A Day with Vinnie Politan

Since so many have asked I decided to do a little blog to explain how it came about. Vinnie and I have been in contact for quite some time and have tried to meet up but the timing has never worked. I was coming down to celebrate my fathers 73rd birthday so I asked Vinnie if there was anything special we could do for him.

He said " Be here at 11:30, I'll show you around before we got live from 12-2.  We'll have you in the studio the first hour then you can go in the control room the 2nd hour which I have never even done! After that I'll show you around a little more before I have to go to a meeting to finish things off!"

See more after the jump! Including pictures!

So, At 11:30 we checked in where he told us to and as I was getting snapped for my id for the day he was shaking my dad's hand behind me... it got captured on my id.. *teehee*  It was really cool to be on the actually HLN set watching how they do things for each segment! They have 1 boom camera and 4 remote controlled cameras that just kinda zoom around on their own. They were like robots.

Something very interesting is, if the person isn't in the studio we are in, you may be able to hear them talking on tv and we can hear Vinnie or whomever addressing them, but we can't hear what they are saying. SO WEIRD! We got to meet with Mike Brooks aka "Brooksie" and saw Christi Paul from afar as well as Darren Kavinoky as he was on a tv screen.

Mike and Christi getting Ready!

Mike working hard!

We also got to see Vinnie interview the woman that hugged the woman in court that had killed her husband in a car accident. Very interesting to see. Can't wait to see how it all comes together on Monday! OH! btw! Vinnie will be coming back to do his show from 2-5 starting Monday!!!! We were in the control room when we heard it announced.

The Vinnster slackin off ;) (I kid I kid!)

The control room was soo neat! We got to meet Donna who then stopped everything and introduced each person there and their role! We ended up sitting up in the back watching how things came together. Very cool how things ebb and flow so well to come together just right! Thank you Donna for taking the time out to introduce everyone and explain who did what etc. right in the middle of the 2 hour block! I think some people owe you mani pedi's for how much you get yelled at ;)

The Control Room!

At 2 we went back down to the studio while Vinnie did some things and then he took us up to where they did the HLN afterdark shows.  That place was SWEET!  That's where the picture of the 3 of us was taken.

Vinnie, you were so gracious and kind to do this for us and I really do appreciate it! Take note! This is not a normal thing you can just call up and do. I don't want people suddenly bombarding the station with requests because it won't happen like it did for us.  There are regular tours though!

This meant so much since my dad just had quintuple bypass and was released back home just prior to Easter and I have been dealing with blood clot issues since new years (and had an issue this morning that I had to call the Dr. on... if they'd have said no going to see Vinnie... I still woulda :) ) and we haven't been cleared to do much of anything. This was my first time traveling since release from the hospital in January and it looks like the last time for quite some time so THANK YOU!!!!!! Here's a photo I snapped of my dad during the day enjoying himself :)

HAPPY 73rd BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!