Joint Hometown News Team set to visit Osan to record holiday greetings Published Sept. 3, 2009 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs office OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- The Joint Holiday Hometown News Team will be here Sept. 17-18 to record holiday messages to be aired on commercial television and radio stations in the United States and U.S. territories. The holiday greetings will be recorded at the Turumi Lodge at the lodge pavilion. The team will record individual 10 to 20-second holiday greetings for each person for their family and friends back at home. According the Joint Holiday Hometown News Team, all military personnel, Department of Defense civilians and their family members stationed overseas during the holiday period are eligible to participate. Spouses and family members may record a greeting if the military member is deployed from home station. Military members must appear in uniform of the day should they choose to record a greeting. Participants must have family members' addresses and phone numbers at the ready, or they will not be able to record a greeting. The information is used to pinpoint the closest television and radio station to specific family members, and to inform them what station to tune into to view the greetings. The team averages about 13,000 greetings at more than 80 installations worldwide. It has helped deliver more than 14,000 greetings to 1,100 commercial television and 2,200 radio stations across the United States and its territories. The video and audio greetings are packaged according to geographic areas, normally by state. In large states like California, Texas, Florida and New York, stations will get greetings based upon region. Stations normally air the greetings throughout the holiday season, from Thanksgiving through New Year's. Each greeting will normally play more than once throughout the holidays and usually on more than one station. Holiday Greetings Taping Tips: What to wear Active-duty members must be in uniform. The shot is from the top pockets up. Civilians should be in appropriate attire. What to bring All participants really need is (their families') city, state and phone number -- (with) area code being the most important. If participants have the phone number, it gives television and radio stations an opportunity to contact family members to let them know when the greetings are going to air. What to say Participants need to say five things within the greeting: Who they are; where they are; who the greeting is going to; where they are; and some sort of holiday message. There is no maximum or minimum time length on greetings. But the best ones are about 15 seconds long. How many There is no limit on how many greetings one family can send to the states as long as family members live more than 75 to 100 miles apart and receive different television stations. However, greetings must be sent to people who are related by law or blood. Fiancés are not relatives. The process When customers arrive for taping, they will need to complete a form for every greeting. A member of the hometown news crew verifies the information before giving a quick briefing. The process is indeed, so easy that when it's time to tape, a crewmember will simply escort participants to the camera, give another short briefing and then place microphones on them. The camera operator lines them up and records the greeting in "5, 4, 3, 2 ...." For more information, please contact Master Sgt. Paul Kilgallon or Master Sgt. Marlin Zimmerman at 784-4044.