More about the RCB / GPB Meeting

I have received a few more details about the RCB /GPB meeting last week with Georgia Public Broadcasting, including a list of attendees. GPB was represented by the following people:

1. Ms. Nancy Hall, Interim Executive Director
2. Ms. Bonnie Bean, Chief Financial Officer
3. Mr. Mark Fehlig, Director of Technical & Engineering Services
4. Mr. Jim Wesley (title unknown)

While Ms. Hall, Ms. Bean, and Mr. Fehlig are all listed on the GPB website, Mr. Wesley is nowhere to be found.

However, some Google searching reveals that he is James W. Wesley, Jr., a retired broadcasting executive who was most recently Chairman and CEO of Summit Communications Group, Inc., which at the time owned several commercial radio stations and cable systems. Mr. Wesley is a Georgia Tech alum (IM '55) who got his start in broadcasting as an announcer at WSB in 1955 while still a Tech student.

What is even more interesting is that Mr. Wesley is a generous donor to Georgia Tech. Most notably, in 1998 Mr. Wesley and his wife endowed the James and Mary Wesley Chair in the School of Literature, Communications and Culture ("LCC") with a gift of $2.5 Million. More recently, he was listed in the highest category of donor ($500,000-$1,000,000) in the Georgia Tech Alumni Association's "Founders Council Newsletter" in Fall 2003, Spring 2005, and Spring 2006.

It is interesting to see someone of Mr. Wesley's stature and background advocating a "partnership" between GPB and WREK. As a major donor, I expect that any proposals that Mr. Wesley might bring to the Tech administration will receive careful consideration. However, while GPB expressed a strong interest in "leasing" a portion of WREK's signal at last week's meeting, they offered no concrete proposal.