I was listening to Roy Green on Saturday and he had a former producer of his on talking about the days he used to do a Remembrance Day ceremony live on location from Hamilton over CHML. He recalled one very cold and very windy Nov. 11th when they had all their equipment set up on a table at the cenotaph. Suddenly, just minutes before air, a huge gust came out of nowhere and blew everything - including the table and the mics that were sitting on them - down the street. 

He recalled having to chase them with all their might to try and grab what they could, only to wonder if anything would actually work. Fortunately for them, it did. 

I only had one remote broadcast experience in my whole career and it was unforgettable. For some reason, the station had decided to set up an "All Candidates Debate" in a hotly contested Toronto riding during an election. We promoted this thing for weeks and weeks, and the candidates - Liberal, Conservative and NDP - all agreed to come and participate. 

Someone had the genius idea of renting out an empty former movie theatre and we set up all the equipment there on the day in question, readying for a 6 PM airtime. The idea was to invite the public and let them ask questions of those running. 

About 15 minutes before the 6 PM kick-off time, some people had trickled into the empty seats and sat down, waiting for it to start. And then six or seven very large men showed up, all wearing hard hats. Before anyone knew it, one of these guys got up out of his seat, walked up onto the stage, took a chair in front of one of the mics and absolutely refused to leave.

He insisted he was on the ballot in the riding, and as a candidate, had every right to take part, even though he hadn't been invited. It was obvious he was an extreme fringe candidate, one of those people who puts his name up for every election and gets about 20 votes. But he threatened violence from his cronies in the crowd if anyone tried to oust him. 

What were we going to? It was almost air time and the police couldn't get there before we started. So we asked the candidates if somehow they would appear on the air with this idiot. They all said "no way! The guy's a crank," and they wouldn't be seen with him. 

With just minutes left, we finally got them to agree. And when we went on air and explained the situation and why there were suddenly four people instead of three, the host, Clint Nickerson, asked the group of three if they were OK with the extra body. All of them leaned into the mics and lied to the audience, effectively saying 'the more the merrier' - the same trio who said just a few minutes ago insisted it would happen only over their dead bodies. 

The intruder was disruptive but got his points in and we somehow made it through the broadcast. But it was certainly a remote I'll never forget, and even the newspapers - which normally ignore radio - made a big deal about what happened. Although not in a good way!

I'm wondering if anyone else here has ever had a remote go out of control and how you handled it. It's one reason I always preferred the familiar confines of my own studio!