NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1942)

12 NBC TRANSMITTER SALESMAN DE LUXE State of Mounting Sales Rocks Rocky Mountain State • It’s significant that James MacPherson, new manager of Station KOA, Denver, is jocularly addressed by his more intimate acquaintances both as “The Reverend” and “The Sheriff.” The facets of Jim MacPherson’s personality range that wide. Most of the time, he is as amiable and softspoken as a parson beloved by all. But get him aroused, and he’s tougher than any old-time Western sheriff who toted two guns and could shoot equally well with both. In Mac’s case, though, he’s vocally vitriolic. Jim MacPherson assumed the helm of KOA in August, when former General Manager Lloyd E. Yoder (now LieutenantCommander Yoder) went on active duty as Navy Public Relations Officer for the State of Colorado. “Mac,” before he stepped into the front office, had held the co-jobs of local sales manager and national spot representative, and had been in the sales department of the 50,000-watt Denver NBC station for eight years. He’s a “sales-minded” executive if ever there was one. The client counts first, last, and always uppermost with Mac. Which is perhaps the major reason why KOA exceeded its sales quota in both August and September — Mac’s first two months of managership — within the first 15 days of each month. And you can bet a western ten-gallon hat (the type Mac always sports on his Eastern sales junkets) that KOA will continue to meet its monthly quota, or there’ll be hell-a-poppin, with Mac assuming his best “sheriff” manner. Tall and thin as a bean pole, he looks as though a strong wind would blow him over. He looks that way. Actually, he’s the possessor of an amazing vitality. His ability to get things done — right, and in a hurry — is one of his paramount assets. And when it comes to selling a client and keeping him sold on the virtues of radio as an advertising medium, he does a complete job. Give him a hard-to-sell prospect, and he’s at his best. Mac has been associated with radio since its infancy. He delights in telling tall stories about his early days in Chicago broadcasting, when most prospective advertisers regarded radio as some sort of new “toy,” refusing to be convinced that it could be used effectively as a medium for selling goods. Mac had a part in persuading many a current big-time radio advertising name to invest a few bucks experimenting with radio. The subsequent results they enjoyed convinced them that perhaps there was something to radio advertising after all. If you were to pick out the one topic he enjoys discussing aside from radio, it would be his experiences in France with the A.E.F. in World War I. Some of his stories are grim and realistic, the kind to make one think. Others are on the humorous side, and Mac isn’t above making himself the butt of a joke. Just for the record, Mac is a “gentleman farmer,” living with his wife and two teen-aged children on a suburban farm near Arvada, on the outskirts of Denver. He’s an ardent Denver and Colorado booster. His enthusiasm for Denver has remained strong in spite of a recent happening at the first fall meeting of the Denver Chamber of Commerce. Mac, as the new manager of KOA, was slated for a spot at the head table. Spurning such prominence, he sat at a table with other KOAites to avoid the spotlight. The chairman of the day wouldn’t let Mac go unnoticed. Addressing the floor, he said that somewhere in the gathering was James MacPherson, new manager of KOA and “a newcomer to Denver.” That remark drew hearty guffaws from the assemblage. Seemingly, everyone in the room but the chairman knew Mac as an old-time Denverite and a staunch community boaster. It’s the staff’s contention that KOA will do all right for the duration, particularly with regard to the lower right-hand corner of the monthly revenue ledger, under the able guidance of “Reverend,” or “Sheriff,” James “Mac” MacPherson. LIEUTENANT GENNARO ACAMPA (Story below) \ Acampa Family Keeps Step in Uniform Way i • Tenancy in the Acampa household is getting to be tantamount to lieutenancy. When 23-year-old Second Lieutenant Frank Acampa attained his gold bar from i the Army he teased his father. Sergeant Gennaro Acampa, of the NBC police staff, for being a mere sergeant while his offspring was a lieutenant. But Pa Acampa lost no time in getting promoted to lieutenant of the Radio City studio patrol, and one of his first actions in his higher rank was getting his picture taken, gold badge et al, for forwarding to son Frank. A younger son, Victor Acampa, 19, watched the proceedings with delight and decided he, too, would get in the family commission race. He promptly passed his ensign’s examination in the Navy and has now told his dad and brother that he has his eye on a lieutenancy and they’d better prepare to make room for him in the family lieutenant’s line. KOA Has Service Paper • KOA, Denver, has developed a novel method of keeping in touch with its employees in the Armed Forces. The station mails a bi-weekly mimeographed publication to its 21 service men, containing news of KOA happenings and excerpts from their letters to friends at the station. Nearest relatives of the men in service also receive the publication. JAMES MacPHERSON