KRDO Radio’s Greg Neft’s Blog

KRDO NEWSRADIO –

Here I sit at my computer…thinking about all that I have seen and heard this past week. When you cover things like this, you can’t really take the time to stop and think…since everything moves so fast. But the second it’s over…it all hits you. What you’ve accomplished, who you’ve met and how you could improve for next time. I guess that’s what I’m thinking about now.

Make no mistake, this was a huge party, and after every party there’s a letdown. Suddenly, other stories don’t seem as big as they used to be. It’s really a great time to take a vacation…unfortunetly, I don’t have the time to do that just now.

Still this was a great experience. one I wouldn’t trade for the world. I hope you enjoyed our coverage…we ceretainly enjoyed bringing it to you.

Have youever met someone famous? You see them, then you do a double take. Then you adjust your eyes to make sure it’s really them. Here at the convention, I’ve seen a number of “famous people.” Folks like Deidre Hall, Louis Gossett, Jr. and even Sam Donaldson. Interviewing these folks canbe a little on the intimidating side…you want to impress them a little, and stand out in their eyes because they do so many interviews in the first place.

Those of you who see me on the noon news know I have a guest everytime I’m on, this week isn’t an exception. I’ve booked guests for the past two days here at the Pepsi Center. Today, my guest (I won’t say who) had to cancel on me at the last moment.

Now when something like that happens, your heart starts to palpatate a little. The last thing you want to do is show up alone on the air. I learned my guest had to pull out a little less than a hour before my part of the newscast.That’s when I scrambled. Fortunetely I saw someone I knew hanging around the hall (a reporter for the BBC) and pleaded my case. He agreed to come on, and you the viewer, got to hear about the world view of Barack Obama.

And I got to relax a little.

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When you cover something like the Democratic National Convention, your press pass is like gold. It lets you into restricted areas, and more importantly, is proof positive to security that you belong there. If you’re without it, your not in the convention.

Today, I lost mine. It was a harrowing half-hour while I frantically searched every nook and cranny of the Pepsi Center…trying to find what’s akin to a winning lottery ticket. All the while, I was trying to think of what I could say to anyone from security who might stop me, and say “pass please.”

The good news, I found my pass. It was, to use a tired cliche, in the last place I looked. Back at my workspace on Radio Row. A representative from ABC was therewith a look that said “I told you so.” I sheepishly retrieved my pass, and greatfully slipped away.

Yes, it’s good to have something back that you’ve lost.