This past weekend my brother and I checked out the CBC Manitoba Open House. It was advertised as getting a chance to view what it was like to work in the media or to see state of the art media equipment.
As interesting as that sounds, the main reason we went was because Amanda Lang (from the Lang and O’Leary Exchange). Granted Bret Wilson (from Dragon’s Den) and Ron James (wicked awesome East Coast comedian) were there but they have nothing on Amanda.
Hit the jump to read more.
It all started with a 30 minute wait in line in front of the building. It was hotter than I expected so the sweater I was wearing didn’t really help. From there we entered the front doors and were greeted with smiles the entire way. Staff (reporters and radio personalities included) guided everyone through the building. We saw everything behind and in front of the scene – and it was more than I had expected. Janet Stewart even went as far as writing small notes around the building about little “CBC quirks”.
The highlight of course was Amanda Lang. HOWEVER …. we just missed her. Granted we saw her from about 10 feet away, we didn’t get to talk to her. The lineup for signatures wasn’t bad and we wanted to offer Bret Wilson a business proposition anyways. Ten minutes later we’re standing in front of Mr. Ron James and Mr. Bret Wilson.
“Hello sir”, I say to Ron.
“Hello, and who are you?”
“Trevor … I was wondering if you’d sign my shirt” (I bought a CBC shirt just for this …. well, for Amanda but this would do).
“What do you want me to say?”, Ron replies.
“Really? I thought you were the comedian?” I said with a smile
He writes, “Here’s to the Peg! Ron James”. I was hoping for something funny but I guess it will do.
I then turn to Bret, who we’ve noticed has been extremely friendly and polite with everyone in line.
“You said your name was Trevor?” comments Bret.
“You bet”, impressed that he not only remembered my name but was listening to all of the conversations around him.
Now at this point, Ron was signing my brother’s shirt and Bret was signing mine. Someone got confused and was holding the wrong shirt which means mine now reads, “Bret Wilson 2010 – I *heart* Amanda Lang”. Classic.
My brother and I talked to the two gentlemen for about 5 minutes (until we were told by a volunteer to hurry up). The best part? The conversation between my brother and Bret.
Bro – “I have a business proposition for you.”
Bret – “Let’s hear this.”
Bro – “I need a ride home. In exchange for the ride, I will give you a handshake.”
Bret – “I’ll meet you halfway. You’ve got the handshake.”
I’m still not sure how people get star-shocked. (Hey Ken, remember the time you met Kanye?)
All in all, it was a great event and I look forward to checking out more of these as they come around. Check out some of the pictures below (sorry for the poor quality – I just got my iPhone the week before and lighting was bad – at least those are my excuses).
[flickr]set:72157625049371898[/flickr]
Image IMG_0100 Originally uploaded by AccessWinnipeg
