Media Frenzy

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

lagniappemobile.com

This fine publication has been rolling along now for three-and-a-half years, and during that time, we’ve managed to pay almost no attention to our Web site. That has officially changed as of now.

We believe the long-term future of publications is on the Web, and that means our lame former site wasn’t going to get the job done. So, you’re probably wondering what’s going to be so great about the new lagniappemobile.com. The short answer is this — more.

Yes, all of the same articles that appear in the print version will be on the Web, but we’re going to begin providing additional “Web only” content. That means more columns and other tidbits on our “off” weeks, for starters. But the Web gives us the chance to do more than that. Eventually, we hope to see almost daily changes to the site.

The immediacy and lack of space constraints on the Web give us opportunities to provide our readers with new features and as we grow and have more resources, we’ll have the ability to offer those new features.

We hope lagniappemobile.com will eventually become a site people in Mobile and on the Eastern Shore check daily. Give it a look today and be sure to check in soon.

Toy trickster

She may not be the Grinch who stole Christmas, but it seems a Mississippi woman was at least the “Grinch who messed up a fundraiser for children.” WABB morning show hosts Matt, Jay and Cherish say they were recently duped by someone who apparently thought a charity fundraiser was an opportunity to play a practical joke.

While on air auctioning off a Fender guitar signed by band members from Saliva and Trapt last week, two callers got into a rather intense bidding war. The WABB morning show team does an on-air auction every year to benefit Toys for Tots. They also do a “rooftop” toy drive, staying atop their Springhill Avenue building for several days until they reach a goal of 10,000 toys donated.

Last week, a woman who said her name was Patty and that she was from Mississippi and a man who identified himself as a truck driver, began driving the price of the guitar higher and higher. Host Matt McCoy said the bidding started getting higher and higher, so they put them on the air together.

“They kept going back and forth. He finally said he was willing to go to $50,000 and she then said she would go to $65,000,” McCoy said. “We gave her every opportunity to back out and say no. But she told us her mouth didn’t write a check her butt couldn’t cash.”

McCoy said Patty told them she would have a cashier’s check delivered to the station by 1 p.m. that day. Considering the fact that the previous best bid for one of the guitars was $3,500 for one autographed by Kid Rock, McCoy said they were extremely excited. He called other media organizations and a couple of television stations sent reporters to cover Patty bringing the check. Also on hand were representatives from the Marines and Toys for Tots. But Patty never showed.

McCoy says they called her and she said she was at her accountant’s office trying to get the money, and that it was a bit more complicated than she had anticipated. She told them she would bring the check the following morning at 11. The next morning at 11:10, McCoy says they were standing in the parking lot waiting and called Patty. She told them she was pulling into the lot as they spoke. Figuring she was in the back of the building, they headed back there. No Patty. McCoy says they ran back to the front of the building, but she wasn’t there. She hasn’t answered her cell phone again.

McCoy says he has since tried to call the truck driver again, but hasn’t been able to get him on the phone. The thought has crossed his mind that the two may have been working together to dupe the radio hosts and their audience.

“I can’t understand why anyone would do something like that,” McCoy said.

McCoy says some listeners have e-mailed accusing the station of a hoax designed to get attention, but he says the station would never consider such tactics when dealing with a children’s charity.

McCoy says when they went on the air the following day and told listeners about the situation, the results were pleasantly surprising. Many listeners called, donating money to Toys for Tots. Allstate Employee Services of Pensacola gave $5,000 for the guitar and the station’s rooftop sit was its most successful ever. McCoy said they were able to get 10,201 toys between Thursday at noon and Saturday at 1 p.m.

“Whatever her goal was, it totally backfired,” he said.

McCoy says that in 10 years of raising money and toys for Toys for Tots, the station has never had anything like this happen.

“We’re not through with her,” he said. “We want her to have to do community service. This is fraud that she’s committed.”

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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