In which more than you ever wanted to know about Melanie's job is explained
The most common question that I encounter when away from home on business is, "what do you do?" I can't say that I'm a consultant or a trainer, or a software installer, because although my day involves all those things, it's not a concise description of why I spend as much as two or three weeks in places far from home. My midwestern accent certainly marks me as a "foreigner" in most places. If I say that I'm an Implememtation Specialist for WideOrbit, it only confuses the issue.
So let me start from the beginning.
Every element that you see on the television - the programs, the promotions, the commercials - have to be scheduled. That schedule is pretty complex. Some of those elements - the commercials- are aired in return for compensation of some sort, usually a payment of cash.
In the old days, the traffic department at a television station would hand-write the commercials as they were sold onto to long narrow strips of paper, which were in turn stuck up to the wall in the order of air. The resulting schedule was then transfered to paper by a typist, and then each of the strips of paper were forwarded to the business office to be typed up on a bill. This process was of course labor intensive, limiting potential revenue, and the risk of error was huge.
In the 1960s, with the advent of computer technology, enterprising companies began using technology to make the process more streamlined and profitable. Revolutionary for their day, the Columbine systems marked a sea change in the industry. Suddenly television stations became a business rather than a public service. The number of sponsorships increased, and lengths became standardized at the :30 unit. The length of the programs began to shrink accordingly.
By the 1990s, the posibilities of broadcasting had mushroomed to the point that the computer systems serving traffic departments had to adapt or die. Coupled with thirty years of development in personal computing and broadcasting equipment, traffic systems became both easier to use - Windows-like interfaces - and more complex to meet the demands of the industry.
WideOrbit has developed what I consider the best traffic software in the business. One of the reasons that it is so good is that it is intuitative to use. The other reason is that it is is highly configurable and adaptable to a wide variety of the ways that television broadcasters do business. WideOrbit permits the stations to schedule and bill spots, as well as to mine the data in ways which make the revenue picture very clear to management. This also means that it is a very complex system.
Considering the complexity of the system, the interfaces really are easy to use. Our challenge is to teack users how to use the system, and to take advantage of the features - the complexity - of the system. The challenge includes configuring the system in such a way that it meets the client stations' needs. So, my job is to train new users on WideOrbit, as well as to troubleshoot any issues that stand in the way of effective, efficient use of the system. We make recommendations as to processes and workflow, and we advocate for the client's needs. We spend five weeks on-site with each of our clients, and one week of off-site training is dedicated to them as well. The result is that the sucess of the client becomes the focus of our attention.
What do I do? I make my clients happy and sucessful. I'm lucky to work at a company where the products put me at an advantage.
So let me start from the beginning.
Every element that you see on the television - the programs, the promotions, the commercials - have to be scheduled. That schedule is pretty complex. Some of those elements - the commercials- are aired in return for compensation of some sort, usually a payment of cash.
In the old days, the traffic department at a television station would hand-write the commercials as they were sold onto to long narrow strips of paper, which were in turn stuck up to the wall in the order of air. The resulting schedule was then transfered to paper by a typist, and then each of the strips of paper were forwarded to the business office to be typed up on a bill. This process was of course labor intensive, limiting potential revenue, and the risk of error was huge.
In the 1960s, with the advent of computer technology, enterprising companies began using technology to make the process more streamlined and profitable. Revolutionary for their day, the Columbine systems marked a sea change in the industry. Suddenly television stations became a business rather than a public service. The number of sponsorships increased, and lengths became standardized at the :30 unit. The length of the programs began to shrink accordingly.
By the 1990s, the posibilities of broadcasting had mushroomed to the point that the computer systems serving traffic departments had to adapt or die. Coupled with thirty years of development in personal computing and broadcasting equipment, traffic systems became both easier to use - Windows-like interfaces - and more complex to meet the demands of the industry.
WideOrbit has developed what I consider the best traffic software in the business. One of the reasons that it is so good is that it is intuitative to use. The other reason is that it is is highly configurable and adaptable to a wide variety of the ways that television broadcasters do business. WideOrbit permits the stations to schedule and bill spots, as well as to mine the data in ways which make the revenue picture very clear to management. This also means that it is a very complex system.
Considering the complexity of the system, the interfaces really are easy to use. Our challenge is to teack users how to use the system, and to take advantage of the features - the complexity - of the system. The challenge includes configuring the system in such a way that it meets the client stations' needs. So, my job is to train new users on WideOrbit, as well as to troubleshoot any issues that stand in the way of effective, efficient use of the system. We make recommendations as to processes and workflow, and we advocate for the client's needs. We spend five weeks on-site with each of our clients, and one week of off-site training is dedicated to them as well. The result is that the sucess of the client becomes the focus of our attention.
What do I do? I make my clients happy and sucessful. I'm lucky to work at a company where the products put me at an advantage.
posted by Melanie Unruh-Bays at
3:53 PM
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