A few weeks ago, I produced a new radio commercial for Forrester Tech in Springfield, Missouri. The spot is a straight-forward introduction to the team’s newest member, local computer-expert Zack Howell. For ten years, Forrester Tech has been designing and installing some of the most amazing integrated technology platforms for home-owners and businesses…everything from home-theater systems to full-blown audio-visual networks (and so much more) for local companies.
They’re in the business of integrating all of your gear and devices into one, easy to understand control – and making it look fantastic. With Zack on board, Forrester Tech now also services any of your IT, computer or networking needs.
Little did I know, the recording session itself would take me on a walk through Ozarks broadcasting history…
In 1932, a radio-station called KGBX out of St. Joseph, Missouri relocated to Springfield. Twelve years and a frequency change later, the station was acquired by the local paper, the Springfield News & Leader – and a brand new building was erected on North Boonville, designed to look like an oversized jukebox. Unassuming today with the size and scope of modern architecture, the building still stands…and just happens to be Forrester Tech’s address.
Thankfully, rather than gut it, Forrester Tech and FOTH preserved many aspects of the building’s interior – including the high ceilings, the sound-dampening curved wooden walls, the 500-pound studio doors and hardware, even the slant-mounted internal windows that seperated engineers from announcers and performers. For a radio-geek since birth, this was like being invited back in time to toss a few back with Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi. It was hard not to drool.
With all due respect to Auralex and soundproofing companies worldwide, nothing beats the accoustics of a room painstakingly treated with waves of wood. It was absolute honor to record in Forrester Tech’s conference room – one of the two preserved original KGBX studios. Oddly enough, we were recording the commercial for the radio-station that the original KGBX 1260 AM has become: KSGF AM-1260 and FM-104.1. The KGBX FM-105.9 popular across Southwest Missouri today acquired the call-letters in October of 1989.
And you know, there’s something felicitous about a company that specializes in cutting edge technology respecting its history and revering its roots by preserving what was once on the cutting edge in the same community 70 years prior. Today, with new mind-blowing technology thrust upon us with each new iOS update, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come; easy to forget who’s shoulders upon which we stand.
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ForresterTech creates state-of-the-art technology systems that function with the fluidity of thought. Imagine your lighting, curtains, home theater system, surround sound system, thermostat, spa, security system, sprinklers, and countless other elements of your home or office seamlessly integrated into a single, sensible system that’s so easy to understand and manage, you’d swear it was reading your mind.
