friday in August, nearly a whole year after San Bruno exploded, blowing away eight human lives and decimating 38 residences.

Investigations into the blast, both State and Federal, have revealed a portrait of a lazy, company that takes it's paying customers for granted and ceased any effort towards excellence, cutting it's maintenance budget to the point of not only being ineffective but not being there at all. Bad welds, inconsistent safety testing and record-keeping so inept illustrate a disorganized Utility that didn't know the condition of many of its pipes. Still doesn't.

As August comes to its close, we look forward to a final report card. The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to report its conclusion on the cause of the explosion. Will this report justify PG&E heaping onto its customers' backs this heavily priced and massive clean-up? The pricetag: $768.7 million through 2014, ADDING $1.93 to a typical homeowner's monthly bill.

And that, unfortunately, isn't all Pacific Gas And Electric plans for those paying for its energy services. Additionally, all new equipment installed would become part of the company's "rate base." soon, you'll get a letter explaining the new look of PG&E's monthly statement.

The shareholders portion will be significantly less. Their total would be $220.7 million through the next three years, with money coming out of PG&E's profit. Shareholders would spend an additional $314.5 million on pipeline safety programs already under way. (And what the hell does PG&E know about public safety? That it practices. I mean.

"Over the long term, it certainly will have an impact on customers' bills, no doubt," says Piggy Head, Stavropoulos. "But this is something that needs to be done..."

"They (PG&E) have no integrity at all," Deaver said. "You can't trust these people with public safety issues."

"When we're done ... we're going to know everything we'll need to know about these facilities from the standpoint of safety," Stavropoulos said Friday.

Too damn bad we can't choose from a menu of utility companies one that knows how to keep us safe from inadequate maintenance, deadly accidents and deliberate gouging.

--0--

CANCELLED FAITH IN TRAFFIC GUY, SIR

BOTTLENECK OF TOO MUCH HOT AIR, REVIEWED
(Addressed to you as if you were a person making their living online)
Time to pay up!

Recently preparing incoming funds and statements for delivery to my bookkeeper, a significant American Express bill was discovered . Memory didn't offer a marker, so I looked further into that envelope for a clue as to what I had purchased that month for such an amount.

The charge was from an Online Marketers Tool-Set By Subscription, Trouble Geyser, (real name altered to obscure the guilty, but you know who). I thought it was an ongoing fee for the continued use of their software, available to members by fee for a fixed time, and that the time had run out. Ah! But, not the case, they said.

I was informed that my entry fee took me through the end of this year. Well then, if I'm good through December, why the charge? That entry fee was hefty.

A Tariff Guzzler finance person on the phone was asked about this mystery charge, and I received an immediate, though disappointing, response. It was a pre-fab answer, as you will read.

The very moment that question was answered with that formatted reply was the same time, to the micro-second, that the White Camel In The Room had it's back overburdened to collapse. It was the famous "Final Straw," and precisely when the Treasure Grabber firm's entire online marketing scheme broke through its flim-flam cover film and was seen suddenly as ludicrous. I mean embarrassingly farcical, in the way only an amateur on stage in front of thousands on opening night can turn absurd.

All at once the parasitic reality of the situation became clear, if surrealistically silly can pass for a description of "clear." Time seemed to stop as that ill-fitting, stock reply stood out as the loudest, most inane bleat in the room, pulled into use in only the manner of the scripted who cannot at all remember her script.

A "pat answer" was given, immediately attempting to blot out, rather than answer, my quite differently shaped question. Instantaneously, at the speed of light, i recognized that answer didn't fit and I was being mislead.

I think we all know how it feels to put our money down, walk away with our purchase, then find it was a hoax perpetrated only to take our money. The word oft used is "taken." (Old school: "taken down town," as if to the darker alley ways. and pilfered)

Bad Answer:
I was informed that the charge "probably" stemmed from "that aspect" of my other email account, established when I signed on with them, at their urging, with another of their tools (I refuse to mention but can be compared with Monster Foul Up). It couldn't; I didn't. That data is unchanged. Translation:  "ya da, ya da, ya da...".

Huh? I'm sorry. What did you marketing geniuses just say to me? Did I hear right? This additional money being charged to my account "PROBABLY" ...started with ..."that ASPECT" of my other email...

What ASPECT? How precise is this "PROBABLY" that she casually threw out at me? Those WORDS offered by way of EXPLANATION in exchange for ACTUAL, not maybe, money? Sorry, nope.

And while the assumption to use those words may have been formed from seeing the collective data on my other business email (I have a few email accounts as do most, you too?), I need facts, not suppositions, when it comes to what I'm purchasing, not unlike the cashier who requires actual cash, not its possibility.

The baffling thing is why a company representative would settle for so much less than the reality of this situation. Obviously, this tactic has been working for years.

Whenever I do MY job, whether on public airwaves or for clients online, I find the best with whom to work, and do the best I can. That's the professional way. When I was on the radio as a music presenter, if I were to let even one detail slip, I'd get a call on the Hot Line and have to account for it. I understood that. It was a given, because we wouldn't think of anything less than owning up to our actions, our words, and giving our best honest effort. Holding one's self responsible requires one to adhere to higher standards.

There's too much missing data in words and phrases like "probably," "chances are," "in all likelihood," and other evasive responses. Whenever I get runaround words when dealing with significant monetary investment, alerts go off inside like a submarine in war maneuvers.

Right away I know I'm not dealing with a business I can count on nor have faith in.

At the same time, I may not want to admit it. Perhaps it was enough money that I don't want the further distress of feeling the fool. There's turmoil inside, until I stop resisting. Then, it's as plain as can be.

Finally, fool or student, fist unclenched, heart open, I have to admit to myself: I don't want to continue my association with anything that any heartless, moneygrubbing prefabricated newbie actors (bad liars), or the reps in dinosaur-suits that hired them, are pitching. Why did that take so long? (Answer: blinded by desire.)

I should have noticed that clue hidden there in the feeling of needing to take a shower I had after seeing each of their spokesperson's videos, after each of their too oft repeated Inner Circle tenets and catch phrases, the obvious retreat in company policy from black hats to white hats, the further Platinum, Gold and Elite money levels established well before the bugs are removed from each level of access to the software...

But now... Whoa! Once that box of wrong doing is opened up, the plaque that held it all in place loses its grip and lets the rest slide right out.

All over the place.

Here comes more. I never did like their shoddy manner of teaching. I would have preferred a more distinct, orderly outline for study. Essentially they throw you in the bug pool and leave it up to you to figure out how to make the software swim. Too often it sinks, did I mention that?

At Tariff Guise, they have a nice collection of knowledge. Unfortunately, there's no real Lesson Plan, no leadership, no direction. Other than that Sink or Swim policy, I mean.

And boy is it breezy in there! There are numerous holes in the information. And infuriatingly lagging updates. While I was offered help, techs are slow (sometimes days) to get back to you because they're software simply isn't finalized while the internet never sleeps, constantly grows, reformulates. Often the out-dated software just doesn't work, then they might mention it two or three days, weeks later.

This slow-as-molasses reaction time is absolutely maddening to show-MUST-go on types. But the only show they know is the one: standing in front of a green screen and pitching another app to make up for the inadequacey of their own programs.

At best the Tarnished Geezer company, software and schemes are not dependable. This pulls its integrity into an area of High Doubt, a zone in which there is no longer trust. Many say out loud that TG released their product before it was completely bug free. Others say the original software was intended to cheat the system, but had to be changed or its users could be banished from the net for six months. These are lingering queries that have never been honestly responded to.

In fact, where, among the earnest promises of easy profits, was the honesty? While they pitched, "It's Easy," it is not at all. Great effort is required. No one could EVER honestly describe Social Media Marketing, its Search Engine Focused Strategies, the learning of methods to make videos that will actually be watched, the hundreds of forms to master and the thousands of other components of doing business online as "easy." It ain't.

The very ones who did make that claim of effortless income, in actuality, later told us that we could make money because it is NOT easy. We were told that prospective clients' eyes would glaze over in fear, as they pondered how hard and time consuming it could be, establishing and maintaining  an online social presence.

That part is true. When talking about the diversity of social sites and how to use them, clients often DO think, "it's too much! I don't have time!" Once they see online work as too hard, we were taught, "you've got them." This pitch completely contradicts their original assurances to us, given at the time WE were thinking, "this seems too hard."

How many other promises were manufactured to keep questions quiet while pushing their suite of not-ready-for-prime-time products, one wonders. They lost our trust; gone, evaporated.

Of course online marketing is not easy. Doing business on the internet is far too broad to be "easy." We know this only now, AFTER we bought in to the TG BS.

We sure didn't know it then. We handed over our money for this guaranteed new, easy way to make more money. Then, once inside the Tragic Gate, one learns the hard reality: You've been had.

Inside, one becomes all too aware that, among the fractured software and complicated, murky instructions, there are coaches available, by appointment, to assist with the software. Coaches? In place and standing by? Dang. This proves they were aware from the start that THIS IS NOT EASY, but said it to us straight-faced, anyway. Pre-meditated misinformation from the start. Again, dang.

Perhaps I shouldn't say this but I will anyway. Making appointments for help on software sold to you as easy-but-not, then waiting, with money-paying clients on hold, for a coach to tell you what buttons to push, is a large waste of time and money. For you and your clients.

The "easy" part of all this for me is my conclusion: These Guys're not worth ANY MORE time or money. Not a second, not a cent.

I have learned a small but expensive lesson here with this misrepresented suite of "easy" applications designed by Trust Grinder, but far more valuable morals and instructions from other online groups and forums dedicated to ethical social interaction and success. having developed my own circle of strength and honorable people in online marketing, with which to really make an impact in a business' prosperity, my company will continue to move from here, staying in touch with trustworthy acquaintances made along the way, making more, rolling forward.

-- Comments, from my experience, to The Grifters on Ways to improve, things that need attention:

(MY) COACH (another thing covered in membership fee) was unreliable at best, canceling our dates numerous times at the last minute and always making an excuse, never wrong. --NEEDS FIXING

TEACHING PLANS were non existent, knowledge unstructured, thus much learning was missed, even more time wasted searching. -- NEEDS SERIOUS STAFF ATTENTION

TRUST ISSUE: Too soon we learn that the head spokes-guy, always pitching non-stop - is a Selling Head ONLY. And ALWAYS. Thus, hardly worthy of genuine confidence. It was his game to lose. Somehow (by talking about how expensive his time now is, showing videos of himself in dinosaur suits, racing cars and focusing solely on the unsympathetic goal of becoming a billionaire?) he did it, managed to lose most of us. We're left with the feeling of being his "mark" rather than a part of what he calls his "family." -- TOO LATE, THE DINO OUTFIT IS PROBABLY ONLY THE FIRST OF MANY SUITS

What we were looking for was a leader, someone we could trust.

NOT READY: The suite of application products seem to have been released in a rush, well before the bugs were worked out, with members paying for research and development as they go. if one person complains about the stuff, it can be overlooked. If three or more say it's garbage, go into the land fill business or buy a trash can.  --NEEDS UPDATING, ORGANIZING AND SHOULD WORK ON ALL OPERATING SYSTEMS. ALSO - GET A GOOD WEB BUILDER.

IN FAIRNESS, reparation to unsuspecting, gullible buyers should seriously be considered. Compensation, for money laid out under false pretenses, time wasted, buggy software and many down times should be mandatory. It's only a matter of time before the class lawsuits begin. --QUIT HIDING, START HELPING.

While in the first three months of membership, aside from trying to sell their new list of marks, um members, every marketing app and set of instructions they could write on the fly, Trafficking Gabble came up with numerous so-called, finicky "updates." Their coaches held webinars, for selected members only, correcting terribly flawed information and lesson plans. Newer amendments to their fractured instructions and dishonorable win-at-any-cost philosophy appeared randomly on the home web site. Applications and strategies, which are really work-arounds or corrections (repeat: R&D paid for by earlier fleeded sheep) also stacked up. The email avalanche is another story. It was abusively non-stop.

They haven't learned a thing about integrity, now preaching a new "Building business and community" sales sub philosophy while continuing to pitch these corrections and improvements as "newer, easier." And they are none of that. Just as before. Real philosophy: be a Bazillionaire, whatever the loss in morals and integrity.

New hordes of eager-faced Social Media Marketers, fresh from glitzy, baloon laden pep talk seminars, are arriving every day, focused on prosperity and experiencing disappointment. Didn't want 'em to think they're the only ones taken downtown, as the rest of us were.

Truth be told, Social Marketing is not easy but you CAN do it. And look for people to work with who reek of integrity.

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FROM THE BOSS JOCK SCRAPBOOK

REMEMBERING FRANK TERRY

This mental scrapbook, bursting its binding with pictures, emotions and bigger than life recollections, has just flipped open to one of my best-loved characters. Some of my favorite people in the world are stored among these memories.

I open it up from time to time and must always wear shades. Careful, don't wince. That's just the blazing light reflecting off of one of radio's most brilliant, shining examples. That's Frank Terry, one of the original Boss Jocks.

As far as being a disc jockey goes, playing hits on the radio in the 60s and 70s, was, for most of us, the pinnacle. Being chosen as a Boss Jock meant you were among the best of the best. It was more than a high point in a radio career, it was the Golden Fleece. Frank Terry belonged there, fit in as naturally as green felt on a turntable.

Just starting out as a Boss Jock, I had heard rumors between the legendary tales of Robert W. Morgan and the Real Don Steele, of a "James Bond of DJs" who could travel, trouble shooting, from one Boss station to another and sound as if he had been there all the time. Moreover, you felt you knew and loved him all that while. He had little personal attachment to his past achievements to get in the way so, without that sort of demanding ego, when on the air, he really was your friend.

Off the air, too.

Growing along, learning the business, I was able to hear recording of his work, Like so many other "baby DJs," I listened and looked up to him. On the air, his easy style of delivery and attitude of sharing was a college education, a broadcast seminar and a wonderful, entertaining example of how to do it right the first time.

Years marched forward, I made it into the realm of the Boss Jocks. I started at their Fresno facility, KYNO, and worked my way up through San Diego, San Francisco , then L.A. When I became a Boss Jock worked alongside him, he was more approachable than many others. No investment in his own personal history was too big to block his friends from view. Not all that common among those in show business. I have had associates surprise me with their ambition and near desperate motivation to grab the limelight. Frank was already center stage in his own soul, thus comfortable to be with and always easy to communicate with.

We laughed often, long and hard, from a place deep inside, as if we had known each other all our lives. Instant family. Frank was like that, the epitome of the word, "inclusive."

When our career paths went in different directions, he seemed to fit in seamlessly at every station, no matter what kind of music and programming they were presenting. Frank seemed to effortlessly make it all his own, the mark of a professional and self starter. This was my chance to see his ability to adapt to any show, any audience. It was another education altogether, seeing how diversified he was on other music presentation, their various formats.

I heard he had moved to the northern part of the state. I heard he was not well. I heard he conquered the illness. I made plans with friends for a trek north to visit. But, before we could motor up that way, the news arrived that Frank had passed on.

Today, I still find myself looking up to him in memory. Now that he's moved on, he still manages to impress, still sounds and looks good. You can hear many examples of his air work, showcased at the official Disc Jockey Museum, the "aircheck channel," www.ReelRadio.com, where "the beat goes on."

New DJs and pod casters: look him up, listen to his ease and fluency, learn from the best. You can find him in various web niches. Frank Terry, remember him. He was the 007 of DJs, a jock's jock. But on the air he was none of that. He was simply your good and reliable friend.

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