November 4, 2010

Election nights are strange times in newsrooms.  You prepare for weeks for what turns out to be 3-4 hours of broadcast insanity.

You saw the election results and you heard from the candidates.  Here are a few things you may not have seen or heard.

*There is no time to take a dinner break, so we had the traditional election night newsroom meal--Pizza.   12 pizzas ordered,  12 pizzas eaten.  Our dessert menu was Oreos and Twizzlers.

*Producing a detailed rundown of stories for the 10 p.m. news is futile.  With candidates delivering their acceptance speeches and stopping by for live interviews, producers and anchors must double as jugglers on election night.

*We have a friendly wager on which county will be the last to submit its election results to the Secretary of State.  Congratulations Montgomery County,  you are this year's winner.   

*Many people had fun at the election watch parties,  but one woman at one local party had a good time.  A really good time.  She tried to work her way behind TV reporters when they were live on the air.  Local photographers saw her coming,  and kept her out of the shot.   When the reporters took a break, the woman, who apparently had enjoyed adult beverages that evening,  picked up a microphone and did her own "live" interviews with party guests.  Her efforts never made it on air,  but people in the newsroom have enjoyed the videotape of her performance.

There are countless other election night stories,  like the three-alarm fire that broke out one night,  or how a car's radar detector scrambled our live signal from Topeka.  What will happen next?  We'll find out in two years.