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Winter, 2007 Dear Colleague; I write this to bear witness to my personal and professional impressions of Jeff Moore. I have known Jeff since the early 1990’s when we were co-workers at Federated Media in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I quickly grew to respect Jeff’s on-air work and professionalism around the station, but I soon found out that Jeff is more than an on-air talent. He is also a talented music director, programmer, operations manager, family man and a latter-day philosopher on the state and future of radio whose opinions should be widely heard and debated. Jeff, simply put, “gets it.” He is a senior broadcaster who, like me, remembers the way it was when radio was far more profitable, far more relevant, and far more FUN both for broadcasters and the audience they serve, and is working to save the industry from its own avarice and self-consuming behavior. His manifesto for the future of radio, which I am sure he will share a copy of with you, is compelling reading not only for us who remember radio, but those who are currently practicing it without a clue and those who are yet to become practitioners of our art. Understanding the need for profitability but also realizing why we’ve lost our compass, his thoughts on the industry and its direction produce very positive responses from everyone I have shared them with. As a people manager, Jeff cares about people as employees only after he is concerned about them as people. He is able to balance the needs of the audience, the needs of the radio station and the needs of its listeners and advertisers in a way that all wind up better off. He has an understanding of the music industry, especially country music and its derivatives, which give him direction to program music in such a way that the audience is neither excessively musically challenged nor bored with the same stuff that you can find on every other jukebox on the air. The concept of “air talent” is alive and well with him, and he is able to recruit, motivate and hone the acts of air talent; a lost art indeed in the days of overconsulted, voicetracked radio. I first knew Jeff as an afternoon drive talent and music director which was subsequent and concurrent to his having been an owner of radio stations, and I was an air talent at a sister station in the building. He took a position as a PD at a radio station elsewhere and I got to work with him again, this time I was brought in as a consulting engineer to fix some severe transmitter and audio problems. I got to see Jeff as a manager in that capacity and was well impressed with his ability to manage many aspects of a broadcast facility, especially the often difficult interactions between sales and programming. Jeff’s continued involvement in the industry is from a perspective of having done just about everything that you can do in a radio station, and this viewpoint is one that is becoming increasingly hard to find. In the intervening years, I am proud to now call Jeff a good friend as well as a trusted colleague. He is a family man whose appreciation for the stability of a home life carries through to his involvement with people under his management. A large group CEO once told me that radio is not people intensive, it’s good people intensive…and Jeff has an ability to find out where the good bones are buried. I am personally frustrated by his continued work in small markets when I know that his level of talent is desperately needed in larger markets that have become in dire need of rehabilitation by broadcasters who truly love our industry, but also have the ability to apply legacy values to modern situations and generate legacy levels of success. As I have risen through the market levels to the very largest markets in the country, I see more and more need for his kind of vision and leadership in an increasingly competitive radio environment. Jeff can make your station special and unique—and with the right sales team, uniquely profitable—in today’s broadcast reality. In your consideration of his credentials, please give thought to the value of a curriculum vitae that brings all of this together in one outstanding person. I believe that you will not find a more hard working, polished, skilled broadcaster in your roster of potential employees. Should you wish to discuss Jeff Moore’s qualifications personally, I can be reached at 312-446-9151. Paul A. Strater |