I have been very fortunate and grateful that in my career, I have been asked to speak at a lot of different places and events. I love doing it and as I often say when asked why, because one day they will stop asking.
Most of these events are so much fun and for so many great charities and non-profits in the middle Tennessee area. Some have a bit of chaos around them and that is quite okay but nothing bad at all.
The funniest part is when someone sets it up for me but doesn’t go to the actual event so the people there have no clue who I am and this is when the fun begins. I had the pleasure of hosting a jazz festival on the square in Murfreesboro one year. The original MC could not do it and canceled the day of so they reached out to me.
I arrive and meet the people and get my script but the main announcer/organizer had no idea who I was. In between acts before he was supposed to introduce me, he kept his mic on and was back stage and said over the sound system to several thousand people, “Who this is guy? No one knows him. No one. We couldn’t get someone famous, that at least one person knew? No one knows this guy at all and if he was someone, we would have asked him to come in the first place.”
Again, this went out all over the square in Murfreesboro and I was off to the side and could not stop laughing. In fact, I think I was crying laughing in a good way. My friend who was me was just horrified because he had asked me to come down but I could not stop laughing. The organizer comes out and sees us to the side and says to me, “Who are you again?” He scribbled a bunch of stuff on a pad and walked out. He introduces me to the crowd and I laughed the entire time I had the mic. It was so wonderful and my friend apologized but I said, “Hey, at least they asked.”
My all time favorite moment came when I was working at WKRN in Nashville. Before a Titans game, Disney was having an event near the stadium promoting a Toy Story movie. That Friday, someone at the TV station asked me if I could do it since I was heading to the game. I said sure, no problem and I will be there at 10 on Sunday.
I get to the event and go and introduce myself to the lady running the event and told her who I was and from channel 2. She lost her mind. “They told me someone famous would be here. Someone famous. I watch channel 2 and I have never seen you!” She then proceeds to call the station and screams at the other person on the phone, a part time news producer who has no idea what was going on. “Y’all promised me someone famous. A Bob Mueller. A Anne Holt, someone that people know. Instead I got some guy who claims to work there and there is no way channel 2 would put him on TV!”
I was in hysterics because I could not stop laughing, again. Once I realized my genuine laughing was driving her crazy, I laughed harder and harder. She then got a hold of a sales manager and screamed the same thing at her. Again, I was in tears just hearing this all go down. She then walks over and says, ‘This is not funny. I don’t know what you find so funny but it is not.’ I then said, “Here is my GM’s number. Call and ask for Rudy. He will make it better.” I gave her the number for channel 4 and to ask for Rudy Kalis. Remember, I worked for channel 2.
Sure enough she calls channel 4 and asks for Rudy and I just walk away. I can still hear her yelling at the poor producer at channel 4 over all of this. There are several more instances but these two will always be the best.
Also, it is Dubin, not Dublin but I stopped correcting people years ago. Where to next?