OFF AIR: Dallas Gurney, a former Kamo High School student, Mr Gurney is leaving broadcasting in October after 22 years at TRN, APN and NZME. PHOTO/FILE
Dallas Gurney is a Northland lad at heart.
The 38-year-old, who has been working behind the scenes with some of the biggest names in NZ broadcasting, is moving on after 22 years in the industry.
He spoke with the Business Advocate recently about his journey so far.
My family is still at Moureeses Bay in Whananaki and I head home often. There's no better sight than the heads from the top of the Brynderwyns ... almost home!
• How did your career start? Was there something which sparked your interest in broadcasting as a career?
My interest in the media started at primary school. My teacher was Mrs Barrow, wife of then Northern Advocate editor Graeme Barrow.
I did a work day or something there in Water St. The clickety-clack of typewriters and the big printing machine in the basement.
I loved it. I was probably about 8 years old.
Radio became my real love though.
I grew up in the 80s when you made mix tapes. In my mixtapes I pretended I was the radio announcer introducing the songs and everything, mimicking Radio Northland's John Markby or Alf Rose, John Barry, Murray Madden or Paul Colchord.
These guys were heroes to me. People will remember the names.
John is still there doing the business on More FM and I still listen to him whenever I come home.
He's a pro, still got it ... still on the pulse of Northland and still full of passion and energy.
I guess he was probably much younger then than I am today. He was still as bald as an eagle though.
One day I went into Radio Northland for a tour as part of a youth group and that was it.
My Dad was a client of the station and so I ended up with the best after school job ever ... what they called a "cart boy".
I put the ads onto tape cartridges for the announcers to play.
No computers back then.
I got $3.86 an hour and I got to work with these guys.
I would've done it for free.
• Tell us a bit about your journey so far?
Ninety-three ZM started as a local radio station in Whangarei and I got the job as the night announcer.
Murray Madden gave me my big break - he was the station manager and a top bloke. He wore cowboy boots and had a big black beard.
I had to be successful, I would've let Murray down otherwise.
I guess this was 1994 or 1995. There were only three stations back then - Radio Northland and KCC FM had battled it out for years, then ZM came along as the new kid on the block.
Mum and Dad wouldn't let me drop out of school until the end of the year. So I'd get off-air at midnight, go home to bed and go to school the next day.
I bunked all the time to go home and have a sleep. I think they knew ... but were probably just happy I wasn't bunking to smoke weed.
We are a small but incredibly close family and they have backed me in every decision I've made.
After about a year at 93ZM, I got picked up to do nights at 91ZM in Wellington.
From there I went to 91ZM in Christchurch.
It's then I realised I understood, more than most, what people actually wanted to listen to and how to put it all together. So I got into programming and then management.
I was running the entire Classic Hits nationwide network at 24 [years of age] which was quite a dramatic ascension.
Then I went into talk radio and in 2010 at 32 I took over the Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport networks.
I spent six years running that team - around 140 hosts, journos, producers and commentators.
The most challenging period was the Christchurch earthquakes. I knew our broadcasts were having a real impact on people on the ground in Canterbury. I felt a huge weight of responsibility.
We won numerous awards for our coverage including a New York Festival gold medal for best breaking news coverage and I remain super proud of what we did.
I was lucky enough to run ZB while Paul Holmes was still there.
We became good friends.
Paul died in 2013 and I'd never had someone close to me die before. His shadow will forever be cast over Newstalk ZB and New Zealand broadcasting.
A once in a generation radio personality, but one of the best people you could ever meet as well. I still miss him.
For the last year I've been heading up the content marketing team across the company. This is a new area of marketing and we've grown from one campaign a month to 40 in 12 months. It's been fun, but it's time for a bit more excitement.
• What's the most important thing you have learned on the job?
People don't work for companies, they work for people. So hire smart people and treat them well and other smart people will want to work for you.
And always do what you say you're going to do.
Is there any advice you would give to young people thinking about a career in the media?
A friend of mine once told me to choose the industry, then the company before you choose the job.
I love the media because it's chaotic. I need the craziness, it's in my DNA. So the next industry I work in has to have the same sort of madness.
I soak up the energy of other people and get excited by being part of an awesome team.
I also need to be working for someone I'm going to learn lots from otherwise I get bored. So the company I work for needs to have a great culture with similar values.
If you find an industry and company you love, the job you do is actually the easy decision.
• And anything else you'd like to add?
Northland has a proud media history.
So many fantastic broadcasters, journalists and writers have come out of Northland.
Others have moved to Northland to be trained up before heading elsewhere - Simon Barnett, Neil Waka, Suzy Cato, they all came through or started at Radio Northland or KCC.
I'm sure the Advocate has a similar list of awesome successes.
I would like to see that history acknowledged and celebrated more often. It would be a tragedy if it was forgotten.
On that, support your local media. You won't know what you've lost until it is gone.