NOTES FROM THE ROAD

Up in the Air, On the Ground and in the Airport

My trip to Jacksonville this week was my first business trip ever, which might be somewhat embarrassing to admit as I just turned 39 and the business trip is a staple of the successful, up-and-coming American businessperson. What have I been missing out on for the last 17 years, right?

The trip was one of a series of site visits set up by the new Gannett Traffic Operations group which has been set up to centralize the commercial traffic operations of all it's member television stations. (See previous rants). I only had to visit my new market--Jacksonville, Florida. Lucky me! I could have been assigned Buffalo, NY or Grand Rapids, MI and would have had to visit one of those lovely cities in mid-winter.

More than just a standard meet and greet, I went with my operations manager to try and assess the readiness of my two main stations to make the transition and to figure out how I needed to traffic the logs for them starting February 1st. There were so many meetings with so many people I'd never met before, that I certainly didn't have much opportunity to get to know the city. But I've got to admit that the view from my hotel room (see above) was pretty nice. Downtown Jacksonville is one of the nicer downtowns I've seen for a city of comparable size and while I didn't see anything about J'ville that would compel me to want to move there, I wouldn't mind coming back to visit some time, especially when there's more time to play instead of work.

Some quick notes from my Three Days of the Jaguar:

--If you're looking for a trendy but not-too-trendy place in Jacksonville to eat, play or hang out, I suggest the San Marcos neighborhood just a couple of miles north and west of Downtown. Try the orzo and short ribs at Taverna. Yum!

--I've said it before but the TSA is a joke. Sometimes you are practically stripping yourself naked in the security line and sometimes you just sail on through. Sometimes its okay to take durable medical equipment (DME's) out of it's case and other times they'll scan it in the case. There's no consistency and no plan and while I've heard some argue that this "randomness" helps keep the terrorists off guard, but I think that's just a cover story for having no coherent plan and just causing confusion and frustration in every airport in America.

--Either I was enjoying the Florida cypress pines a little too much, or they really need more obvious signage on I-95 northbound for the airport, because somehow I drove right past the exit and wound up across the Georgia state line! Obviously, I made my flight, but you talk about a panicked half hour or so...

--Jacksonville is definitely "The South" as we all know it, while much of the rest of Florida is more "East Coast" or like the North, in both temperament and attitude.

--People down there really feel like the Jaguars are going to stay because there's a real enthusiasm and fondness for the team down there. It's just that economically, the Jags may have priced themselves out of the market and Florida will always be much more of college football state than an NFL state. Also, Jack del Rio is not very well liked there. Maybe he should have taken the USC job instead of Lane "If It's Tuesday, I'm Coaching X" Kiffin. (By the way, way to show commitment there Lane!)

--It didn't feel like I was in Florida until the day I left, with temperatures ranging from 25 to 50 all week before that.

--There's more interpersonal melodrama behind the scenes of most television stations than even a movie like ANCHORMAN could ever imagine. Trust me.

Overall, a good trip. But it's better to be home.

Peace...