24 years. 4 companies. 4 passports.

Nearly a quarter century ago, there existed the era of television industry trade shows. The major studios and a few brave independents took to the convention floors, promoting and selling their programming to emerging media outlets with niche viewers in emerging worldwide marketplaces. Twenty-four years, four companies, and four passports ago, I began my career in this era, selling programming to a myriad of network and cable screeners in an endless array of viewings. In a whirlwind of worldwide visits, I dragged with me two-inch quad band tapes and 3/4 inch u-matic cassettes. Those were the days long before the convenience of compact disk and dvd format, and even longer before gps cell phones, email, and video conferencing. Those days of program selling were done by telex, telefax, and hard-wired long distance telephone service. And my IBM Selectric keys pounded out written contracts, with the help of self-correcting tape.