Tom Rodman in Chicago
I grew up in Chicago and started my career in broadcast engineering there as Chief Engineer for a number of suburban radio stations, eventually landing at WMAQ-TV (NBC O&O).
People were always telling me, “You’ve got a great voice. You should be on the radio,” so I finally made the cross-over and spent the next decade-or-so as a “rock jock” on the radio there, ending-up nationally syndicated on ABC/Disney’s Satellite Music Network Starstation service (later renamed, “Hits & Favorites“).
That was the first real test of satellite radio, and it worked pretty well (to say the least).
The last time I was on Chicago radio was at WPNT.
Always a “geek at heart,” I got to tinkering with computers, and ended-up developing one of the first digital automation systems for radio, “The Desk Jockey,” which was considered “impossible” at the time – I literally made DOS multi-tasking (with the help of my buddy, Philippe Kahn).
My company, Rodman-Brown & Associates, went on to build and install the first digital automation systems for radio used in Latin America, and the Pacific Rim (Panama, and Saipan), as well as at countless radio stations across the United States.
Looking back, I’m still pretty impressed that I created the whole hardware/software thing in my spare bedroom, and that I had the chance to work with some of America’s best hardware designers & engineers along the way.
After selling-out, I moved-on to Broadcast Electronics Corporation.
At the time, they were the world’s largest maker of radio transmitters.
If you listened to the radio in the 80s or 90s, odds are you were listening to a BE transmitter.
If you listen to radio today, you’re probably listening to a BE AudioVault, and that’s what I did.
I became their Manager of Digital Product Marketing.
From there, it was on to Pacific Research & Engineering Corp, as Director of Market Development
From Radio to The Web
When the internet became a thing, I began focusing more and more on the web, and spent several years as the Chief Software Architect for a San Diego area agency, creating innovative web-based business solutions for the pharmaceutical & biotech industries.
In 2000, I met the woman of my dreams, and today, am happily married to Polly Rodman, the most amazing, loyal friend & companion any guy could ever hope for.
Tom Rodman Today
I’m now an Online Marketing Consultant, living the dream with Polly, our two cats (and the random lizards they bring home) in North Coastal San Diego County.
We’re members of the San Diego Zoological Society and spend our free time camping… In the mountains during the summer, and in the deserts in the winter
If you’d like to connect, great! Please don’t hesitate to contact me.