Our Speaker at the April meeting was Don Dempson who spoke to us about the logistics of overseeing the television coverage of the Calgary Stampede.

He has up to 70 people working on the television coverage which is timed to the seconds. His role has been to coordinate with Stampede staff and outside broadcast groups including CBC, TSN, ESPN, Global TV, the Wrangler Network and Cowboy Channel.  As the TV director, Don oversees the action and controls the production flow for host broadcasting (through their network programming and streaming services) to the on-site Superboard screens seen by the 20,000 spectators at the rodeo. At any one time, there can be upwards of 50-70 people who are following the scripts and direction that comes through Don in the booth.

In addition to being a founding Member of our Probus Club, Don is our unofficial historian, a signing authority on our accounts at the bank and a celebrated organizer of Special Events for our Club such as the wine tour to the Okanagan and the tour to Haida Gwaii.

Don is a special person to our club and many of our Members!

Al MacDonald