Did I Sign Up For That?

There's this thing (I don't know what else to call it) that pops up on my mobile phone every day called 'On This Day', where it gives me photos I took on that particular day through the years. It doesn't bother me, I kinda like it, I just don't remember signing up for it.

Today a photo dated 4/19/2011 popped up that gave me a little memory anxiety. It was a picture of me and Dr. Steve Boone with Disney's & Animal Planet's tv host, biologist and wildlife conservationist Jeff Corwin (Photo attached). As the Director of the Performing Arts Series at University of Central Missouri and a professional presenter, I was tasked with helping bring in speakers to campus, from authors to Supreme Court Justices to astronauts. It made sense - I helped create a new university speaking/performance contract, my office managed the campus ticketing system, and my student employees were trained in crowd control, emergency procedures and staging. During my 10 years of presenting I met a lot of celebrities, and I've always said that most of them were very nice people, easy to work with and very gracious folks. But there's always that 10%, right? Enter Jeff Corwin.

I had worked with his agent, negotiated the contract and helped prepare for his speaking engagement at the science building on campus. When I picked him up that day at the airport, I quickly got this vibe from him; you know, like, I'm important, you are not, type of thing. Little did I know the angst he would cause me that day.

First, it seemed he was not particularly impressed with his accommodations, so I tried to make him feel comfortable, but then he threw something at me from left field. He said he received a call from his agent, they wanted him to record a commercial and get it to New York, that day! The guy was lucky that I was a radio DJ - I took him to the station, recorded his commercial and emailed it to ABC Studios in New York. Fairly easy for me, but precious time out of my busy day. But then came the big one - he says, "Oh, by the way, I have to do a conference call with an elementary school in Massachusetts at 10am, so I will need a quiet room with a conference phone." Now, this was definitely not in his contract, and way beyond what I would call a courtesy accommodation. Here's where you ask, did you do it? Of course I did, I was considered the fixer (I just now made that up). I did have to make some phone calls to secure a conference room with a speakerphone that had an outside line, I got him set up for the 10am call and away he went.

This is when Jeff Corwin made it onto my naughty list of what I termed Prima Donnas/Primo Uomos - essentially, celebrities who believe they're more important than others and expect to be treated accordingly; redefining high maintenance. My list was short, as most were delightful to work with. Corwin, not so much. By the time we reached his speech in the science auditorium later that day, I was done.

Now I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me - I loved my job and I got to meet some very cool humans. Jeff Corwin was just not one of those.

Hope you enjoyed my little trip down Jeff's memory lane - I have a lot more where that came from. Lucky you.

Cheers,

Jaggy Jeff®

P.S. That's my fake smile