What Are The Odds-Twist of Fate Story....Calling All The Media in on This One!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Courtesy of Marge Beaver-Aerial Pilot and Past Guest of LakeFront Radio http://photography-plus.com/ an integral person to this great story.

You are not going to believe this story! This is the perfect blend of What are the Odds, Twist Of Fate, Networking and a Ship that is Registered as a National Historic Landmark! It brings together 4 Businesses from 4 States across the USA.

1. LakeFront Radio - www.lakefrontradio.com 

2. HARO Help A Reporter Out - www.helpareporterout.com 

3. Photography Plus - www.photography-plus.com

4. Navy Pier - www.navypier.com

It all began with the Hosts of the LakeFront Radio Show, Yours Truly, Chuck & Mary Thompson celebrating their 25th Anniversary on July 23, 2008.

They were married on Navy Pier in Chicago, Il on The SS Clipper Ship that was once docked there. (Chuck served our Country in Viet Nam in the Navy on a Destroyer Ship, so this made for a perfect place to Wed)

They thought how great it would be to interview Navy Pier during the week of their anniversary.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

1. What are the odds that we would start our own radio show 25 years after we were married and do well enough to "Score" an interview with Navy Pier, the place where we were married.

**Turns out Navy Pier thought this would make for an interesting show, with us having had some history on their Pier.**

2. Now comes the really interesting part. We interview Delores Robinson-Asst. PR Director for Navy Pier and we ask her if she knows what happened to the SS Clipper Ship. Last we knew it left the dock many years ago and we thought it was scrapped due to its age. It was an old Steamer Ship that was built BEFORE the TITANIC in the early 1900's.

3. She proceeds to tell us the history and story of "Our Wedding Ship" that blew us away. It was a museum before we were married on the ship. In 1983, just a few months after we were married, SHE was listed on the National Register of Historic Sites.

4. In 1990 SHE left Navy Pier, the same year we moved from Chicago to Georgia!  In 1989 she was designated a National Historic Landmark. She once was a luxury passenger ship between Buffalo New York and Duluth Minnesota. SHE was renamed the Milwaukee Clipper Ship after she moved in 1990, so it was hard to track her down, but Navy Pier did!

5. SHE was moved to Indiana and then moved back again to Muskegon Michigan after a 20 year absence. She was refurbished there and this is her home today. 

 We were very happy to hear that Our Ship survived and was alive and well in Muskegon.....

TWIST OF FATE .....

The story is far from over......When Delores told us the ship was now in Muskegon, we were shocked as we had interviewed Marge Beaver (the 73 year old aerial photographer) just a few weeks prior on our show and guess where she lives and works? Muskegon! Plus Marge had taken beautiful photos of Navy Pier and all of the Great Lakes in her travels.

So we contact Marge and ask her if by chance she knows The SS Clipper, now The Milwaukee Clipper.

She not only knows the Clipper Ship she had taken photos of it while it was being refurbished....The Photo you see above.

This is quite a shock to us both, we never thought we would see Our Wedding Ship Again!

NETWORKING & MEDIA

So this could be the end of a truly great story where all the "STARS" align so to speak, BUT it is not over yet!

You might wonder.....If we are a Radio Show in Atlanta, how did we hook up with an aerial photographer in Muskegon, Michigan of all places....Enter HARO..Help A Reporter Out.

Peter Shankman a well known PR and Networking Business man and Author started this website out in November, now almost 20,000 members strong. This is a FREE service for the MEDIA, PR Agencies and regular FOLK across the World.

It is very simple, you sign up, if you are the Media, you enter a short description of the type of publication you represent and the story you are writing or reporting about and the type of sources you need. That is it. As a member you get 3 emails a day from Peter (deadlines make this necessary) and then you read the emails and decide if you or your client or your friend, neighbor, whomever is right for the story. You contact the media source and you are off and running "Get Sourced, Get Quoted, Get Famous" is there motto.

We here at LakeFront Radio use this source since we are the "media" and this is where we were able to hook up with Marge. If it were not for HARO, we would never have met Marge and of course we would have never been able to get photos of our "Wedding Ship"...The Milwaukee Clipper.

We would have known from Navy Pier where SHE was, but to have someone who can supply us with an awesome photo and print of our Ship just makes our 25th Anniversary that much more special and unbelievable!

BUT the story is not quite over.....HARO..... is in the news because they are now becoming serious rivals of PROFNET, who has a similar service, but who charges sources a pretty penny to be a member. So this is going to be an ongoing story as PROFNET's  PROFIT.....will be shrinking soon with Peters growing membership.

By the way some of his clients include: CNN News, USA Today, New York Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Major TV News Stations, etc.

OKAY, the story is NOW over, except to add icing to our "Wedding Cake"  Mary & Chuck were just written up in their local Gainesville Times Newspaper about their Radio Show....so all is good with the world. See story here:

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/7440/

Thank you Marge, Delores and Peter for your wonderful part in this story! You will always be a part of our lives from this point forward in a very special way.

I think this story is one that should be shared with the PRESS. Why? Because it includes a Happy Ending, Great Businesses, Wonderful People, Networking that WORKS and that wonderful entrepreneurial spirit that makes this Country Great!

God Bless You All and God Bless America!