Making the Baby Jesus cry

Sports Illustrated wins the prize for the earliest Christmas promotion.

Dept. of Self-Promotion

I am now a blogger on The CMO Site, an executive social network that provides research and analysis for chief marketing officers and other marketing executives with a focus on technology and social media. I'm grateful to be working with long-time friend, Keith Dawson, who is senior editor at the site.
My first post, Massachusetts Healthcare Marketers Struggle With Consumer Apathy, went live this morning.

I get the news I need on the weather report, 2011

People such as Dick Albert, retired meteorologist for WCVB, become so much a part of our households that we regard him as a brother or uncle. We know his stories, his quirks, his good humor. Even as the technology changed the way that weather forecasts were made and delivered, we still had the feeling that he was talking directly to us.

Even though he had to stand still when on screen, you knew he had great energy and enthusiasm. So, to see him in person at The Willows this afternoon, talking with a 100 or so folks, it's not surprising that it was tough to get a picture of him. He rarely stood still. He talked with the whole crowd and we felt like he'd never left the evening news.
But, he has gone. He's retired and doing well. He (a Leap-Year Baby) will have his 17th birthday next year.
And, it's not likely that we'll have that kind of relationship with future weather forecasters, news anchors, or others. Dick had keen observations on the diminished importance of local news. The audience for TV news of all kinds is much older than the general populace. Folks under 40 rarely watch local news, preferring online sources, John Stewart, or just nothing. The shared experience of watching the weather together is going away and may be gone soon.
During the storms of the winter, I'd turn on channels 4 or 7, stations I watch infrequently, and wonder "Who is this guy who's telling me about a blizzard?" Two or three lead meteorologists have come and gone on those stations and barely left a trace.
The shared experience of local news lasted for the first half-century of television. Something will take its place. It may even be as good in its own way, but it will certainly be different.