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SAN ANTONIO — Before candy gets stocked in supermarkets for the upcoming Halloween season, teams already will be busy taping at overseas locations around the world for special greetings to be aired during the holiday season.
Three separate broadcast teams from the Joint Hometown News Service in San Antonio are boarding planes this week to begin taping video holiday greetings of servicemembers and their families stationed overseas during the holiday season.
Servicemembers and civilian employees from all branches of service, their family members, and Department of Defense civilians are eligible to participate, said Erich Schwab, this year’s holiday greetings coordinator.
Mr. Schwab, who is also the European team chief, said three teams comprising three members per team will travel to the Pacific, Europe and Southwest Asia theaters, setting up their cameras in more than 60 locations.
When a team sets up in your area, Mr. Schwab said there are just a few guidelines to follow to ensure family and friends back home see your personal greeting on local television and hear it on local radio stations.
• Make sure to bring your address book. You’ll need family members’ names along with a city, state and phone number. Station managers need contact info to let families know when your greeting will air.
• Servicemembers need to be in uniform. Family members should accompany their sponsor, unless their sponsor is deployed. And, don’t forget the props: Santa’s hats, pets and Christmas attire.
• Depending upon where you’re stationed, there is a good chance there will be waiting lines. Lunch time and after work are normally prime times, so if you can break away for a few minutes during mid-morning or mid-afternoon, you can avoid the rush.
• In front of the camera: There aren’t a lot of rules, but here is a tip to make the experience go smoothly — relax, relax, relax. So what if you’ll be seen by a million TV viewers. When you’re taping, it’s just you and the camera.
• Try to be cheerful and in the holiday spirit. It doesn’t show well on camera if your teenage daughter looks like she’d rather be at the mall than wishing grandma happy holidays.
• Try to keep hand gestures to a minimum and, of course, no profanity. When you’re giving your greetings, don’t say “Happy Thanksgiving.” Most of these greetings will air from Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day.
• You don’t need a teleprompter or a script, but try writing down your main points on a 3-by-5 card. Sometimes nerves can cause a bout of forgetfulness, so jot down your family members’ names and the points you want to get across. If you have family in more than one area, you can do several greetings. You’ve got 15 to 20 seconds per greeting — more than enough time to get in your holiday wishes to those closest to you.
Larry Gilliam, Joint Hometown News Service deputy director, said when the teams return to San Antonio in mid to late October, production will run 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week.
Video and audio greetings are separated by state, and in some of the more populated states such as California, Texas, Florida and New York, stations will receive the tapes or DVDs based upon region.
Mr. Gilliam says an individual’s greeting normally will air multiple times during the holidays and usually on more than one station.
“In 2009, we mailed out close to 9,500 TV and radio greetings to 1,234 TV stations and 1,689 radio stations,” he said. “Based upon the feedback we received from stations, over 52 million households watched the greetings on TV and 21 million households listened to greetings on the radio. And, those numbers are based just on the small percentage of feedback we received.”
The Holiday Greetings Team will be in the KMC Sept. 22 to 27. The greetings will be taped at the following times, dates and locations:
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center: From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 22 in the hallway in front of the dining facility.
Panzer Kaserne: From 8 to 10 a.m. Sept. 23 on parade field.
Rhine Ordnance Barracks: From 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 23, Java Cafe.
Kleber Kaserne: From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 23, Kleber Dining Facility.
Vogelweh: From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at the commissary.
Ramstein: From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 25 and 27 at the KMCC.
This year you can follow the teams’ schedule online at http://jhns.dma.mil.
