My Time on RT America’s Boom Bust by David Merkel, CFA of The Aleph Blog.
You can never quite tell where blogging may take you. I know that if I lived near New York City, some opportunities would open up that presently aren’t likely. Living near Baltimore/DC has had its share of opportunities, though.
In general, if I get asked to appear somewhere, I’ll try to make time on my schedule for doing so, whether it is:
- Internet TV
- Internet Radio
- Local Radio
- Fox Business News (with Cody Willard)
- Speaking at a local High School
- Speaking to a local College
- Speaking to meetings of the Society of Actuaries, local Actuarial Societies, local CFA Societies, etc.
- Talking to the staff at SIGTARP, giving a lesson on how insurance companies work
- And more… if someone had told me all of the things that I would do as a result of saying “yes” to Jim Cramer’s invitation to write for RealMoney.com eleven years ago, I would have been surprised. The thing I would have been most surprised at would have been the total amount of words that I have written. I viewed myself eleven years ago as a mathematical businessman, but not a writer.
About five days ago, I was invited to appear on RT America’s show Boom Bust. What I did not know at the time was that Ed Harrison of Credit Writedowns was behind getting me onto the show. I’ve known Ed for some time — he was one of the original attendees at the only Aleph Blog Lunch.
I also didn’t know what I would be talking about on the show, so when I got pulled into the makeup room (me?) ten minutes prior to airtime, I was saying to myself, “I guess I have to ‘wing it.’” Then Ed popped his head through the door and said “Hi,” and explained everything to me. What a relief! I went back to the Green Room, scribbled out a few notes — not that I could take it with me, but just to get my mind in order for what I *might* be asked about.
As it was, it went fast, like every other time that I have been on live TV or radio. What was eight or so minutes felt like two. Are there things I would have said differently with more composure? Yes. But that’s part of the fun of it: thinking on your feet, because I knew little about what the actual questions would be.
If you want to, enjoy watching the video of RT America Boom Bust. My particular portion is on from 3:30 to 12:00 or so. Ed Harrison is on at the end. I stayed to watch that segment live, and talk with Ed and the charming host Erin Ade afterwards. It was a fun end to my workday.
