23 September 2003
The first meeting of the 2003-2004 academic year for the Memphis, TN chapter of the American Meteorological Society took place at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at the TV studios of WHBQ/FOX 13 with about fourteen people in attendance. President Erik Proseus opened the meeting with a welcome to returning AMS local chapter members and to the visiting guests. For the business portion of the meeting there was discussion of the continuation of the off-month informal lunches, the availablility of minority scholorships in the atmospheric sciences, the AMS national meeting in January and the 3rd annual Southeast Severe Storms Symposium that Mississippi State University is hosting from January 16-18, 2004. Future meeting topics were also discussed, including:
Following the approximately fifteen minute business meeting, 2003-2004 yearly dues of $10.00 were collected from 8 members.
The guest host for the evening was Mr. Jim Jaggers, Chief Meteorologist at WHBQ-TV/FOX 13. After a brief introduction he took the group on a tour of the Channel 13 facility. It included stops in the newsroom, graphics department, marketing/sales and the various recording booths that they use for audio. He also showed us the work being done on a new control room that they are very much looking forward to. We were also treated to a tour of the TV Studio itself with a presentation of the equipment and how it all works. The weather section of the studio took up about 1/3 of the entire studio which is a statement of the importance of weather in the newscast.
After the tour we were invited to stay for the 9:00 PM newscast in which we observed a portion of the broadcast from inside the studio itself, as well as watching how the broadcast is put together by the production team from the main and audio control rooms.
We want to thank Mr. Jaggers for giving of his time and hope to see everyone at the next meeting, November 10.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Wroten
Secretary, Memphis Chapter
American Meterological Society
Approved,
Erik Proseus
President, Memphis Chapter
American Meterological Society