Week One: The People That You Meet

So on the coldest snap of an already burly winter, we begin..

Chicago Street can be found on the brink of downtown, in the city's First Ward, a place known for its Olmstead Botanical Gardens, and Tim Russert. The Ward is a place, like a lot of Buffalo, trying to figure out how to get by or move forward. This is where Time Warner Cable will launch its new 24-hour news station.

It's a place with a few dozen cable company employees already in the building. The division's security staff is one of the groups here. Lucian leads, but the showstoppers are a couple of guys worthy of a regular Saturday Night Live skit. Tim and Stan are former Buffalo Police detectives. They know everyone... EVERYONE... and everything about their hometown. Sip enough coffee in their company, and you'll learn about the "real Buffalo." Johann, the administrator of the office, kindly guided me through first few days of fumbling for a fax machine. Together, they welcomed me into the building like a member of the family on day one. They are as Buffalo as it gets.


Cable dispatchers used to sit in the space where journalists will soon deliver news on cable to Western New York 'round the clock. Joe Truncale's operations staff of TWC's News Division has spent most of January stringing spool upon spool of line through the ceiling and floor of our space. Edit systems arrived this week.

And every hour, practically on the hour, someone who wants to be a part of it has come to Chicago Street, or joined me on the phone. So many talented people. Many are from the Buffalo media market. Many of them have been part of the industry's contraction.

Week one meant double shifting and a week of overnights bunking at my brother's home. And seven mile drives down South Park Avenue, passing childhood haunts and neighborhoods cousins, aunts and uncles used to call home.

It meant learning that Chef's, the landmark restaurant on the next block, is where people go to be seen, but DiTondo's, the restaurant two blocks down Seneca Street from Chicago, is the home of the spaghetti bib, kickin' eggplant and chicken parm and the place where judges, cops, newsmakers and journalists go to get business done while they recharge.

Week two will be a time when the first staff members are hired. A challenging time that will be the initial step in building a resilient team, ready to serve, learn and grow.