by Jay Kerner
There you are! We knew you were out there!
Our hope was that our readers would take ownership of the paper, react to the content and bombard us with letters, phone calls and emails. The website was getting some hits and we’d get a voicemail here and there, but frankly less than we anticipated, based on the number of papers we were putting out. Our “Joe of the Year” contest took care of all that. (Man, did it ever!)
Note to self: Next time you announce a promotion encouraging people to respond, prepare a little better. Put in a second phone line. Hire an assistant for managing the website. Add some staff to read email. Something.
Ever since the last issue hit the streets, the response has just been fantastic. By noon the first day we had already received more visits to urjoe.com, than our whole three month history put together. You overflowed our mailbox, maxed out our phone memory and crashed our internet server. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, on to the results.
If you are reading this you’ve already seen the cover, so no use trying to build any suspense. Our “Joe Of The Year” for 2007 is KFEQ’s Bob Orf! We’ll get to Bob in a minute but first a few words about the other candidates, in alphabetical order:
Mike Bracciano: As a popular fixture on local television, some said Mike had an unfair advantage in this contest. Most everyone I talked to assumed he would win in a runaway. His fans came out in force for sure, but I wonder if maybe a large number didn’t bother voting, thinking it was in the bag? Regardless, Mike was an extremely popular choice, and the phrase we heard most often, was that “Mike just feels like a part of the family.”
Ruth Costello: The votes for Ruth were probably the most heartwarming. Her generous compassionate spirit moved a lot of people to contact us with comments on what she and her Grace House operation have meant to our community. When we first told her about our promotion, her only thought was how the publicity could benefit others. If there was a special award for selflessness it would go to Ruth Costello.
Dr. Joe Friedman: First, let me apologize for the picture in the last issue. The nomination letter came in literally right at our deadline. We had but a few moments to acquire a photo and had to run with it or go without. His contributions to the arts are well known, and his frequent guest appearances in the community were much appreciated by our readers.
David A. Miller: This was a toughie for me. Dave was a very dear longtime friend to me personally and I was thrilled when he was nominated. I thought his inclusion was a good balance for some of the other “celebrity” candidates but I wasn’t optimistic about his chances of winning against perhaps better known individuals. Still I thought maybe it would be sort of a public way to let his friends and family know how much he meant to all of us. Shame on me. I should have known better than to underestimate the sheer number of the Dave Miller fan club. While the voting was close among all the candidates right down to the wire, I am so proud to announce that Dave came in a very close second. (He totally would have won if all my personal votes hadn’t been disqualified).
Cecil Myers: “The Dealer with a Heart” had a great showing from both his customers and his employees. I wonder how many car dealers would have had this kind of response from people they’ve sold cars to. Repeat business is the name of that game and business must be good at Cecil Myers Mitsubishi based on the volume of votes we received. It must be a pretty good place to work too, from the employee comments that came in.
So, finally that brings us to our winner, KFEQ announcer Bob Orf. Let me state up front that I used to really like Bob Orf. He’s truly one of the good guys, and a well deserving choice for this honor. But as I write this, well, I have to say it… I’m sick of Bob Orf! I hate his guts! For the last two weeks I’ve opened letter after letter. I’ve answered phone call after phone call. I’ve scrolled through page after page of emails that all say the same thing: WE LOVE BOB ORF! WE LOVE BOB ORF! All right already! Enough! We get it!
His family loves him, his co-workers love him, the man on the street and the farmer in the field all love Bob Orf. It’s a veritable love-fest! Love, love, love! Orf, Orf, Orf! Aaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhhh!
Whew! Boy did that feel good. Sorry, but I must have been suffering from an Orf Overdose.
But seriously, you wouldn’t believe the outpouring of affection for this guy. We were simply overwhelmed with the response. I think he was a little embarrassed by the attention when we first told him about being nominated. He is truly a humble guy for such a public person and would probably be the last you would think of when it comes to self-promotion. But you could sure tell what they think about him at Eagle Communications. The staff at the station jumped on this early with on-air announcements and a link from their web site to ours.
The votes for Bob came in steadily from the minute we opened the polls, right through to the last minute. It looked like every employee at the station voted for him, and not with some simple one line email. They went into great detail about what a great boss, friend and co-worker he is. The letter from his daughter was something any parent would cherish.
But there is no doubt that it was the votes from listeners that put him over the top in this election.
We’ve all heard him over the years. Talk radio is different from spinning records, and Bob has always seemed to talk with the audience instead of at them. Whether interviewing a politician on the morning show or helping some guy hawk his used garden tiller on The Trading Post, he comes across like your neighbor, because he is. His work broadcasting local sports has always felt comfortable and made you feel like you were right there at the game.
If his unassuming style let him more or less fly under the radar a little bit, the December ice storm changed all that. Our week without power left much of the area clutching transistor radios for information. There was only one station on the air, and the voice they heard most was Bob Orf. Not to belittle the efforts from a lot of other hard working professionals, but while our region suffered through an extremely stressful week, we heard over and over, and over again, how much people were reassured by his soothing words and calm delivery. Isn’t it funny, how sometimes it takes extraordinary circumstances, before we appreciate something that’s been right under our noses all along?
So here’s to you Bob Orf, our first annual Regular Joe, “Joe of the Year.” The Joes have spoken and you are it. Sorry we don’t have a trunk full of prizes for you. Maybe next year’s winner will see some loot of some kind. You, in the meantime, will have to suffice with the well deserved honor, and the knowledge that you are loved and appreciated by friends, family, co-workers and your listeners for all that you do. Congratulations from all of us at The Regular Joe!