I know the nickname "Windy City" has nothing to do with actual wind, but it sure was windy and wet for our trek to the land of traffic and deep dish pizza on Thursday. This was the full monty Chicago experience too. None of this train and taxi stuff. We drove all the way down in all the traffic to the heart of the city, parking a couple blocks away from the Tribune Tower. A brisk walk in the rain took us over to WGN Radio for my first tour of the building ever.
What a place.
In terms of history and broadcasting, it doesn't get much better than this. I enjoyed just looking at all the old pictures they have framed throughout the hallways. Our tour guide was one Rob Hart of the news department there now. Of course Rob used to work in Milwaukee with me.
WGN has a huge main studio. You could hold a presidential debate in that bad boy. I took one of dozen or so mics for a little test drive...
I also had a chance to have a nice pre-show chat with Garry Meier in his office.
For my money, this guy is the best thing on radio. Hands down. Don't bother to ask questions.
You can check out his show on WGN afternoons from 1-4, 720 on your AM dial. Wait, does anyone actually have a radio 'dial' these days?
Anyway, we caught a nice lunch near WGN, then I was able to talk with both the program director and the general manager there. You know, this is NOT your father's GN. Proof in that pudding is the recent hire of Garry. They're moving in a direction that is very appealing to me. But I must admit, as I roamed those halls thinking about the fact that this is WG-freakin'N in the third largest radio market in the country, there was a bit of 'I'm not worthy' running through my head. Then again, maybe I am worthy?
In any case, all in all it was a fun and very productive day.
