It's an exciting privilege and pleasure to honor tonight's new inductees. And we are just as excited and grateful to share a room with media luminaries from all around the nation. Part of the thrill of the Hall of Fame dinner is the opportunity for all of us to greet and chat with the best in the business.
But mainly, we're here tonight to honor and celebrate 11 men and women, all possessing great vision, leadership and love for the media. Our inductees have had different routes to their success, and their achievements are as singular as their personalities. In short, they have made a difference.
Tonight, we also honor Monday Night Football. Celebrating its 40th year and a bigger player on the TV landscape than ever, it is no exaggeration to refer to Monday Night Football as an American institution. The B&C Hall of Fame is indeed “Ready for Some Football.”
As in the past, The Broadcasters Foundation of America, which comes to the aid of broadcasters in need, is a beneficiary of tonight's event and will share a portion of the proceeds.
We would especially like to thank tonight's host, NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams, as well as our guest presenter, Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart.
We would also like to thank Sandy Friedman, Director of Special Projects/Events; Chris Rucker,Marketing Art Director; Jason Cruz, Designer; Farrah Aponte, Production Manager; Sylvia Sirin, Events Coordinator; and Elaine Sturgis, Advertising Coordinator, for their efforts.
The entire editorial staff of Broadcasting & Cable contributed to the Hall of Fame special editionand Website, and deserve thanks. However, the following people brought key leadership to theproject: Melissa Grego, Executive Editor; Joel Topcik, Senior Editor/Online; Forest Evashevski,Design Director, Print & Online; Jay Blickstein, Copy Desk Chief; Robert Edelstein, Contributing Editor; Ashley MacDonald, Web Operations Manager; and Diane Martinez, Web OperationsSpecialist.
But our final thank you is to you, who are joining with us to celebrate tonight's honorees. We hope you have a wonderful evening, and that we'll see you again next year.
Sincerely,
Larry Dunn, Group Publisher, Ben Grossman, Editor-in-Chief, William McGorry, Chairman, B&C Hall of Fame
