It is with a bit of sadness that I ask, with your permission, that this be my last year as Sales Advisor to "B.O.C.". It has been a challenging and rewarding nine years, and we have accomplished much. The program is both an artistic and economic success, and I believe that the goals set forth many years ago, originally for a Junior Achievement television company and later for a "Beyond Our Control" - type program, have been achieved far beyond expectations.

Normally, this would be simply a 25-words-or-less memo, but B.O.C. has been such a significant and meaningful part of my life for nine years that I'd like to Share some observations with you, and also go into my reasons for wishing to bow out at the present 'high-water mark'.

I believe that there are many rewards a young person can reap from a B.O.C. experience. There is the valuable participation in Junior Achievement, which lends first-hand knowledge of how business really works. And, as corny as that may sound to some, the invaluable benefit of on-line experience is there for the taking, and many members do. Our secondary purpose in sponsoring a J.A. Company is to provide an insight into our profession of broadcasting, and I believe that most B.O.C. people have made a piercing examination of our industry. hey have felt the exhilarations that broadcasting can offer, and they have often felt the disappointment and frustrations that are also inherent to it. It is definitely not a 'placebo' that we have had them swallow. And some have chosen broadcasting for a career, another of our goals. Ironically, two grads are now selling television time for our two competitors in this market. Oh, well. The most important benefit, however, that I believe a B.O.C. person can receive is the beginning sense of participation, followed by the weeks of hard work, with frayed nerves and busted egos. The resulting feelings of accomplishment and togetherness are dampened somewhat by an enveloping sadness that the job is over. I've seen so much teen maturity develop earlier than would normally be expected directly as a result of accepting responsibility in B.O.C., and then working hard to complete the task. That, I believe, is our greatest contribution. Most people learn responsibility at a much later age, while some never learn. Our kids have a great jump on the world.

Enough waxing philosophic! My own reasons for leaving the project are more mundane. In those nine years, a wife, daughter, a new job, and a new house have been added to my life. Whereas in earlier years I'd attend many filming sessions and an occasional writer's meeting, now I am hard-pressed to consistently make it to the regular Wednesday night and Saturday morning meetings. My volunteer commitment's now also include being on the Board of Directors of Little Flower Montessori as Building and Grounds Chairman, which will require much time this year, and also the Board of Directors of our S.A.E.C. chapter, in which I hope to become more active. Secondly, for the last few years I have felt myself and the core of the project slowly drifting apart, basically because of our sales success and the delegation of nearly all the production responsibility to the achievers. In former days, we were selling spots the day of the show, and there was pressure to sell all year long. Now we are usually sold out in December or January, and sales reports are happily dropped from the Wednesday agenda for the rest of the year, and all that remains is book-keeping and billing. On Saturdays, B.O.C. was a study in organized confusion. I had to run camera and floor-direct all morning, as did Dave on occassion. It was nerve-wracking, but fun. Now, aside from a few weeks of camera training in the Fall, I do next to nothing on Saturdays. I know it, and so do the Achievers, and I don't like the feeling. If it sounds like I'm complaining about achieving our original goals in Sales and Production, I guess I am. I miss the activity. There have been many Saturdays in the past few years where I have done nothing more that watch everyone else work from 7AM until 1PM, and although that's the way we planned it, it's frustrating. Over the years, when parents of the B.O.C. people would remark to Dave or me how great it was that we would volunteer so much time to such a unique and rewarding project, the answer they would get more often than not was that we wouldn't be doing it if it weren't fun. My duties in B.O.C. have evolved into basically an accountant and typist, my available time for a deeper involvement has been diminished by a family and other committments, and B.O.C. for me is not as much fun as it used to be.

So, thank you for the opportunity to have participated these many years. We have made great strides in the Sales area, many at your suggestion: going from the :60 to the :30 as our basic unit; commissioning agencies and increasing rates to cover the lost revenue; the first year we sold out the entire thirteen programs, followed by a sell-out prior to premiere, which is now the norm; and this year cutting our commercial interruptions from three stopdowns to two and eliminating :10s to reduce 'clutter'. We used to follow industry trends -- now I believe we're one step ahead. And we have made money and paid a healthy dividend to our stockholders for seven straight years, and that's my primary duty as Sales Advisor.

The reason I made my decision at this time was that you might find a successor soon, and that he or she could join us this year and become familiar with the workings. If I may offer an opinion, I believe the person should be young, perhaps single, and without a lot of other activities, this from my own experience obviously. I've learned, as have many Achievers, that you simply cannot just taste and sample B.O.C. To feel fulfilled, you have to swallow it whole and get it in your gut. Once you do, it will become a valuable part of your life never to be forgotten. And the memories will be fond, tearful, exhilarating, and as graphic as if it had been yesterday. Thank you.

Joe

Joe continued on in his role of BOC adviser until 1981....Editor