Business screen magazine (1946)

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a-v man James G. Damon, Jr. Manager of Audio Visual. Design and Broadcast Services. IBM World Trade Corporation, is Business Screen's A-V Man In this continuing series of profiles of leaders in the industrial audiovisual world. When Jumes G. Damon, Jr. gradu.itod from Yale in \941 with .1 degree in international rclalions. he faced a major decision: whether to go on with a career in foreign affairs which was the direction his formal education had taken him. or to pursue his college avocation, which had been working in the audio-visual rjalms of the Yale student hroadcasling station. Temporarily, the lure of radio and the brand new medium of television won out, and he took off to Hollywood to start his first job as an NBC" page boy. But 16 years later his two careers came together again when Jim Damon took over the job of I ilni .Aclnilies Manager for IBM World Trade ( orporation where his duties encompassed practically every kind of audio-visual media and operations all over the world. Damon looks back on his first job with much affection. ".Starling out at the bollom. broom in hand, is the best thing ihal can happen lo a young man. I was lucky lo be in a most dynamic industry — TV — just when it was beginning, and on the west coast, a dynamic area. After the page boy days, I went thr4)ugh a lot of the other jobs that broadcasting trainees are put to: mail r(K>m. shipping, etc.. until I finally made il into actual broadcasting on the production side as a floor manager— the guy who throws cues — and then into the film studio supervising the airing of kinescopes." Damon broke into the management side of the network as Manager of Broadcast Operations for KNB("-TV, 22 NBC's owned and operated station in Los Angeles. His duties included seeing that programs got on the air, production of public service programs, union negotiations and a broad range of other managerial tasks. In 1457, he moved to New York, still in NBC's broadcast operations, as Facilities .Scheduling Supervisor for the full network. While he loved broadcasting, Damon was growing more and more interested in the broad spectrum of audio-visual communications, and also keenly felt ihj pull of his early interests in international affairs. When an opporliinilv camj in \'->5'-) to join IBM. he took it. first as assistant manager of film activities at Corporate Headquarters, and since l')6.T as Manager of Film Activities for IBM World Trade Corporation. In 1969. responsibilities were enlarged to include Audio Visual. Design and Broadcast Services. Damon's department at IBM World Trade produces corporate and marketing audio-visual programs emanating from World Trade Headquarters in New York. TTiese include motion pictures, video tapes, slides, audio cassettes and practically everv other form of a-v media. In addition. Damon provides professional audio-visual guidance and counsel for World Trade Headquarters and for all IBM offices abroad, which are now located in over 100 countries on all continents. "Our program materials," Jim Damon says, "are far from being mere translations of American films, tapes and other media designed for domestic audiences. Instead, they must deal universally with many cultures, many points of view, many sensitivities. In essence, what is done is to come up with something that is hopefulK as nianv things lo as man\ people as possible without emasculating its content. It's not easy, but we manage lo do it most of the time." As Chairman of the Audio-Visual Committee of the AssiKialion of National Advertisers for the past iwo years. Damon has been a foremost spokesman of Ihe industrial audio-visual field. He has served on the Committee for the past ten years. This group offers counsel and concrete programs on effective communicaiions via audio-\ isuals lo Ihe several thousand large corporations which are members of the ANA. Other activities of Ihe Commiiiee are seminars and conferences, and an .Audio \isual Newsletter. Damon has also plaved active roles in the wi>rk of CINF (Council of International Nonlheatrical Fvents), for which he serves as F'inancial Vice Presitlent and a member of the Board of Directors: in the Indiisln.d AuiluiVisual Association, where he was a 1971 Program Chairman; and in tl Radio and TV News Directors ciation, on which he was also a me bjr of the Board of Directors "1 don't at all believe in joinii every organization in sight," Jini mon says, "but I do ihink it's inij tant lo find ways lo keep consiani abreast of the slate of the audio-vi art. You've got to get out and what's going on. You can't just sit an office. The several days a year t 1 spend serving on CINF, juries terribly important to me. Seeing tl films that other companies are usil helps to keep all of us on our iv It's a great way to find new talc and capabilities that can be used our own programming." Damon's belief in the future of dio-visuals grows with each passi year. He is a strong proponent of new cassette technology. "It's ania: that such a simple thing as the thre; ing of a projector has hindered dissemination of information so Ion he says. "Whether the audio-visual proi tion equipment be based on video t.i or film or anything else." Dani' "is not as important as that it ; demonstrably easier and less com cated. We"ve got to find ways to our information out to more peo| more cheaply and with equipmi easier to operate than ever before know it's going to come. Right we are planning a company TV work which will let us bicycle com: nications programs throughout U.S. and abroad. It has great po: ties for the rapid and efficient change of information that we been seeking." Away from his desk at IBM Wi Trade offices in New York. Jim mon finds time to continue the acl ties in sports that he has pursued sil boyhood — sailing and tennis are of his keen interests. He lives with wife in Stamford. Conn., has a dau| ler in a Marvland college, and a going to school in Connecticut. "I consider audio-visual comm cations to be an important .ispcet life today, and 1 feel \er\ luck\ tol part of it," Jim Damon said reeen "Having the kind of enlightened c pany that I do to work with puis into iloing things much more lh,in promoting .i product. "We're invol with a great many social problems the day. and we're finding opporii lies with some of our films to « on ecological frontiers throughout world. A guy who can be in a fiek" endeavor where he's both satisfy himself on what he's doing, as wcl hopefully doing something that's mc ingful to other people, is .i ll> guy." 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