April 18, 2008
SMALL MARKET SUPERSTARS RECAP
by Josh Brandon
Program Director
102.5 Wow Country
Crossville, TN
I always learn so much from CRS. Every year I bring so much back with me and it always helps improve my station, our company and my management style. One thing is for certain: I don't have all the answers. It's always great to network and meet new people who also don't have all the answers. Together, though, we may just be able to help one another.
Small Market Superstars was that and so much more. I admit...when we were in the planning phase, this topic was so broad, I wasn't sure what direction it would go. If you missed it, buy the CD. There was so much ground to cover from promotions to time management to everything in between.
Moderating our panel was Scott Huskey. Scott serves as the VP of Consulting Services for Rusty Walker Programming. Scott's experience extends from on-air to programming to ownership. Scott flat out knows his stuff. I'm not saying that because he's my consultant and I want to add another 20 golds to my playlist...I'm saying that because it's true. Plus, I want to add another 20 golds to my playlist.
Our panelists were Kevin Daniels, OM for WTSH-FM (South 107) in Rome, GA, Kelly Wayne, who is now PD at KMOK in Lewiston, ID and Boomer Kingston, PD at KGKL in San Angelo, TX. When you're putting together a team, you look for home run hitters. I got mine. Kevin wears so many hats, I knew he would add a great deal to our time management discussion, Kelly is just an ace across the board and Boomer is the king of public service.
We started out the discussion with Time Management. How do we deal with juggling all the responsibilities wearing so many different hats? Kevin credited his time in the military for his organizational skills. One thing I learned from Kevin was to 'make appointments with myself'. I have this handy-dandy SmartPhone with a calendar. I can set up my phone to remind me of appointments. Now, my weekly phone call with my consultant, staff meetings, airchecks, etc are all set in my phone.
Kelly was asked how she handles carrying a morning show and VT'ing middays on a sister station. Her suggestion was to prioritize what is most important when. She also said she got into the habit of beating herself up over little mistakes. Her advice was among the best of the day: Let it go. Move on. Don't sweat the small stuff. We're human and our listeners expect us to flub a little. It makes us somewhat more relatable.
When the topic of Community Service came up, leave it to Boomer to encourage everyone to do as much as you can for every cause. You can't be everywhere all the time...but we should try. He said the little rewards are people coming up after the event or getting the email from the family whose house burned and them thanking you for your help. It's those little things we tend to forget in this business.
Kevin also had my favorite quote of CRS-39. "We are politicians for our radio station!" WOW! Could it have been put any better? He's right! He spoke of the prize pigs that come to every remote/event wanting free stuff. We've all done it...you sigh, your body language shifts and you may even roll your eyes. That Prize Pig may not see you...but others will! Is that the impression you want people to have of your brand? Like it or not...to many of them, we're stars.
Passion was another major topic that was brought up. In several cases it was in discussing how to bring new talent into the business. Boomer said that when he works with a hungry college kid fresh into the biz, it invigorates him that much more and reminds him of that same passion we all had once upon a time. That passion that can get buried underneath this myriad of cynicism and responsibility. Kelly said that the best places to find talent is from Fast Food joints. You can find personable people who are, in some cases, customer service specialists! That's what we are, too! Kelly told the story of how one of her staff members was a wedding singer and has now been with the station 8 years. Look outside the industry if you can't find it here! More importantly, Boomer encouraged us to generate passion within our own building. Hit your receptionist up for ideas! Some of your staff may seem dry and uncreative, but often times they aren't!
Much of this panel was directed toward the audience for thoughts and ideas. Sherry Massarro (WVHL) told great stories of beating the big dogs at their own game at a major festival with massive (and FREE!) exposure. She also spoke of another hot topic at our panel...NETWORKING! Brooke Adams echoed the networking sentiment on a different level. In her situation, they are limited on voice talent in her building. She has built up a personal network of peers around the country and they swap voiceovers for spots. What an idea! Sherry's idea was wonderful as well...get a network of friends to get your artist liners or interviews! Swap audio and bits! It can only improve your product. Plus, one thing I have tried to do over the years is get a rolodex of names I can call up pretty quick if I have an issue I can't sort out. I was able to call a friend of mine on the west coast to work out an issue with my music scheduler. Again, I don't have all the answers and I admit that.
A recurring theme over the last 3 CRS's that I've been involved in has been Record Label relationships. How does small market radio get product or attention from the labels. I've gone on far too long as it is...feel free to contact me and I will share some of the thoughts, or buy the CD.
As programmers, the topic of syndication was weighed heavily between Kevin's stance of possibly preferring a live 7-Midnight show, but Kelly and Boomer brought up valid points that programs like LIA and Danny Wright are so smooth and they run pretty flawlessly if set up right. Plus with someone in-house, you won't have the artists on the air like you do with the bigger shows. Boomer just warned not to get complacent with your local liners those syndicated jocks cut. That be very counterproductive. In my own experience with syndication, we'd planned a 'flip' to 102.5 STRAIT COUNTRY in honor of the release of Troubadour. It'd come together so fast, I hadn't even considered having LIA or Danny cut anything. Danny emails me the afternoon before the flip. He was surfing our website and saw what we were doing and wanted to know if we wanted him to cut some liners. He did them on the fly, turned them around in minutes and my overnight guy is leading into our major event talking about what's happening. You can't beat that! The final note on syndication was Kelly's advice of listen to the community. They will tell you what they want. If it's Nascar news or bluegrass or whatever...ask them.
When the discussion shifted to voicetracking, the panel took on a whole life of it's own. This was a hot topic at CRS-39 with an entire panel dedicated to the subject on Friday morning. We covered some interesting ground in Small Market Superstars too. Dale Desmond, PD of KTHK-FM, posed the question of how to handle voicetracking, especially when several of your shifts are done from out of market. He wanted to know what kind of benchmarks people had in place to make it sound more live and local. Kelly's suggestion was to turn to your listeners for show prep. Utilize phoners is the biggest piece of advice given on how to make VT's pop. Kelly said a Top 5 At 5 feature, if done right, can inject some life into an otherwise blah voicetrack session. It's all about getting the listener to tune in a little longer. Find those features that will do that. Brooke Adams came back with another great idea. She works in Texas, but VT's a station in Georgia. She does a "Brain Squeezer" feature. It's just trivia with no prize attached, but she gives the question and encourages the listener to hang out with her a little longer for the answer! Scott Huskey said you can go so far as to make it a contest and record up a 'donut' of your workparts (Hey, it's 102.5, who's this? Great, what is the answer? Congratulations...you've won _____) and then have a local person to answer the phone and plug it all together.
In keeping with his recurring theme of serving our communities, Boomer urged us all to make local community events a key part of our VT's. Brooke said she even keeps the newspaper's website up from the town she's voicetracking so she can stay a little more plugged in. Kevin suggested we put ourselves in our listener's shoes when doing content. Also to have the morning show supply info to the midday and afternoon shows on what they're doing the next day. Scott stated that the responsibility should rest on the VT'ed station's Program Director to get vital local content and information into the hands of those tracking his shifts so they have the tools necessary to make it sound live and local.
I want us all to take a moment and keep Big John of WKKW in Morgantown, WV in our thoughts. This is a guy who shocked the entire room when he told us that he forwards the request lines to his own personal cell phone! His voicemail picks up the calls and he dumps them into his automation the next day to use on the air. There are a couple of companies that will do this for you on a barter basis (Radio VooDoo is one) and it makes your phone lines available 24/7! Big John also recommended trackers to make an occasional visit to the market they are VT'ing for public appearances if possible. It's all about going that extra mile.
Finally, a topic I hope will get some attention at CRS-40, how to make your small market station sound like a big market station and can it ever sound TOO big? Another floodgate was opened and the ideas came pouring in from everywhere! Kelly stated that there's a line in each market and it varies by market where you cross into 'too big for your britches' and warned each PD to walk that line. Kevin said his biggest attribute to the sound of South 107 is the imaging. He said that's the one thing that can make or break your sound. Kelly chimed in with more great advice of if you're doing listener intensive promos, make sure the audio you're using sounds like your listeners. Don't use cuts of southerners in the Northeast. She also recommended taking your recorder out on the street to remotes and events to get genuine listener reaction and feedback for promos. Sherry Massarro stood up to say that we should all be thinking outside of the box.
The sad truth about this email is that this is just a summary of what was covered. I've never been to a single seminar panel that was so chock full of valuable information. Again...buy the CD and make plans to attend CRS-40 in 2009. learned so much at CRS-39 and so much from Small Market Superstars! One thing I learned was something I knew from the start...and something Scott said in his opening of our panel. We are all Small Market Superstars!
Handouts:
Kelly Wayne's - The Must Do's
Boomer Kingston's Must Do's
Kelly Wayne's Morning Show Ideas
How to Survive as a Small Fish in a Big Pond
