1 00:00:05,810 --> 00:00:08,990 Intro: A production of Pioneer Utility Resources. 2 00:00:09,140 --> 00:00:16,100 StoryConnect, helping communicators discover ideas to shape their stories and connect with their customers. 3 00:00:16,190 --> 00:00:21,140 Andy Johns: What are some things we can learn from 31 years in the utility communications space? 4 00:00:21,170 --> 00:00:24,110 That's what we'll be talking about on this episode of The StoryConnect Podcast. 5 00:00:24,110 --> 00:00:31,190 My name is Andy Johns, your host with Pioneer, and I'm joined on this special episode by Mike Teegarden, who is editorial director 6 00:00:31,190 --> 00:00:33,950 at Pioneer. Mike, thanks so much for joining me. 7 00:00:34,100 --> 00:00:35,570 Mike Teegarden: Thanks for having me, Andy. 8 00:00:36,110 --> 00:00:38,810 Andy Johns: So, like I said, it's kind of a special episode. 9 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,150 Mike is headed towards retirement. 10 00:00:41,180 --> 00:00:46,310 You can see the sunset that he's riding off into in his utility communications career. 11 00:00:46,340 --> 00:00:48,920 Mike, I'll just hit some of the the basics of that. 12 00:00:48,950 --> 00:00:55,430 After a career in newspapers in the early 90s in Idaho and California, 13 00:00:56,630 --> 00:01:01,830 Mike came to Pioneer right at about 31 years ago. 14 00:01:02,100 --> 00:01:08,220 He's worked at a couple of different roles at Pioneer, usually as a photography extraordinaire. 15 00:01:08,220 --> 00:01:11,580 And that's, you know, all of those pieces are what we're going to get into. 16 00:01:11,610 --> 00:01:19,140 The last few years of Mike's tenure here, he's been the editorial director, overseeing all the electric magazines and 17 00:01:19,140 --> 00:01:21,060 editorial production that we do at Pioneer. 18 00:01:21,090 --> 00:01:23,190 So, Mike, congratulations. 19 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:24,630 Mike Teegarden: Thank you very much. 20 00:01:24,990 --> 00:01:26,760 It's exciting. 21 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:28,650 Andy Johns: Yeah. I'm sure. 22 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,150 I'm sure, it's a whole mixture of emotions. 23 00:01:30,150 --> 00:01:34,260 There's all sorts of stuff going into that, I guess. 24 00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:35,910 Let's start with the fun stuff. 25 00:01:35,940 --> 00:01:38,550 What's the plan for retirement? 26 00:01:38,580 --> 00:01:40,920 A lot of pickleball, some golf, I imagine. 27 00:01:40,950 --> 00:01:42,390 Mike Teegarden: Little pickleball, little golf. 28 00:01:43,590 --> 00:01:47,220 I actually have a job working part time in a pickleball gym. 29 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:52,380 And so I plan to continue doing that. 30 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:59,150 I'll still be a photographer as opportunities present. 31 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,800 I'll be able to pursue personal projects that I haven't had time or energy for. 32 00:02:04,490 --> 00:02:07,790 I don't really have any other real hard plans. 33 00:02:07,790 --> 00:02:15,470 I'm going to enjoy, you know, the last couple of years of my kids college and being able to spend time with them 34 00:02:15,470 --> 00:02:20,420 before they rush off and start their adult lives. 35 00:02:20,420 --> 00:02:23,330 So, yeah, it's nothing hard and fast. 36 00:02:23,330 --> 00:02:26,240 I'm going to kind of see where the wind blows me. 37 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:28,250 Andy Johns: Well, that sounds like a good start. 38 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,380 Spending some time in the pickleball gym. 39 00:02:30,380 --> 00:02:31,760 That's great. 40 00:02:31,790 --> 00:02:33,080 You mentioned photography. 41 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:38,810 Let's start there because that's where you started, and you've seen it changed, I imagine, you know, early 90s, you guys were 42 00:02:38,810 --> 00:02:42,650 developing it in the darkroom with the chemicals and all that. 43 00:02:42,650 --> 00:02:46,280 And then it's moved into, you know, digital. 44 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:47,860 And then now it's moved into AI. 45 00:02:47,860 --> 00:02:50,750 I mean, there's all kinds of changes that have been to photography. 46 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:59,250 But I think when we were talking before, before we hit the record button, you know, there's a big difference 47 00:02:59,250 --> 00:03:03,240 between photography and good photography. 48 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,240 Tell us a little bit about what the difference is between the two. 49 00:03:06,750 --> 00:03:14,640 Mike Teegarden: Yeah. Well that's a fair comparis.on I think, I tell people the difference between a professional 50 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:19,620 photographer and an amateur photographer is an amateur photographer will see something interesting. 51 00:03:19,620 --> 00:03:21,360 They'll go up, and they'll take a picture. 52 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:27,210 And they'll look at their camera, because we can do that now, and they'll say, "Oh, look, I got it in focus. 53 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:28,680 It's exposed right. 54 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:29,880 I nailed it. I'm done. 55 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:36,300 I'm out of here." And a professional will come in, and they'll shoot that photo, the same photo, and then they'll walk around to 56 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:42,480 the left side, and they'll shoot some photos from that side, and then they'll walk around behind, and they'll keep shooting. 57 00:03:42,990 --> 00:03:48,450 And they'll keep trying different things until they get something that is extraordinary. 58 00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:57,270 It's not any, I mean, it's really about the time they put into making that photo and going the extra mile to 59 00:03:57,270 --> 00:03:59,800 take it from ordinary to extraordinary. 60 00:04:00,010 --> 00:04:04,810 And really I think anyone is capable of doing that. 61 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,710 We just have to remember that it takes effort and put that time in. 62 00:04:09,790 --> 00:04:12,310 Andy Johns: Let's talk about that effort and time. 63 00:04:12,460 --> 00:04:20,140 Can you remember some times where it took extraordinary effort or any particular shots or setups 64 00:04:20,140 --> 00:04:27,460 where you had to kind of put in that extraordinary effort to get there and get the shot? 65 00:04:27,490 --> 00:04:33,040 I mean, I know, you know, you've shot stuff from the Pacific Northwest all the way down to Guatemala. 66 00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:34,300 You know, all over the place. 67 00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:39,940 But what are some times, if you can recall, that just took that extra effort to to really get that extraordinary shot? 68 00:04:40,060 --> 00:04:42,940 Mike Teegarden: Yeah. So, you know, one comes to mind. 69 00:04:43,630 --> 00:04:48,280 Years ago, we were doing a story on wind turbines in the Columbia Gorge. 70 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:54,410 And we wanted to photograph Jeff Davis at one of the wind farms. 71 00:04:54,950 --> 00:04:59,510 But we didn't just want an ordinary photo of of him standing in the field with the wind farms. 72 00:04:59,510 --> 00:05:06,170 I wanted to photograph him with that blue light, that early morning blue light. 73 00:05:06,500 --> 00:05:13,760 So we convinced him to meet us at, like, five in the morning out in a cold farm 74 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,570 field with the wind turbines, just us. 75 00:05:17,570 --> 00:05:25,190 And I brought some battery powered lights with me, and we were out there just freezing cold. 76 00:05:25,220 --> 00:05:25,820 Andy Johns: I bet. 77 00:05:25,820 --> 00:05:32,870 Mike Teegarden: And he was, and we brought a chair with us so he could have kind of a prop to use to put his foot up. 78 00:05:32,870 --> 00:05:36,320 And it was really cool. 79 00:05:36,770 --> 00:05:39,530 And we ended up with a wonderful photo. 80 00:05:39,710 --> 00:05:41,870 And we ran it really large. 81 00:05:41,870 --> 00:05:45,830 He really liked it, and that effort made it worth it. 82 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:48,320 Andy Johns: Sounds like it. 83 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:54,870 That's a good transition into the next point, which is about storytelling in general, whether it's the effort that goes into 84 00:05:54,870 --> 00:05:58,770 the photography side or into the the writing side of it. 85 00:05:59,010 --> 00:06:03,060 Why does storytelling matter in the utility communication space? 86 00:06:03,150 --> 00:06:07,290 You know, have you seen any changes in 31 years? 87 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:15,270 I know so much of what's true about storytelling, whether it's photography and visual communications or text is 88 00:06:15,270 --> 00:06:17,220 true no matter the medium, no matter the era. 89 00:06:17,220 --> 00:06:24,690 But what are some of the changes that you've seen in storytelling, and why does storytelling still matter in in 90 00:06:24,690 --> 00:06:26,400 utility communications? 91 00:06:26,970 --> 00:06:34,350 Mike Teegarden: Yeah. Well, you know, when I first started, we kind of had a formula in the magazine with storytelling, and this was Ruralite 92 00:06:34,350 --> 00:06:37,110 magazine, which was the only magazine we did at the time. 93 00:06:37,110 --> 00:06:44,850 And every utility, pretty much every single one, ran a feature story on someone in their community. 94 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,100 It didn't have anything to do with electricity. 95 00:06:47,130 --> 00:06:51,130 It was just someone in the community who did something interesting. 96 00:06:51,730 --> 00:06:53,350 Maybe they were a volunteer. 97 00:06:53,350 --> 00:06:56,380 Maybe they collected ceramic frogs. 98 00:06:56,380 --> 00:06:59,650 Maybe they built dugout canoes, right? 99 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,290 I mean, you just never knew what you were going to get. 100 00:07:02,770 --> 00:07:05,560 But it was always a story about someone in the community. 101 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:13,330 And that was the enticement of the readers to pick up the magazine and 102 00:07:13,330 --> 00:07:16,930 look inside and see what one of their neighbors was doing. 103 00:07:17,650 --> 00:07:19,900 And it works really well. 104 00:07:19,900 --> 00:07:26,320 It's still a really good way to get people to pick up the magazine and look inside. 105 00:07:26,980 --> 00:07:34,870 And it's not that the utility industry isn't exciting and interesting, but for some people, it 106 00:07:34,870 --> 00:07:37,810 may not be enough to get them to pick that magazine up. 107 00:07:37,900 --> 00:07:45,880 So with these human interest stories, the neighbors, their friends, it gets them to pick up the magazine, and they're 108 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:50,330 reading that, and then they're turning pages, and they're seeing the safety stories. 109 00:07:50,330 --> 00:07:52,100 They're seeing the industry stories. 110 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:55,100 They're seeing the stories about rates. 111 00:07:55,100 --> 00:07:59,990 They're seeing the stories about elections and board meetings and annual meetings. 112 00:07:59,990 --> 00:08:03,800 And they're absorbing that information as well in the process. 113 00:08:04,550 --> 00:08:08,330 And through the years, we've seen a little bit of a trend. 114 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:16,100 Some utilities are spending more of their focus on the industry stories, and they're not 115 00:08:16,100 --> 00:08:18,860 doing as much with those human interest stories. 116 00:08:19,220 --> 00:08:23,810 And I think that's maybe a mistake. 117 00:08:23,810 --> 00:08:28,640 I'd like to see more of that human interest element in their communications. 118 00:08:29,540 --> 00:08:36,320 I just think it's important that we continue to have that touch point with our our members, our readers. 119 00:08:36,620 --> 00:08:38,870 They want to know who their neighbors are. 120 00:08:38,870 --> 00:08:42,530 And, you know, we've heard how many newspapers are closing. 121 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,060 Every day a newspaper closes or 2 or 3 close. 122 00:08:46,060 --> 00:08:50,920 And so there's no one in that community documenting what's going on. 123 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:58,870 And our magazines have become the only voice in town sometimes for what's going on and the only way of 124 00:08:58,870 --> 00:09:00,430 documenting that history. 125 00:09:00,430 --> 00:09:05,110 And so I think that's something we don't want to lose. 126 00:09:05,260 --> 00:09:07,810 And I know our readers love it. 127 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:15,040 You know, we still get calls today, "My aunt or my uncle was in the magazine in 1964. 128 00:09:15,070 --> 00:09:21,700 Do you think you could find a copy of that and send it to me?" And it's just, it's amazing. 129 00:09:21,850 --> 00:09:29,560 And of course, we don't have the printed copies that we can send them, but we have copies that we can photocopy and send 130 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:32,290 them. And they're so happy. 131 00:09:32,290 --> 00:09:33,880 They love seeing their family. 132 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,130 They love being able to read about that history. 133 00:09:36,190 --> 00:09:37,630 It's meaningful to them. 134 00:09:37,630 --> 00:09:39,610 It's historic. 135 00:09:39,610 --> 00:09:42,070 It's part of the fiber of those communities. 136 00:09:42,070 --> 00:09:46,100 And if we lose that, that's a big loss. 137 00:09:46,100 --> 00:09:53,630 So and the utilities can take a big role on that, and that continues to cement that relationship with their members. 138 00:09:54,020 --> 00:10:00,530 Andy Johns: Yeah. And I think that's, you know, kind of moving beyond the transactional relationship has always been a big part of what the 139 00:10:00,530 --> 00:10:02,690 magazines are all about. 140 00:10:02,780 --> 00:10:05,510 You talked about how the role of the magazine has changed. 141 00:10:05,510 --> 00:10:07,370 The role of the storyteller has changed. 142 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:12,770 Your role changed quite a bit over the years, including early on. 143 00:10:13,610 --> 00:10:15,950 You know, being the new guy. 144 00:10:16,790 --> 00:10:24,350 Where there, and I think I know the answer to this one, is there any particular assignment that you ever got that you just 145 00:10:24,350 --> 00:10:26,360 dreaded, dreaded doing? 146 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,940 I know that your your role has changed quite a bit over the years. 147 00:10:29,930 --> 00:10:36,350 You know, a lot of folks do their whole career as the photographer and happy doing that or whatever the role is. 148 00:10:36,350 --> 00:10:40,160 Your job has changed and morphed a little bit over the years. 149 00:10:40,190 --> 00:10:46,020 Tell us a little bit about any particular early career assignments maybe that you were a little apprehensive about? 150 00:10:46,950 --> 00:10:54,930 Mike Teegarden: Well, when I first started here, I came in from being a newspaper photographer and, you know, my role was to 151 00:10:54,960 --> 00:11:01,740 go out and take pictures and come back and develop them and print them and hand them off to somebody else. 152 00:11:01,740 --> 00:11:06,150 And I didn't really talk to a lot of people. 153 00:11:06,330 --> 00:11:11,340 I was, you know, I was a typical photographer, happy to be behind the camera. 154 00:11:11,340 --> 00:11:18,960 And when I started here, it wasn't long before Curtis Condon, the editor at the time, told me that the 155 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:25,590 newest editor was responsible for planning the Writers Workshop, which 156 00:11:26,220 --> 00:11:33,240 is a semiannual event, every two years, that we brought in our freelance 157 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:40,280 writers and communicators from utilities to give them some help with writing and photography. 158 00:11:40,970 --> 00:11:43,940 And I've never planned a workshop. 159 00:11:44,810 --> 00:11:48,170 I never really been to a workshop. 160 00:11:48,950 --> 00:11:56,810 I didn't know what I was doing, and there wasn't really a great blueprint to follow. 161 00:11:56,810 --> 00:12:00,710 And it's like, are you sure you want me to do this? 162 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,280 Oh, yeah. Yeah, you're going to have to do this. 163 00:12:05,540 --> 00:12:06,530 Okay. 164 00:12:06,890 --> 00:12:10,190 Andy Johns: Sometimes, yeah, that's the way it goes for the new guy sometimes, I guess. 165 00:12:10,190 --> 00:12:16,250 Mike Teegarden: That's right. So I kind of rolled up my sleeves, looked around, and, you know, we didn't have a very big staff back then. 166 00:12:16,250 --> 00:12:24,020 And so I was kind of on my own, but fortunately I knew some photographers that I could bring in. 167 00:12:24,020 --> 00:12:31,430 And we planned one, and I thought I was doing pretty well because I had the photographers lined up. 168 00:12:31,430 --> 00:12:32,690 I had the hotel lined up. 169 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,950 We hosted it in Forest Grove, Oregon, which was where the office was located at. 170 00:12:36,950 --> 00:12:43,280 And I think we had, I don't know, maybe 25 people that came, which was a good attendance for us. 171 00:12:43,310 --> 00:12:45,140 We were happy about that number. 172 00:12:45,410 --> 00:12:53,090 And I had this crazy idea to use actual hands on photography where we had people shoot, but that was in 173 00:12:53,090 --> 00:13:00,620 film days. So we actually shot film and got the film processed and brought prints back to look 174 00:13:00,650 --> 00:13:07,550 at. What I didn't count on was Curtis telling me, by the way, you know, you have to emcee this, right? 175 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:08,990 Andy Johns: Oh. 176 00:13:09,020 --> 00:13:10,220 Mike Teegarden: What? What? 177 00:13:10,250 --> 00:13:14,450 Oh yeah, someone has to, you know, talk and introduce people. 178 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:20,600 And that was really outside my comfort zone, even with just, you know, 20-25 people. 179 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:22,430 I was really uncomfortable with that. 180 00:13:23,150 --> 00:13:24,680 But he said, you'll figure it out. 181 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:30,320 And I did it, and it wasn't so bad. 182 00:13:30,860 --> 00:13:32,600 I didn't hate it. 183 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:40,540 And, so then the next two years comes along, and we have another workshop, and we decided not to have it in 184 00:13:40,540 --> 00:13:48,490 Forest Grove. One of the people who had attended the first year said, you know, the location was nice if you like to read. 185 00:13:49,090 --> 00:13:50,980 There just wasn't a lot going on in town. 186 00:13:51,010 --> 00:13:52,090 And so. 187 00:13:52,180 --> 00:13:52,660 Andy Johns: (laughs) To read. 188 00:13:52,690 --> 00:13:58,060 Mike Teegarden: To read. So, you know, we found, I can't remember where we went the second year. 189 00:13:58,060 --> 00:14:00,310 It might have been Reno. 190 00:14:00,610 --> 00:14:01,900 Andy Johns: I was thinking Reno was pretty early on. 191 00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:04,210 Mike Teegarden: I think it was, I think it was Reno. 192 00:14:04,210 --> 00:14:11,590 And then by then, Linda Wiseman was on staff, and she was really, really good at organizing and planning details. 193 00:14:11,590 --> 00:14:18,460 And then she and I planned, you know, for the next 20 years the conferences. 194 00:14:19,090 --> 00:14:22,990 So, that was, we were a good team working together on that. 195 00:14:22,990 --> 00:14:25,450 But it was quite the learning experience. 196 00:14:25,450 --> 00:14:32,320 And I became a lot more comfortable talking in front of people and planning. 197 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,310 And it was, you know, I'm really glad now. 198 00:14:36,310 --> 00:14:37,820 I always enjoyed them. 199 00:14:37,820 --> 00:14:40,610 I enjoyed having all of our people in one room. 200 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,010 There's a fun energy. 201 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:51,020 I'm a big believer in sitting down and eating food with people, even people that you may have challenges with. 202 00:14:51,050 --> 00:14:53,330 If you can sit down and have food with somebody – 203 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,460 Andy Johns: Sometimes especially. 204 00:14:55,490 --> 00:14:55,970 Yeah. 205 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,380 Mike Teegarden: That's right, that's right. 206 00:14:57,410 --> 00:14:59,300 It's kind of a big equalizer. 207 00:14:59,300 --> 00:15:07,160 And you get to know somebody at our workshops, and now StoryConnect, you get to know people on a 208 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:15,050 personal level. You get to talk about their kids and their dogs and their cats and what they like to do 209 00:15:15,050 --> 00:15:16,310 and what they like to eat. 210 00:15:16,310 --> 00:15:18,320 And it's not all business. 211 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:26,150 And, you know, just like we are helping our utilities build relationships with their members or their customers, we 212 00:15:26,150 --> 00:15:27,650 need to do the same thing. 213 00:15:27,650 --> 00:15:30,950 And StoryConnect is a great opportunity for that. 214 00:15:30,950 --> 00:15:32,300 I'm a big fan of that. 215 00:15:33,300 --> 00:15:36,540 Andy Johns: What does that tell us about being flexible? 216 00:15:36,780 --> 00:15:41,100 You know, I guess when you're the new guy and the boss says, you got to go try something, you don't have really a lot of 217 00:15:41,100 --> 00:15:43,800 opportunity whether or not you're going to be flexible. 218 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,670 But I know one thing that you've done your whole career is adapt and be flexible. 219 00:15:47,670 --> 00:15:54,990 We talked about on the technical side with the photography, you know, changing from the darkroom days until, you know, modern 220 00:15:54,990 --> 00:15:56,190 digital photography. 221 00:15:56,220 --> 00:15:57,450 The role is changing. 222 00:15:57,450 --> 00:16:05,250 What do you think your career teaches folks or can teach folks about remaining adaptable and flexible over the 223 00:16:05,250 --> 00:16:06,600 years? 224 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:15,000 Mike Teegarden: You know, for me, I'm always interested in learning. 225 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:16,470 I've been a lifelong learner. 226 00:16:16,470 --> 00:16:19,740 I don't plan on stopping when I retire. 227 00:16:19,770 --> 00:16:21,570 I like a challenge. 228 00:16:21,570 --> 00:16:28,050 I like it when people come to me and say, "Oh, you're not going to be able to figure this out." We'll see. 229 00:16:29,910 --> 00:16:32,200 I don't like to be stumped. 230 00:16:32,380 --> 00:16:40,360 And, you know, early on at Ruralite, I was also, a lot of people don't know this, I was also the 231 00:16:40,390 --> 00:16:41,980 IT person. We didn't have an IT person. 232 00:16:41,980 --> 00:16:43,060 Andy Johns: I was just about to bring that up. 233 00:16:43,090 --> 00:16:44,890 Yeah. Kind of the de facto. 234 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:46,030 Yeah. 235 00:16:46,060 --> 00:16:51,460 Mike Teegarden: I mean, when I first started, we had a bunch of Macs with no net. 236 00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:53,290 Well, we had an AppleTalk network. 237 00:16:53,620 --> 00:16:56,920 We had no backup drives. 238 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:02,620 We had no network servers, no print servers, no internet. 239 00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:05,560 Yes, I started before the internet. 240 00:17:05,590 --> 00:17:07,300 We had no email. 241 00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:15,310 So when those things started becoming options, being the young guy and the most technically savvy in the building, it 242 00:17:15,340 --> 00:17:18,400 kind of fell on me to figure out how to make that stuff work. 243 00:17:18,430 --> 00:17:26,050 And, you know, our first email address was an AOL address off of one of those floppy drives that everybody got in the 244 00:17:26,050 --> 00:17:33,440 mail. And we had a computer that was in kind of a public space, and 245 00:17:34,430 --> 00:17:39,440 I ran a 50 foot phone cord to it and a 1200 baud modem. 246 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,430 And we would, you know, stretch that out once a week and check our email. 247 00:17:45,140 --> 00:17:48,530 Andy Johns: Now that part of it actually sounds kind of nice, only checking email once a week. 248 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,720 I gotta, I'll say that. 249 00:17:50,750 --> 00:17:56,870 Mike Teegarden: Yeah. Everything else came via Fedex and UPS back in the day when a Fedex envelope was ten bucks overnight. 250 00:17:56,870 --> 00:18:04,760 And that's how people delivered their floppy drives, their film negatives, and sometimes their, 251 00:18:04,790 --> 00:18:09,080 you know, sometimes it was just hard copy, and we would have to retype it. 252 00:18:09,950 --> 00:18:10,550 Andy Johns: Wow. 253 00:18:10,580 --> 00:18:11,300 Mike Teegarden: Yeah. 254 00:18:11,330 --> 00:18:13,250 Andy Johns: Things have changed. You've had to adapt. 255 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:14,240 Mike Teegarden: That's right. 256 00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:15,920 Andy Johns: Yeah, definitely. 257 00:18:15,950 --> 00:18:21,410 One of the ways that, you know, you mentioned lifelong learner, that's something that I'll back you up on. 258 00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:29,050 One of the ways that we kind of got to know each other was through a reading group that was started among some Pioneer 259 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:36,610 staff. But the focus of that reading group, and I think you were a founding member, I came in a couple of books into it. 260 00:18:37,090 --> 00:18:44,410 The focus of that reading group was diversity and inclusion and trying to 261 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,370 understand perspectives of folks that are different than us. 262 00:18:48,370 --> 00:18:56,290 And that's, you know, just to be frank and blunt on here, that's not something that a lot of guys, 263 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,490 you know, looking 2 or 3 years from retirement are really looking to dive into. 264 00:19:00,490 --> 00:19:01,990 But you did. 265 00:19:01,990 --> 00:19:09,310 Why is it that you think diversity matters in order to be a good storyteller or good communicator? 266 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:17,050 Mike Teegarden: Well, you know, we started that book group as as part of the learning process for our internship program. 267 00:19:17,050 --> 00:19:21,250 That was a focus for diversity, equity and inclusion. 268 00:19:21,250 --> 00:19:24,760 And I just knew I needed to know more. 269 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:26,990 And, you know, lifelong learner. 270 00:19:27,020 --> 00:19:34,400 I grew up in a time that and in a small farm community that maybe wasn't the most 271 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:42,170 diverse, and it wasn't the most open to other races and just, you 272 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,590 know, trying to find the best way to say this. 273 00:19:45,590 --> 00:19:53,270 But, let's just say that if I could go back in time, I would live that part of my life differently. 274 00:19:53,270 --> 00:19:54,680 But I can't. 275 00:19:55,070 --> 00:19:56,810 I can't go back in time. 276 00:19:56,930 --> 00:20:01,130 But what I can do is change where I'm at now. 277 00:20:01,130 --> 00:20:04,400 And, you know, I give my wife a lot of credit for this. 278 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,990 She teaches ESL, English as a second language. 279 00:20:09,410 --> 00:20:12,530 And I have learned a lot through her. 280 00:20:12,710 --> 00:20:20,570 You know, she comes home almost daily with stories about the students that she teaches and the challenges 281 00:20:20,570 --> 00:20:24,290 they face just in school because of the language barrier. 282 00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:27,360 And, you know, those kids show up here, and they're just kids. 283 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,890 And they didn't ask to be kids who don't understand English. 284 00:20:31,890 --> 00:20:34,410 They didn't ask to be kids born in another country. 285 00:20:34,410 --> 00:20:40,560 They're just kids. And they're here, and you know, they just want to learn. 286 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:41,760 They want to be loved. 287 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:49,740 They want to be understood, and they want to have friends and be able to play with their friends and do things that all of 288 00:20:49,740 --> 00:20:51,540 our kids want to do as well. 289 00:20:51,540 --> 00:20:56,760 And yet they face roadblocks because of the language. 290 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,850 And oftentimes because of the color of their skin. 291 00:20:59,850 --> 00:21:02,580 And I think that's wrong. 292 00:21:02,580 --> 00:21:03,720 I think it's a shame. 293 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,850 And if I can do something to help make that better, I'm going to do that. 294 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:16,650 And so the book club was part of a group of us that just, you know, we realize we have 295 00:21:16,650 --> 00:21:22,470 shortcomings. And that's kind of the first step to doing something better, right? 296 00:21:22,500 --> 00:21:28,690 Is acknowledging what the problem is and acknowledging that, okay, well, I've got a problem. 297 00:21:28,690 --> 00:21:29,890 How do I fix it? 298 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:37,480 Being a person who likes to learn, and there were people, you know, there were coworkers in this group 299 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:42,160 who were farther along in their journey than me, and I knew I could learn from them. 300 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,190 And I was very happy to be able to do that. 301 00:21:45,190 --> 00:21:48,070 And so it's been really gratifying to me. 302 00:21:48,070 --> 00:21:55,570 And I have seen, you know, a lot of aha moments as I've read through the many books we've been through. 303 00:21:55,810 --> 00:21:58,660 You know, and I don't necessarily agree with everything we've read. 304 00:21:59,290 --> 00:22:06,880 I don't necessarily agree or, you know, there are a lot of viewpoints and a lot of things to learn. 305 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,940 And different ideas, different subjects hit all of us differently. 306 00:22:11,140 --> 00:22:19,030 But that's been the fun part is talking about that with each other and hearing each other's personal stories 307 00:22:19,030 --> 00:22:22,790 about how it does affect them and the learns we've had. 308 00:22:23,090 --> 00:22:30,350 So I really like the direction we're going in the company. 309 00:22:30,380 --> 00:22:34,370 We've had a very successful DEI internship program. 310 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:39,590 Our very first intern now works for Powerful Web. 311 00:22:39,620 --> 00:22:40,790 Andy Johns: Powerful Web team. Yep. 312 00:22:40,820 --> 00:22:46,790 Mike Teegarden: Yep. And we have another intern that works on our social media team that we hired. 313 00:22:46,820 --> 00:22:54,410 So I think that says we're doing a pretty good job of of hiring people and finding 314 00:22:54,410 --> 00:22:59,540 gems that we can either help stay in the industry, whether it's here or elsewhere. 315 00:22:59,570 --> 00:23:04,010 It's just been, it's been nice, and it's been fun watching my coworkers grow, too. 316 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:10,820 You know, if, like I said, if we can just make it a little bit better, everything we do makes things just a little bit better. 317 00:23:11,330 --> 00:23:13,040 That's a good goal. 318 00:23:13,430 --> 00:23:14,810 Andy Johns: Well said. Well said. 319 00:23:14,810 --> 00:23:21,870 And that internship program, something I know too that you have been a big part of since the very beginning. 320 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:23,850 Last question I had for you. 321 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:25,440 What advice do you have for somebody? 322 00:23:25,470 --> 00:23:30,210 I mean, you're the wise sage, 31 years into this. 323 00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:31,470 Know a few things. 324 00:23:31,470 --> 00:23:36,990 What advice do you have for somebody who's just starting out in the, well, whether they're just starting out or whether they're 325 00:23:36,990 --> 00:23:42,240 kind of mid-career in the utility communications space? 326 00:23:42,630 --> 00:23:48,330 Mike Teegarden: Well, you know, I know early on, I had people reaching out to me, offering me help. 327 00:23:48,330 --> 00:23:56,130 And I came from the newspaper world where you learn to be skeptical and kind of keep people at arm's length because you 328 00:23:56,130 --> 00:23:58,860 just didn't know. You figured somebody, everybody was trying to work you. 329 00:23:58,860 --> 00:24:04,740 And it took me a while to realize that in this industry, people really are just trying to help you. 330 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,770 And there's not another agenda. 331 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:15,570 They genuinely, if they see that you might have a need for information and they have it, and they are willing to share 332 00:24:15,570 --> 00:24:21,320 it. And I was not open to that information early on in my career. 333 00:24:21,830 --> 00:24:28,700 And, that slowed my knowledge growth curve a little bit. 334 00:24:28,700 --> 00:24:36,620 And over time, I have learned to be much quicker to listen to somebody else's experience and say 335 00:24:36,890 --> 00:24:37,970 that, okay. 336 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,010 All right. I see you're just trying to help me. 337 00:24:40,130 --> 00:24:47,880 You know, I still may agree or disagree with what they're trying to tell me, but I'm a lot more open to listening 338 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,120 and considering what I'm hearing. 339 00:24:50,270 --> 00:24:58,010 And considering it with the view that this is information they're sharing with me because they want me to be successful. 340 00:24:58,910 --> 00:25:04,370 And looking at things from that lens really makes a difference. 341 00:25:04,490 --> 00:25:12,080 So I would encourage people, if you're talking to somebody from the industry, and they're trying to steer you in a certain 342 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:13,940 direction, give it a listen. 343 00:25:13,940 --> 00:25:20,760 Because they may be just trying to help you, and there may be some really valuable information there that you'll be happy to 344 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:21,360 have. 345 00:25:21,780 --> 00:25:23,190 Andy Johns: Absolutely, I get that. 346 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,940 Sometimes easier. I mean, it sounds simple, but sometimes it can be tough, tough to do. 347 00:25:26,970 --> 00:25:28,050 I understand that. 348 00:25:28,230 --> 00:25:34,110 Well, Mike, thanks so much for you being the helper, for you helping, you know, folks in their career. 349 00:25:34,140 --> 00:25:36,810 Hopefully, if they're listening to this, they've picked up a few things along the way. 350 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:38,310 Congratulations on your retirement. 351 00:25:38,340 --> 00:25:41,070 Thanks for taking a few minutes to to record with me here. 352 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:42,750 Mike Teegarden: Thanks, Andy I appreciate it. 353 00:25:44,190 --> 00:25:48,600 Andy Johns: He is Mike Teagarden. He is the soon to be retired editorial director here at Pioneer. 354 00:25:48,630 --> 00:25:50,010 I'm your host, Andy Johns. 355 00:25:50,010 --> 00:25:52,920 And until we talk again, keep telling your story. 356 00:25:53,670 --> 00:26:01,500 Outro: StoryConnect is produced by Pioneer Utility Resources, a communications cooperative that is built to share your story.