Thursday, Oct. 01, 2009
timothy donley:
motorcycles, news cycles and information superhighway
Photo by Scott Smallin, Weekly Surge.
Timothy Donley at the WMBF studio in Myrtle Beach.
Timothy Donley, Internet director at local NBC affiliate WMBF News, hit the ground running when he arrived on the Grand Strand with wife Kimberley Donley in March 2008, well in advance of the launch of the station on Aug. 8, 2008. "I was one of the sixth and seventh people hired here," he says. "Two of us started on the same day."
Donley grew up in Aurora, Mo., and graduated from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg with a bachelor's degree in broadcasting and film. Originally a music/vocal major, he belongs to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a professional music fraternity.
He spent six years on a daily paper in Warrensburg, the Daily Star-Journal, where he spent time as a staff writer and editor. "I moved on to doing daily pagination for them, and because I had a degree in film, I did movie reviews, which was a total blast."
A post as Internet producer with NBC affiliate KSHB in Kansas City followed for two years, which served to strengthen Donley's technical skills.
While working for KSHB, Donley got a call from WMBF news director Matt Miller. "Matt said he had gotten my name from a mutual friend who works for [WMBF parent company] Raycom Media and asked me if I was interested in talking to him." This was a fortuitous event, because Donley says he was scoping out jobs anyway in an attempt to move up the broadcasting ladder. "They flew me down here for a visit and I liked the area," he says. "I loved the idea - the challenge being able to start something fresh that nobody had done here - to not take over something that somebody else had started."
Construction was underway at the WBMF headquarters on Frontage Road East in Myrtle Beach when Donley visited. "There weren't even walls up, but you could see the infrastructure where the walls would be." A buzz of excitement was in the air about the arrival of NBC to Myrtle Beach, meaning that the area would finally be home to the so-called "big four'' non-cable broadcasting networks. When launched, the station would broadcast exclusively in digital - a first for area television stations. And Donley was excited about exploring uncharted territory as Internet director.
"I am basically in charge of managing content, site design and maintenance," he says. "I also oversee the social media platforms with Twitter and Facebook."
The WMBF Web site was up and running well before the launch of the station, and Weekly Surge noticed that content was being added regularly. "We needed to build an archive of sorts, so that when we launched on 8/8/08, we had more than just the news of that day," asserts Donley, who adds that he went to Charleston to train on Raycom's content management system. "That was a trip because it was difficult. I tend to learn software pretty easily, but there was a steep bell curve on this software." Once he became comfortable, he started training reporters and Web producer Meghan Miller, who was also profiled in Weekly Surge in September 2008.
Was Donley happy with the launch?
"It was tough - I don't want to mince words there - it was one of the hardest things that I've been a part of, especially for the first couple of months. We went through our launch and then went through a major political season. I think we pulled it off well and I was very happy with the way things went."
As Internet director, Donley says interaction with viewers is what he is after. "We do a lot on Facebook and Twitter - getting tips and ideas. We have WMBF News Nation, which is a photo gallery of sorts." During the area wildfires in April, user-generated pictures and videos came pouring in. "We use a third-party vendor for that service and we set user records for them. We'd only been in business for eight months when that happened, and we were getting like 19 page views per visitor. It was huge," he enthuses.
Before WMBF launched, Donley says he did a bit of golfing on the Grand Strand, but admits that he doesn't golf much anymore. He enjoys riding his motorcycle, a 1998 Honda Shadow American Classics Edition. "I love it. I only got it about three months ago. It's my everyday ride, even in the rain," he laughs." The Donleys frequent many of the area eateries and like Divine Prime in particular. "If I hadn't ended up where I am now, I'm pretty sure I'd be trying to be a chef somewhere." Donley is a member of the South Carolina Barbecue Association and the Kansas City Barbecue Society.
Although the Donleys miss their families and old friends, they are feeling the love on the Grand Strand. "Even though we were in Kansas City for such a long time, we felt like this was really more like home than Kansas City had ever been."