Interview with Ted Conrardy, 04/20/2018

SO: My name is Stephanie Ovalle and can you please state your name?

TC: My name is Ted Conrardy.

SO: Okay, Ted. Are you ready to start our interview today about your experiences in UWO?

TC: I certainly am!

SO: hm okay, so we are going to start right now with background questions on where you lived and everything like that. So, can you describe the neighborhood you grew up in, what was like? Can you please describe the different types of ethnicities, the general socioeconomic status, or the relationships to other neighborhoods?

TC: Okay, I grew up in Sheboygan Wisconsin. The,,,uh,,, it was middle class neighborhood, a single family homes, the ethnicities wise, uh it was basically German. Um. Dutch, and that was about it. Okay?

SO: Okay, did you--

TC: Okay, go ahead.

SO: Did you have like any relationships in other neighborhoods like did you have 00:01:00any neighborhood friends like that while you were growing up in Sheboygan?

TC: Uh, no.

SO: No? No.

TC: No.

SO: What were your parents or grandparent's other family members like?

TC: Well my parents, I first of all, I never knew my, uh, my grandparents, uh, my grandmother, well my mother's parents died well before I was born, my father's parents also has died before I was born, so, uh, I did not know my grandparents. My mother and father were very wonderful honestly. Um, they were the type of people that were raising their children they gave us a lot of leash 00:02:00to put it that way. But they also told us that if we made a mistake we were responsible for it. So, uh, you know my, my mother nor either my father ever raised at hand to me. I was always the a called on the carpet and that was because, uh, within in our community--uh-- and while I was growing up, you could basically anywhere in the community and I was asked to stay home one day after school and I was in grade school and I did not and I was called corporate for, so which is, you know, is understandable.

SO: Yeah, I understand and then so what were your routines like growing up in 00:03:00your house, did you have any chores that you had to do or did you have any siblings with you or how was that like?

TC: First of all, the only siblings I had were one brother that was ten years older than I am, and when I was young, he was in high school, and he was a typical brother relationship, there was a lot of harassing.

SO: That sounds like my brother.

TC: While lovingly harassing let me put it that way.

SO: Yeah, laughs.

TC: But at the time I have made middle, it was grade school, my brother was already graduated from college, and was off to the Vietnam War. Could you repeat 00:04:00the other question that you had for me?

SO: Um, what was like growing up in your house, like did you have any memories that you have while you were growing up in your house, in Sheboygan.

TC: Oh! I sure do, Christmas time was always very joyous time within in our household. My parents were as well as myself and brother really loved it. My main memory of that was that my parents put a barrier, a barrier up on both sides on the living room so you could not see into it, and they were, they were decorate the tree like two days before Christmas and on Christmas Eve be eating dinner and the doorbell would ring and the barrier would have to be sheets and 00:05:00if you peaked around the corner from the kitchen to the living room, you would see the Christmas tree was on behind the sheets and that was very very joyful for my parents and brother and myself. Other memories, they were as far as I know the chores that I had if it snowed out I would shovel the snow and it is not because they asked me too, but it was because I was wanted.

SO: Oh my god laughs.

TC: And, and to cut the lawn and that's it. At that time, I had too. But, all the time, I lived in the house. I did not have a power mower, It was a push mower, so I learned how to push a push mower to mow the lawn.

SO: That is what I did too.

TC: Okay.

SO: When I was growing up, that is the--

TC: Uh-huh.

SO: chores like, I had to cut like the lawn, with my push mower and I had a tiny 00:06:00one like compared to the one that my siblings I had like I had the baby one and I would and my dad would be yelling at me if I cut a corner and if I did not do it right and so I understand about the push mower like it is a pain to have one. Laughs.

TC: laughs-- okay, okay. Well in very honestly, I was, I was very strict? And I was anal, so

SO: hmm--

TC: So I would like to see the lines to be parallel with one another, never cut corners, I was like I wanted it to look nice.

SO: hmm--

TC: But the memories with all of the friends I had in the neighborhood that I played with and staying out you know until dusk and, and the to push to the 00:07:00limits on related to how late I would stay out but the of course back then there was no cellphones, it was only landlines and, and my mother or father would always if I was always pushing limit a little bit too much they would always come out and tell me to come out.

SO: hmmm--

TC: So.

SO: So did anyone in your family or sibling attended college, if they did can you explain on how it made you decide to attend a university?

TC: Uh, the what had me decide to attend to go to University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, very honestly it was that my high school girlfriend went there, and I wanted to be there and also they had a great art department, I started out with an art major and it changed over second year to journalism major with an advertising emphasis.

SO: Oh *laughs* so then can you tell me about the schools you attended before 00:08:00you went to Oshkosh. Like can you explain on how the teachers were back then and like--

TC: Oh sure

SO: Like how the students were.

TC: Sure! Uh, the, I went to a catholic grade school, umm, many of the nuns were very very nice and several that were, one would say they were was less nice, let us put that way, um, but that I do have fond memories of going to that school, and, and my mother was very involved with the parish and the, the quite of few things. That helped those memories, to be really solidify those memories. I went to a, I went the, there through first grade through ninth grade. They had a class that I was in had first and only ninth grade class, we went to the half 00:09:00day to the catholic day school and the other half day to public junior high. I went to North High School in Sheboygan. It was very good memories of that and I am still good friends with many of those people.

SO: Really?

TC: I was in Track, and that was it, and that was my only sport.

SO: Okay, so then what were your goals and aspirations as a young person and what was your parent's goals for you?

TC: My goals were, were to get to college, make it to the university, and at 00:10:00that point of time, prior to making my selection of journalism with advertisement emphasis at UWO. It was, you actually my father owned an industrial laundry and my goal was to join his business and I worked for him throughout high school and in fact, I started working for him when I was ten years old because Wisconsin at that time, if you were working for a parent, you could be ten years old and, and physically working.

SO: Can you like explain what you did at your father's job? Or like his business?

TC: Sure! Very, very menial things when I was, before I had my driver's license, 00:11:00and then I started driving truck for him to go to the different industrial, like, driving out to Plymouth to pick up rags and board and sheets. Going to the restaurants and picking up their linens and going to hospitals and picking up their linens. And, I worked for them up until my second year of college and then after that, I was working at the university.

SO: Okay, and then so how did you view high education as the university while you were growing up, was that just your like biggest dream to go to it, so you could have a better life or what is it like because your high school girlfriend was going to UWO?

TC: Oh okay, it was I mean, I viewed University of Wisconsin Oshkosh as a, as a, end to a goal was. After, I graduated. And I mean I do not mean to jump ahead, but it ended up that, after I graduated, I actually didn't, I was not in a form of advertising, but more of a production side versus on the, the account or, or, writer's side of the business, right after I graduated. I mean, my girlfriend played a big part of it, but it was like secondary to my goals of life. Okay.

SO: So then, when did you actually begin to think about college? What is like when, usually like for us now a days you have to start thinking about it by sophomore, sophomore year of high school, or junior year of high school, when did you actually think about going to college?

TC: I actually when I was in junior high. *laughs*

SO: Oh really?! Why is that?

TC: Yeah. Why? Just because, I realized that if I wanted to get to my goals were, I needed to do more than graduate from high school, I needed to get a degree

SO: That is really smart, not a lot of people in my age, like where I went to high school, not a lot of thought of that, oh, I just can get through with a 00:14:00high school degree but like there was a few people to go to a university in my high school so, that is actually interesting that for you to think like that ahead that much of ahead.

TC: Okay.

SO: So then, after you chose the university you wanted to go to, what did your family or others say about you going to college?

TC: Well, then they were very tangent, my high school counselor called my parents and I into her office and that you will never make it.

SO: Oh really?

TC: Yeah, and then my parents did not agree with it nor did I and I, and it was actually of a very goal for me to going to college was to prove her wrong, which I did.

SO: How did you feel that they said that you?

TC: My feelings were about that were okay you are a counselor, but what are you 00:15:00saying? You know how did you know that I will not make it to college? I know I can and I did.

SO: Okay! So then you said you decided to go to UWO because it was, because of your high school girlfriend but were more the most important part that made you decide to go to UWO?

TC: There, there art department, at that point of time, we had quite of few, devoted artists that were professors and the, the art teachers that I had in high school, actually recommended to go there.

SO: How was your art teacher like in high school? Like did he always motivate you to become an art major or did you just decide to become an art major?

TC: He really did not motivate me to be an art major, but I just really loved art, I loved to draw, I loved pottery, I loved creating things out of metal, and there was something that I enjoyed, when I say, I was going to the UWO because their art department, I also at that point of time, I also wanted to be an art teacher. I guess in a way because of my art teacher motivated me, okay.

SO: So then, do you remember the most about your first weeks at school? So how 00:17:00were your classes like, and all of the above?

TC: Oh they was, there, there was a whole bunch of things, first of all, at the welcome to the university, that the, that the, the, administration would put on, we had a streaker that ran across the stage, and that was only the first day of school, which was quite humorous, it was interesting, my Nelson hall, and the which is the welcome center to the university at the building was torn down. At 00:18:00that time, Nelson hall was the corner of Jack Firm, and I got to meet different personalities that I really enjoyed and I had a lot of fun with, my roommate was from Milwaukee, actually from Wauwatosa, and he and I got along marvelously, okay, my classes, my first day of going to classes I had a finger drawing class and the, with what is other naïve, and then didn't realize, that were going to have nude models. Which was a shocker to me, but I actually did very, very well in finger drawing class. And it was not because of the nudity, that it was 00:19:00something I really enjoyed, it was the, the and I think that I was getting an art degree it was actually, a, a combined degree with a, a teaching degree secondary education plus, art minor and, after the first semester, I really decided that I did not want to be a teacher but you know I, I wanted to make it as an artist, so those were the memories of the first week and taking me through the first semester.

SO: So how did you in your semester, were you that student that would get A's or 00:20:00would you that student that was struggling through the semester, how, how, what kind of student were you?

TC: I would say, I was an average student, classes that I struggled with were the education classes and the classes that I excel on that were the art classes. With A's in the art classes and B-'s on the education classes.

SO: Okay, were you not just interested in them, or were they just very difficult, during that time?

TC: I was, as I got into it and I actually lost interest in them.

SO: So--

TC: And they were not difficult.

SO: Is it that's why you decided to change it to journalism since you found 00:21:00interest in that?

TC: Well what convinced me, was that I became an active on the yearbook, in the yearbook, and at that time it was a rather than a hard bound yearbook, it was a, a magazines, a series of slit magazines that came out during the year. And the, the contents were similar to a regular yearbook, but it was very heavy on, very heavy on the human interest stories.

SO: Can you like explain that is? Like the human interest stories or like can you explain--

TC: the year--

SO: Of it, sorry.

TC: That is okay, the human interest were basically what was happening around 00:22:00campus, at the time that I was with them, I, my main focus was on, on the production manager, so that was my main focus. And, at that time, it was big, my job was very on art-oriented. I chose headline type faces that would have a, a field of what the story was about, and yeah that was about it, other than, I was in sense to, at that time the magazines were published by, by a printer at Salt 00:23:00Lake City, and was send out there six times a year to drop off, drop off, the pages and go through what was wanted to get done with them.

SO: So then what classes did you enjoyed the best or which classes do you remember and what were they like and what do you remember out of them?

TC: I did, I actually enjoyed the journalism curriculum classes, and I enjoyed very much the, the general advertising classes, and was not too keen, not too keen on the, the general education classes other than the, the elective sets I 00:24:00was able to choose.

SO: Yeah, no one likes to Gen Eds, like there just a struggle to get through them.

TC: Yeap.

SO: And so then why would you like your advertisement classes the most? Or one of the most?

TC: Well the advertising class, the reason I like the most because achieve further to the, to the I guess you could say that human nature, and what, and what trick people to buy something, and the, also it got me into further into further into design.

SO: Oh, okay, so then the next question would be where did you spend the most of 00:25:00your time in on campus, did you spend it off campus, did you spend it like, like with your friends, or how was that? Where did you spend your fun time at?

TC: The fun time for my freshman year was really spend time involved things in the dorms, we had, we had, a really good time, just listening to music, we used to had, what was called ho-downs were, weird. A bunch of guys during crazy times, I enjoyed, fairly enjoyed the, the, the jokes that we would put on 00:26:00different people like, I don't know if you ever heard of weiners, but they had thirty three and thirty three gallons a tall garbage cans.

SO: No I have not.

TC: We used to fill them with water and leave them against the door and of the somebody's for one will open the door, it would fall down and would wash the floor and in there room's flooding.

SO: Ohhh! That is what happened to my friend a few weeks ago actually.

TC: Okay.

SO: She was really mad about it.

TC: We used to take envelopes, big envelopes on the number, on whatever it is, it was a manila envelopes, and throw them with shaving creams and stuck it underneath their door and drop, break the door and sprayed shaving cream all around the room, We had tiny people in their room and in matter of fact one of 00:27:00us was so sitched had to go into the window because they couldn't get, uh, get the uh, because the door opened again. The hand draws on the inside and they couldn't actually get the hinges on the end, so they had to go through the window and then we did a lot of national things, but there was still. And I jumped to the people who are doing it too.

SO: That's funny, which dorm did you live in then for freshman year?

TC: Nelson Hall

SO: Nelson Hall?

TC: Yeap

SO: Nelson Hall? Which one is it then? We only have five freshman dorms. We have south scott, north Scott, gruenhagen, was gruenhagen made at that time? Or.

TC: Oh No, no. Um, it was still there. Yeah, Stewart hall was still there.

SO: Yeah, Stewart hall still here.

TC: Right. so, we were directly spouse of a, of a on the corner Algoma, which is the main street.

SO: Yeah.

TC: Okay, and what that cross street there was what? We were right across the, uh, across commons.

SO: Oh!

TC: Yeah.

SO: So then, um, were they like the dorms? Were your favorite memories or do you have any other memories of the dorms or is that it?

TC: As I said we did a lot of crazy things and we actually had an RA that we called the sheet and what he would do is he would, he would put a tee shirt over 00:29:00his head, okay, so then it was like not a sheet, Not a whatever they call it. And you are. And he put, put, um, athletic socks over his hand and run over to the women's dorms and cause high, low. He never exposed to what he was wearing.

SO: That's funny, so how was the other student at UWO like, can you like explain, were they like different or were they just like, I don't know like, funny or I don't know how to like describe that, like how were the students likes?

TC: So many different types of course living in Nelson was the athletic, all the 00:30:00ball players and the basketball players and all the athletic people other than the first floor. And I shouldn't say the whole first floor, but the majority of the first floor were football players, basketball players. I mean they were one type, at one group, which I got along with very well protected me several times. Yeah. The other people came from all walks of life. We had several veterans from Vietnam War went on to get their degrees. Uh, we, we had one guy that lived down the hall from me that brought his Harley into his room and, and over the winter, 00:31:00broke it down, claimed it, when I mean broke it down. He took it totally apart and cleaned it. Um, we had a, just a lot of different people that were alive that were a lot of fun.

SO: Okay, so then can you tell me about some of the things you remember about campus life? Like how we're like the events going on. Did you ever go to like any like, um, sporting events and all of that?

TC: Um, I went to a few football games, but not many, the, my focus was more on the artsy side if you will. So, uh, the, uh, the concerts, and I was a member in the concert committee and got to meet a lot of famous artists.

SO: Oh really? Can you, can you name them?

TC: Uh yeah, uh, uh, yeah, clashy? Smashing young. One of the concerts. Um, im 00:32:00trying to think of several others, honestly, the other names, honestly if I could think about it, I can always call you back and give you those names, I remember questions. Crosby, stills. Nash. I'm the most because they were the, they were the most personable people. Um, that actually played some. The other artists were kind of standoffish to students. Um, you still have to walk around as a, as a concert committee member or has it not the client being the gymnasium and we have, we used to walking around with one pound coffee cans and have 00:33:00people put their junks in it because they were smoking in the, in the, in the yeah in the gymnasium. And it was not. First of all, they weren't supposed to be smoking there, they would drop them down through the bleachers onto the floor, it was really a fire hazard.

SO: Oh, yeah definitely.

TC: Yeah. I was a part of the, as I mentioned, I was part of the, uh, of the, uh, at the time it was called the quiver, which was a magazine or a book, and prior to that the yearbook, um, and uh, and uh, ended up in my junior year becoming the editor of the last quiver, last quiver that they had unfortunate, 00:34:00that happens. Um, I had a great group of people that work with me and, and uh, and uh, I shouldn't ask add some tragic moments of being the editor. I had a, a, a young woman that a very, very tough life and I was there over Christmas. In fact, I was there, I did go home anymore and just stayed on campus. Um, like I had a young woman that was so mean that had a tragic life and a sexual committed suicide. Which was very tragic with her, Now I'll never forget her. She was very personable person.

SO: Was she with you during the last quiver? Yearbook, or.

TC: Say again.

SO: Was she working with you during last--

TC: Yes she was a writer for me.

SO: Oh, she was?

TC: Yes. She was a writer and also a poet. Quite a few poems within the last quiver.

SO: Um--

TC: Yeah.

SO: Oh you can just continue.

TC: Okay. Um, my senior year I became the, uh, the first semester I became the managing editor of the advanced titan. Yeah, have a good time every time I think 00:36:00it was I think at that time it came out on a Thursday, so we would work midafternoon through the nights and then I would drive to the ad pages down to Ripon to the clinic record of advanced titan and make sure that we play together properly and would stay there until they have books and they drive back and then they would deliver the paper. But the people that I met there were really wonderful people. We had a senior writer on staff at that, that wrote sarcastic stories and uh, uh, he's actually now a retired by now, but he used to work for 00:37:00the government in Madison.

SO: So, can you describe how your team work during the yearbook and then the advanced titan? Can you describe how your team was like, where they fun, like where they goofy, or where just like a serious group of--

TC: Oh it was, it was, a person was a smatterly of all types of personalities, majority of them they were wonderful people and they were, they were some very, very serious but they were still fun people, it was like that they were prudes but they were very serious about what they did and that was very much 00:38:00appreciated by myself when I was at the, at the last quiver and, and by myself and everybody else when I was at the advanced titan, last quiver and the uh, and the, um, advanced titan won major awards and the two years I was them and not saying it was because of me but the work was put into it.

SO: Can you describe your favorite memories about being in those being an editor for, for those types of clubs that you were a part of?

TC: I just the same as my favorite memory was the last quiver when she came out 00:39:00and the competency gap and people and, and the advanced titan uh, uh, uh, so most memorable saying that when the issues came and the comments we got from the students.

SO: It must feel like an awesome feeling knowing that all that hard work you did. Like everyone's like commending you for it, right?

TC: Yes, Yes.

SO: So then.

TC: It was not just me, it was the staff.

SO: Yeah. so, then you're a part of a fraternity, Sigma, Delta Chi, and I can relate because I'm in a Sorority, I'm in like, I'm in sigma sigma sigma. So, can 00:40:00you tell me how different Greek life was back then and can you tell me about the memories you had in the fraternity?

TC: Sure, Sigma Delta Chi was really not a, it's a fraternity of, um, journalism.

SO: Oh really?

TC: Um, yeah, it's really bad, it has the Greek destination but it's really not a fraternity, okay?

SO: Oh. I was not expecting that actually.

TC: Men and women could be a member of Sigma Delta Chi, and it was very basically professional organization, um, preprofessional organization although, I am still a member of that.

SO: Yeah.

TC: But, um, They had conferences all over the US.

SO: Where would you go for those?

TC: Uh, well she had one of them that was a in Fort Lauderdale, which is a lot, which was a lot of songs and we had another one that was at the University of Indiana, Indiana. Diverse diversity and lynching. And they had various people that spoke at those. At that time, One of them was to. And uh, he at that time, you as an officer, yeah. You know, I'm mispronouncing that. But anyway, you worked for the New York Times and he explained how and honest spokesman, how it was declared to, to, guide the management of the newspaper as far as being one 00:42:00sided or were they being older and at that point and at that during that time frame, most newspapers wrote stories and did not put an editorial one into that, it was just you know news and normally place in editorial, it would be on editorial teams, and so he was basically the person in the New York Times, that was advising management of the paper, whether people are being, uh, you, uh, open or, or, interjecting their stories, that's kinda the thing and it is sad 00:43:00because at least for me because opinion should be left on the editorial section in the editorial section and not stories.

SO: Yeah.

TC: So, and that goes both ways. I'm not just saying that, I'm not just saying that about different political leanings, I'm saying about this is in sense, just readings for people to have, if you are writing a story, just write the right story, who, what, where, when, and why. That's it.

SO: Okay, so then what was social like then back then, and then did you have any 00:44:00relationships at UWO? And I know you said that, one of the reasons you went to UW Oshkosh it's just because of your high school girlfriend went there, did you guys ended up getting married or did you guys break up or how did that work out?

TC: Um, we dated throughout college.

SO: Oh really?

TC: We did not get married, um, but anyway, then your question about what were people like?

SO: No what was social life like?

TC: oh, what was social life, let's see? Tosh's, Is Tosh's still there?

SO: No, I haven't heard that.

TC: it was a, it was a, a, a beer bar that right across the street from 00:45:00Gruenhagen, and two highlights and it was right across the street.

SO: It's I think it's called like Kelly's that one is by Gruenhagen.

TC: Okay, after, after, uh changed the drinking age twenty one alcohol? No alcohol.

SO: Yeah

TC: Not beer, hard alcohol. Changed it to twenty one and that was in my junior high, but we spent a lot of times down on main street of the, of the, Oshkosh. Spend on going to the bars and uh, beyond that, going to movies at the student union and just hanging out.

SO: Yeah, did you have like the same friend group like as when you started 00:46:00freshman year or was it like always changing since you were involved with a lot of clubs?

TC: It was basically a from year one's and year four, and it was the same group of people that I hung around with, were their other people that joined that group, yes there would, and there was much fun when I was there.

SO: So, then I did a little research and I saw that in 1971. The university celebrated the 100th anniversary. Can you tell me how that was and what went on during that time?

TC: Um, honestly, I can't, I don't even remember.

SO: Oh really?

TC: I really do not remember, I think it was also 1971 that it changed from 00:47:00Wisconsin State University to University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

SO: Was that like important, like was that like a huge stepping stone or was it just like, it just changed the name.

TC: for the university, for UW Oshkosh, it was a big stepping stone, because as a state university was you know the same accreditation that was back when they become, became a University of Wisconsin.

SO: And then could you possibly tell me any historical events that were happening during this time around? Anything has struck out to you?

TC: Students strikes.

SO: Was there?

TC: Not strikes, but uh demonstrations, they were all against the, uh, the war 00:48:00in Vietnam, Streaking was a big thing, such thing, uh, for the first few years, and honestly I was just too busy soaking up a university life at that point in time, so I'm learning the ropes, so there are many other things that I recall as it related to historical events.

SO: So then how did you feel once you finished college? What did you want to do after receiving your bachelors degree?

TC: I went there to get a job in a newspaper production, which I did. I apply to go the east coast with my resumes. Because of those, it was because of my girlfriend actually. The reason for that was because of my girlfriend because she wanted to, she was a, she had a teaching degree and she wanted to go into getting a degree and, and I forget what exactly it was, disability certain disability. She wanted to get a degree in that and the best school in US was in Massachusetts. But anyway, I blanketed east coast, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, Maryland and I, there was recently a temporary states and ended up 00:50:00getting four interviews out there and just getting three offers a. and uh, uh, which was unheard at that time because the economy wasn't that great and that at any rate, I ended up choosing a, have a newspaper slash a advertising company in, in Holyoke. No I am sorry, no yeah, Holyoke Massachusetts.

SO: Then you said the job market, was the job market bad since the economic, like the economy was terrible back then, was it hard to find like this job or was it just easy for you to since of how much experience you had in your resume?

TC: based on, the experience I had being on both the, uh, the last quiver and 00:51:00the advanced titan, it was quite easy, because I only send out six resumes and got, uh,

SO: Four wasn't it?

TC: Uh,, what was it?

SO: Four, but you just said it was three never mind.

TC: No actually, I said four the first time, but it was actually three.

SO: Oh okay

TC: Okay, but you know it was pretty easy for me, I know a lot of people that it was not easy for a business majors, not a much a demand at that time. Teaching 00:52:00majors were not much in demand at that time because probably at that probably fifty percent of the students at the university where teaching or were going to get teaching majors.

SO: wasn't that Oshkosh is still known as this, but wasn't it back then known as like a teacher's college? Pretty much.

TC: Before it was University of Wisconsin, before it was Wisconsin State University, it was actually just a teacher's college. That's all with it. That's how it started and part of that tradition carried over when it became a Wisconsin State University and ofcourse continued with University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The issue though was that it wasn't just the number of teachers that graduated from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, University of Wisconsin 00:53:00system, they were just ton of teachers that were graduating at that time.

SO: Yeah, and then so how did you feel that UWO prepared you for life after college and if so, how did it prepare you for your life or for your career?

TC: It was my first job it prepared me, actually for all my jobs very well, probably because I chose journalism. Okay. My first jobs were within, journalism slash advertising. Uh, I became a production manager for this newspaper, uh, slash, advertising company in, in Holyoke. From there I moved back to my hometown in Sheboygan and I became the advertising copywriter for a, the major, 00:54:00uh, manufacturers in Sheboygan and that, that's a lot of time, not only reading, but also a breaded copy for the catalog because I got very involved within the design and the photography within the catalog. I got very involved at that time as a, as a sales meeting manager, a coordinator actually. Um, and I put together a, a audio visual presentations for the sales meetings and coordinated with the locations that we were at convention, uh, managers. Sure. Everything was set up 00:55:00and ready for us. Um, from there I, uh, went out to Massachusetts and I became a, a sales manager for a coffee company. Actually, quite a famous coffee company. Was chemics a, which is the next coffee bags. Is that the shape of an old glass? And there was a manual, a manual drip, a you had to call the hot water into it. From there I moved to. Oh No, actually I met my current wife when that we should Massachusetts. Uh, she was going to University of Massachusetts Amherst. But anyway, uh, from there, uh, from, being back, being back in 00:56:00Massachusetts. From there I moved to Terre Haute, Indiana. Terrible Haute, Indiana and I worked for a manufacturing there and I became a product product manager, of all things Why would I get into marketing slash product management? Well, what they taught me in journalism, a, the five ws, who, what, where, when, and why. And that very much applies to products. What are you bucketing it to? What is that product product? When is it going to go to market? Where you know is it just a regional or is it a national product or an international product. 00:57:00And why? The why is what the unique selling proposition of that particular product is . But um, I was with them for 17 years, started out as a product manager and became their senior product manager and the other product managers plus the staff support people that reported to me, um, I went to, of all places, a liquid gel, Illinois and I originally was not going to go there. They, a company that I worked for or that I went to was that time. It was killing people and for some reason I got a call two years after that time I said, no, I'm not interested. Then I started getting calls from the president to the company 00:58:00saying, well, why don't you come up just coming to visit. And I started down and we had a, a while. I was at a general hosters. The, the presidents had resigned to go to another company and I ended up working directly for the chairman of the board.

SO: Oh really?

TC: Yeah. And she was locked out as not out in Connecticut, which is where the corporate headquarters at time and thoroughly enjoyed working with him. A gentleman, a gentleman, Jack Marrow, his key phrase. He's said to me was if we 00:59:00got an issue with the customer and they still didn't, these ted, what goes around comes around and that praise and so crude and it's the crude throughout my life. But anyway, uh, she ended up hiring a president after a year of working for him. Well, actually, after two years of working, he product clients that I was responsible were for the high-end science, but they were very niche oriented. you wouldn't even know what you need to know because they haven't been 01:00:00around for years now. But uh, he wanted to go, do you want us to advertise on national TV advertising campaign that was going into select pop publications like a cook's magazine places where the people who read them would be very interesting though. Um, and he put me in charge of research that basically to me, right. If I can graphic breakdown, I was my product lines. Um, and, and instead that breakdown basically says that you need to advertise in publications who were advertising. It would be wasted money to go on TV with regional. The 01:01:00only thing that we do on TV would be a, I can't remember the shows, put it onto the price is right. The product was shown or we were simply a sponsorship where we just got a mention. We did not have to pay anything, but give them a product, we did have a product that was very successful for the product line. So, when I decided to read there was because we had sales reps when I worked there and we went to company direct reps. Direct reps could not handle what had to be done 01:02:00with a product line. We did a lot of in store demonstrations and demonstrators and all of the reps that had been my, you didn't have their own demonstrators or they contract with demonstrators. Okay. For our reps find somebody to contact. I mean, I that well, I lost know and um, and that's fine I ended up resigning after I had gotten another call. Some will. So, when you're wondering, well, what is the roadmap? I got another call from Will and they said, why don't you just come up and talk to us? Which I did. I did. And my wife went along as a, 01:03:00well, it was a whole weekend. They had a railroad that took us around and so on and so forth. After the weekend, before we left, I said, well, think about when I got back to actually within two days I, a general administrator leaving are seeking a job with a job. Well, I was a senior product manager, uh, and then I became a senior product development manager with them and that's when I started traveling and traveling the world basically because I wasn't in my travels to Europe. I've traveled to Asia, and it's not just one or two times with a five to 01:04:00two year, three weeks per year. Um, and I went on to ask about, you know, after I went to progressive national in Seattle, Washington area, I was the director of merchandising, which they should basically product manager purchasing. And so there went back and I salted. And from there I went to a very small, uh, 01:05:00company, uh, and I was their director of development and all the time I was traveling to, to, uh, shoot runner up. My current job after that was a company called ignite in Chicago and I always have operations and our main customer was starbucks and we got all their thermal as another supplier that they had a, those cracks were, they claimed most successful that they ever had, but because of the size of the company and because of policies that they instituted a and 01:06:00besides I've talked to the, the, the profit sales and profit and helping other customers and because they were additional customer, we lost that business because it was looked at as a, my mind just went blank.

SO: That's fine

TC: Yeah, I'll put it that way because if we lost them or if we went to our cashflow is bad, they would lose us as a company is like that they wanted to established companies. So anyway, uh, so I went, but typically we, when I joined 01:07:00the company or was $600,000 a year and when I left the company a lot at the height of the company while I was there, we were $28,000,000,000 a year. And of that $20 million, $25 million was, was with Starbucks.

SO: Oh Wow.

TC: It was a big deal for us. So anyway, yes, I've worked for several other companies and I've consulted overtime all its product development, marketing.

SO: Okay, so then have you had much involvement in UWO since you graduated?

TC: Involvement with the university, I have not. No, I've been asked to do several things and I had to decline just because I just started the travel that 01:08:00I did and also the time constraints that additions I had on

SO: Okay, and then so what are your thought about UWO now since you've been here, since you've gone here?

TC: It is good, it's great I honestly don't know the student populations of today but when I was there it was 18,000.

SO: It is, uh 16,000, last time I heard it was 16,000

TC: So, it has shrunk a bit,

SO: Yeah

TC: but, it's still growing. I mean I think what they're doing with the university was to the new building that they're putting up or I guess Fletcher just it was renovated.

SO: Yeah Fletcher was renovated so was, do you remember about reeve union?

TC: That's the, the, yes, yes, yes, yes.

SO: It just got renovated more too.

TC: We did a nasty story, story on the last quiver, of the director of reeve union.

SO: Oh really.

TC: Yeah, it was because of a waste of student money

SO: Yeah, a lot of students thought about the same things when they were renovating this.

TC: Yeah, this guy was wasting money on his office.

SO: Oh!

TC: He put a remote-control blinds in his office to the crew and have something like $35,000, but still it was money that was coming from the students, and you 01:10:00know, you just get some drapes with a pull cord, automatic, automatic blinds. But anyway.

SO: This is our last question now, so what advice would you give to your current student's now.

TC: My advice to the current students now it is do everything that you can, live the life of a university student, that doesn't mean not studying, it means taking the time to join the university because after you get out, real life begins. Real life is good, as long as he you have done well, and uh real life could bad if you have not done well.

SO: Yeah, I just wanna say thank you so much for doing this interview and it 01:11:00means so much for you to tell about your life story, for you to tell me about your time here in the university.

TC: Okay, it was my pleasure.