New technology, new model, new space

Haven't posted here in quite a while. Haven't blogged much period. Ever since Facebook and then Twitter came around, most of my online work has come in short bursts of brilliance (140 characters or less at a time).

But while I don't intend to post here again, I'll keep this site up as a record of my thoughts in the middle of this first decade of the 21st century.

You can always find me at chipmahaney.com. Or at least a pointer there to tell you where I've moved on to now.

WSJ on Baseball and Going Against "The Book"

For such an elegant game, baseball has a lot of rules.

1. Three strikes, you're out -- unless the catcher drops the ball when first base is open or there are 2 outs.
   
2. No pepper on grass - whatever that means.
   
3. Any ball that hits the foul pole is a fair ball - go figure.
   

There are about 10,000 rules in the rulebook. And then there's a whole 'nother book of rules, which is simply called "The Book". It's all of baseball's conventional wisdom. Managers make lots of decisions "by the book". Managers who "go by the book" invite a lot less criticism when their decisions don't work out as planned.

Football coaches, in contrast, are much more likely to rewrite the book. Different plays every week. Entire offensive and defensive schemes change every few years. "The West Coast Offense", "The Run and Shoot", "The 46 Defense" -- all these schemes had their day a few years ago, but they've all now been modified or even outright shelved in favor of newer, more sophisticated, more innovative schemes. Football's way ahead of baseball in terms of innovation.

But today there's a great article in the Wall Street Journal that describes how some baseball managers are rewriting "The Book", or at least lab-testing against it.

As I've written here before, managing a newsroom is much like managing a baseball team. And while no doubt there's been much innovation in our business, I know there's a lot of conventional wisdom - "the book" - we still rely on. It's got me thinking what part of "the book" needs to be scrapped, or at least tested.

• Tease strategy?
  
• Newscast formats (news, weather, sports)?
  
• Writing?
  
• Coverage strategies?
  
• Hiring strategies?
  

Thinking hard about this one ....

Since I've Become a News Director ....

For a first-time News Director, the learning curve is like one of these signs.



The learning is not just one curve but a constant series of curves - back and forth, left and right.

• I've learned the work is harder than I thought it would be.
  
• I've learned I'm stronger and tougher than I thought I could be.
  
• I've learned the learning never stops. Work is real-life school for me.
  

I've also learned my time is not my own. 11-hour days are common. This week I had two 14's and one 16. Perhaps one day I'll take better control of my time, but right now there's still too much work to do. Blogging is one of my great pleasures, but it's one of the last things I want to do when I get home at night. Most of my creative energy is sapped by the time I leave work.

But I'm not complaining. Not in the least. I love this work. I've got a great boss and a great team.

And if all my learning curves mean it's six months between blog posts on this page, please understand. When I figure out more of what I'm doing, I'll write more.

Leadership lessons from a coach to a quarterback

I'm sure this will be making the internet rounds this morning, but since I don't see it posted anywhere else right now, I'll post it here.

Last night on ESPN's Monday Night Football, moments before kickoff of the Cowboys-Bills thriller, Hall of Fame head coach-turned-ESPN analyst Bill Parcells revealed 11 leadership lessons that he's passed along to Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Romo says he hangs these 11 pearls of wisdom in his locker.

"Leadership Lessons From a Coach to a QB" -- by Bill Parcells (courtesy ESPN)

1. Ignore other opinions. Outsiders (spouses, friends, media) don't know what's happening here.
   
2. Clowns can't run a huddle.
   
3. Fat quarterbacks can't avoid the rush. Train.
   
4. Know the job cold. Study.
   
5. Know your own players.
   
6. Be the same guy every day.
   
7. Throwing the ball away is a good play. (Avoid disastrous turnovers and other mistakes.)
   
8. Learn the manage the game. Never take your eye off the clock.
   
9. Get your team in the end zone. (Individual statistics don't matter.)
   
10. Don't panic. Our ship can't have a panic button.
    
11. Don't be a celebrity quarterback. We need battlefield commanders.
    

I was never a great athlete, but I spent most of my teens and 20's working in or around athletes and coaches. I'm always inspired by leaders who not only know how to lead but can demonstrate and articulate what good leadership is.

Like most coaches, Bill Parcells doesn't have an MBA. But he does have a track record of success in his business, and he's made an NFL star out of an undrafted, unheralded small-college quarterback (Romo) who's gone from holding a clipboard week after week on the sideline to becoming one of football's biggest stars in just 12 months.

A great welcome to Richmond

Just got a sneak peek at the August issue of Richmond magazine, and I appreciate the two brief mentions of my arrival here in Virginia's historic capital city. Welcome to those Richmond mag readers who followed their link to this site!

So far in the two weeks I've been here, I've totally fallen in love with Richmond. So much history here, and so much potential for the future here too. I've got a great team to work with at CBS 6 -- it's a dream opportunity for a new news director.

I've got two other blogs -- one is personal, chipmahaney.com, if you're interested in checking out stories and photos of family and friends. The other blog I've kept for the past 3 years is now by necessity dormant. FlowerMoundRoad.com was my own hyperlocal newsblog, focusing on the little stories in my Dallas-area hometown of Flower Mound (pop 63,000). Perhaps I'll start a hyperlocal Richmond blog. The first post will be titled "Where to Live -- Chesterfield, Henrico or Richmond: How You Choose Will Set a Course for the Rest of Your Life". People here are passionate for their side of the James River, that's for sure.

More to come -- I'm staying busy, and I've got a lot to learn!

11 years, 4 months, 7 days

This is the title of an e-mail I sent to my colleagues at KDFW today. It's a long time to work at one place. I first started at KDFW on February 26, 1996, and today was my last day there. I've had the extreme good fortune to have worked alongside a dream team of journalists and broadcasters. It's going to be hard to leave, but a bigger adventure (I hope) awaits me. Next Monday, I'll be the news director at WTVR in Richmond, VA.



I only wish it were this easy to become a news director. Actually, this bag o' gifts was given to me by my colleagues here in Dallas. Inside, lots of little helpers, including Rolaids and aspirin. Wonder what I'll need those for?

Check out my personal/family blog at ChipMahaney.com for more photos of my two going-away parties this week.

Contrary to published reports, I am not the Sexiest Man Alive

I am grateful, however, for Lost Remote's nomination.

Indeed, it's quite cool getting your own magazine cover.

Saturday date night for a TV News couple

Here's how Saturday night ("date night" for many couples) is going for the my wife and me tonight.

4:30pm - Drop the kids off at their grandparents' home.

5:15pm - Dinner at PeiWei.

6:00pm - She drops me off at my station so I can work on elections coverage.

6:05pm - She arrives at her station a few blocks away so she can work on elections coverage.

We're both hoping the election results will come in fast enough we can hook up for late-night dessert and coffee.

Best in Show - see it here!

It was a great honor and privilege to present RTNDA regional Edward R. Murrow awards to Texas and Oklahoma winners at our yearly banquet on April 21. For the second straight year, RTNDA teamed with the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters and the Austin Headliners Club for an all-in-one awards gala.

It was an even-greater privilege to edit clips from about 30 of the evening's winners to show them at the ceremony. For those who couldn't attend, or even for those who did, you can see the clips we showed by downloading this 5mb Powerpoint presentation. Note: if you don't have PowerPoint installed on your PC, no worry. You can download Microsoft's free PowerPoint Viewer from their website. Once you've got the PowerPoint loaded, you can select the "Slide Show" menu and click "View Show". Click anywhere in the video screen to play a clip. For radio clips, look at the bottom of the page and click the little speaker icon.

Thanks to Diana Heidgerd and our friends at the AP, we had a professional photographer on scene to capture everyone's smiling faces. Three of the photos are in this post, including the photo at top, featuring KTBC FOX 7 Austin's lovely and talented Arezow Doost, who's accepting a TAPB award on behalf of her station KTBC for her stories of returning to Afghanistan, her homeland. With her is my longtime friend and TAPB president Kevin Benz.


If you download the PowerPoint and watch and listen to the clips, check out the video clip with the farmer. It's page 5 in the PowerPoint, and it's a great story by KJTV-Lubbock reporter Christal Bennett (above photo, center) and photojournalist Chris Knight (left).


And finally, here are two legends in the business. Actually, one of them is me, and I'm most assuredly not a legend. But the man next to me hardly needs an introduction in this state. Neal Spelce has been a reporter, anchor, writer -- you name it -- in the Austin area for decades. That is his voice broadcasting those haunting words live to Austin viewers the day of the UT Tower Shooting in 1966. And while his work won both Murrow and TAPB awards this year, for the 40th anniversary UT Tower Shooting documentary (produced by my friend Rachel Elsberry at News 8 Austin), here he's giving me an award. He's presenting the Headliners Club award for a story that I had nothing to do with, except be in the same newsroom as Becky Oliver and our FOX 4 investigative team for their award-winning story "Airport Insecurity". I was our station's only representative at the ceremony, so I got to take the picture with Neal.

Blogging at RTNDA!

Hope you're here in Las Vegas this week, cuz this is where it's at. I'll be blogging for the RTNDA website, so click here and then click Blog to read more.

I'll leave you with this. One of these ladies you probably already know, Amanda Congdon. The other one caters to a younger set, but all of you are going to hear from more her in the very near future -- Zadi Diaz of JetSet.