Episode 88, with guests Bob Wheelock of AJE – Al Jazeera English and George Gigicos of Telion Corp.


Bob Wheelock and George Gigicos are our guests this week.
Show produced by Katherine Caperton.
Original Air Date: February 3, 2013 on SiriusXM “POTUS” Channel 124.
Polioptics airs regularly on POTUS on Saturdays at 6 am, 12 noon and 6 pm.
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Listen to the show by clicking on the bar above.
Show also available for download on Apple iTunes by clicking here 

Our guests this week Bob Wheelock, executive producer of news gathering at Al Jazeera English, on the changes ahead for the network following its acquisition of Current TV. And George Gigicos, founder and president of Telion Corp., on his work spanning decades as a GOP advance man.

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If you’re a fan of this show, I hope you’ll leave us a note and a like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/PoliOptics.  It is one of my great joys in doing this show with Josh King, that I’m able to introduce all of you to the most amazing visual communications professionals I know.  Friends all, they have mentored me, managed me, and propelled me forward in my career here in Washington D.C.

Our first guest, Bob Wheelock, is currently the Executive Producer for  Newsgathering at Al Jazeera English.

Bob Wheelock in the control and on the air at ABC News .

What that means is, Bob is the big boss and at the helm of one of the most technologically advanced, well-funded, and growing news gathering organizations on the planet. Niice.

Bob also happens to be the guy that gave me my big break in TV News.  He was “that guy” for so many people. He still is today and that’s why we are so lucky to have him on the show this week.

“Wheels” or “Bobby,” as some people at ABC News used to call him, is literally building an army of talented visual story tellers (see: they’re hiring).  Seriously — if you or someone you know is a comer in the news game right now – Wheelock is the guy to know.

In February 2012, the guy who had done nearly ever big job you’d want to do and won a ton of major awards, found his “next big thing” and took on the leadershipchallengeof a lifetime. 

This is Bob’s first extended conversation on the air about AJE.

He is, as ever, eloquent and perfectly candid.

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Our second guest, George Gigicos, is veteran political operative with a sterling reputation.

He only has one speed: go!

George is the engine in the boat at the strategic communications and event firm Telion Corp, based in southern Florida.  He’s been a GOP Advance man since the days George H W Bush was VPOTUS.  His experiences on behalf of the US government around the globe are a fun part of this discussion. So to are his insights into his most recent time on the road working advance for the Romney campaign.

Here are some fun pics from George’s time in the business — including one with me in Egypt in 2008.

The mark of a true PoliOptics practitioner – George Gigicos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George’s work as site lead for Mitt Romney’s visit to Warsaw University in Poland – summer 2012

 

 

George’s work in Warsaw, Poland in the summer of 2012 with the Romney campaign.

 

 

Adam Belmar and George Gigicos in Egypt 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About TELION:  a comprehensive public relations, media affairs and event management consulting firm offering clients a wide range of support services.  Telion partners with corporations, associations, government, political and religious entities to successfully assist in the management of their meetings, conferences, incentive programs and special events. Their expertise in communication strategies, crisis management, digital media, VIP advance operations & logistical support is unsurpassed.  George Gigicos, TelionCorp, Boca Raton, Florida 33231, 561-400-3604.

I know you will enjoy these two conversations… And when you do –drop us a few words on FB www.facebook.com/PoliOptics.

Thanks, AB

Episode 5, with guest TV Legend Sam Donaldson of ABC News

Sam Donaldson is our interview guest this week.
Show produced by Katherine Caperton
Original Air Date: April 9, 2011 on SiriusXM Satellite Radio “POTUS” Channel 124.  Click above to listen.

On this episode of PoliOptics radio on Sirius XM, Adam Belmar sits down with one of the legends of broadcasting, Sam Donaldson, a

guy that Adam and I grew up with every evening in three minute chunks.  Talking with Sam — who spent a whole hour with Polioptics Radio — is like traveling back in time to the day with Frank Reynolds in Washington, Peter Jennings in London and Max Robinson in Chicago brought us the news in and around our family dinner.

Donaldson was, of course, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent from 1977 through 1989, encompassing the breadth of the Carter and Reagan Years. He returned to the White House beat for another stint from January 1998 through August 1999, getting a full taste of the Clinton years from the first headlines of the Lewinsky story through the conclusion of impeachment proceedings.

Few living witnesses of Polioptics come loaded with more war stories of covering 1600 Pennsylvania than Sam.  Click on the link above and have a listen.