This Just In...

The Gorilla Ball, a Night of Laughs and High Recognition

CNN veteran Jane Maxwell received the APC’s 2009 “Willie B” Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday evening during a ceremony at the Atlanta Zoo.  Maxwell joins a long list of accomplished broadcasters whose careers have been recognized by the Press Club.  She is the first CNN recipient.  Jane was predictably modest, telling the audience she always figured she was fairly anonymous and she seemed genuinely surprised that anyone would know much about her career. 

Maxwell is a CNN Original — meaning she arrived at the network shortly after Ted Turner gave birth.  Jane joined as CNN’s first managing editor several months before the June 1980 launch.  She remained in that same post — directing its ever expanding national bureaus — until the network recognized it should create a Special Events unit that would facilitate long-term planning for substantial events.  Jane founded the unit which she supervised for most of her nearly three-decade career until she retired several months ago.  Her final major project was the 2008 national election cycle.

CNN Special Events carves a wide path across the network’s planning cycle.  Over the past several decades it became the planning and execution center for national political campaigns, elections and inaugurations, for all international presidential travel and summits, for major events including the fall of Communism in Moscow and Berlin, the demonstrations in Beijing, coverage of the U.S. space program and probably its largest challenges, helping to plan and create coverage of both Iraq wars, along with numerous regional conflicts, most of them in the Middle East.

The tasks undertaken by CNN Special Events are as diverse as editorial supervision, arranging last minute passports for international travel, creating mammoth research documents, installation of CNN physical facilities into worldwide sites, coordinating coverage onto CNN’s many networks and integrating networks from other countries that use CNN resources. Special Events also specializes in pens, pencils, paper and bottled water.

On a personal note, I was fortunate to work with Jane for 14 years at CNN.  In the midst of madness, Jane demonstrated an ability to see through confusion, identify goals and create paths that would enable us to achieve success.  Jane knew when to hold firm and she equally knew when to compromise and change the plan.  She molded an extraordinary team that functioned with extreme precision.  Throughout it all, Jane also showed compassion, a sometimes too rare trait in broadcast executives.  Jane would find time to listen to and help anyone.  She did that for hundreds of CNN colleagues.

Congratulations, to Jane Maxwell, 2009 APC “Willie B” Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Written by:  Mike Klein
APC Board Member
www.mikekleinonline.com

Footnote:

The Gorilla Ball also featured this year’s blooper reels from CNN, WAGA, WSB and WXIA.  A four-judge panel voted the WAGA entry best of the bloopers.  Entries were judged by Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes, radio and television personality Holly Firfer, Jim Shuler of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and Capt. Eric Jackson of DeKalb County Fire and Rescue.  Tom Regan of WSB and Doug Richards of WXIA emceed the evening.

The Press Club thanks its Gorilla Ball primary sponsor:  Mitch Leff of Mitch Leff Associates.

Food or prizes were donated by Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Atlanta Opera, Piedmont Park Conservatory, American Roadhouse, Barley’s Sports Bar & Lounge, Chick-fil-a, Mary Mac’s Tea Room, Sweet Luv’s Cheesecakes and Yoforia  .