Call it Six Degrees of Facebook.
I have a friend of mine named John Foster. I have known John since 1980, when we worked together at a radio station in Mansfield, Ohio; currently he is Operations Manager for a cluster of radio stations I used to work for based in Columbus, Indiana.
From time to time, he'll post something on Facebook; those on FB know (A) you can respond with a post of your own; (B) you get a notification when someone else posts a comment, either on your post or a post from someone else you commented on.
So I'm looking at John's post, and see a notification that "Gene Foster (friend of Read Shepherd) commented on John Foster's comment."
I'm friends with both Read (Yes the same Read Shepherd that I work with at WGY)and John, among many others.
How strange is that? While I don't know if John and Gene are related, I know both John and Read are from Ohio, but they are from different towns. Gene and Read however, are both from Tiffin.
While I'm still waiting to hear from John on the relativity issue regarding Gene, it's not the first time John played a (unknown to me at the time) role in my broadcasting career.
Back in 1998, my wife Nancy and I decided to pick up roots from the Capital District and start a new life somewhere, anywhere, just not here (and yes we did realize this is our true home and it's why we came back)
I saw an ad in the trades about a Country Music station in Columbus, Indiana looking for a Morning Guy.
I sent my resume and a sample of my air work. A few days later, I hear from the Program Director of the station, asking me to take a trip to Indiana for a job interview (which again I got). At the end of the conversation, he said "By the way, John Foster says Hi."
John Foster? The guy from Ohio? The guy I haven't seen since 1983?
"Yep, he's the Ops Manager here."
I'm convinced John was one of the reasons (A) I was called and (B) I was offered the job, of which I'll be forever grateful.
(A reminder to job seekers, NEVER cut your ties with ANYONE you work with, no matter HOW much you might not like them, they could be your boss someday).
Anyway back to Facebook, the John/Gene/Read connection is not an isolated incident;
The wife of a guy I worked radio with in Elyria, Ohio is friends with a woman from Avon Lake, Ohio I dated briefly in college in Ashland, Ohio; she herself is friends with another woman I went to college with from Lorain, Ohio, They did not know they both knew me;
A guy I worked radio with in Barre-Montpelier, Vermont worked radio with a guy I worked radio with in Elyria, Ohio (not the same guy listed above), when they both worked radio in Akron-Canton, Ohio. I also later worked with the guy from Barre when he and I were "transfered" by our company: he went to Bennington, Vermont, and I went to Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
A woman I worked with in Barre-Montpelier, Vermont (and who herself is from Scotia, New York), left there to work radio in Binghamton, New York. Her boss in Binghamton became MY boss when I was doing radio in Glens Falls, New York. Since that time, he and I have both left the Glens Falls company, I came to Albany (owned by Clear Channel Media & Entertainment), and he has gone BACK to his OLD station in Binghamton, ALSO owned by Clear Channel Media & Entertainment.
A woman I worked radio with in Pittsfield is now doing radio in Manchester, New Hampshire, where I provide News stories to.
Finally, in an odd case (not directly Facebook related but there is a tie in), when I was in Glens Falls, my Programming Supervisor was based in Albany, and HE was one of my students when I was teaching radio in Albany in the '80's and 90's! My former student was my new BOSS!
Disney was right, it really IS a small world, after all.
Mike Patrick
