[BC] RE: Food for Thought

[Rich Wood]

------ At 06:51 PM 5/5/2005, jyrussell at academicplanet.com wrote: -------

>Amen and thank you Rich!  (BTW... I could use a creative suggestion
>here... Itty Bitty market GM cannot be taught that it's my AirTalent job
>to make the remotes into EVENTS !

It'll be easier to prove your value to your sales manager. He or she will 
get results directly with a contract renewal and will hear from the client 
how good a job you did. Trouble is, in small markets the GM is often the 
Sales Manager.

>WE Get the head count up, let the
>client run the register... sell the cars, whatever.  Instead he's still
>insisting we just do 30 sec infomercials 4x per hour...

You don't want to let a remote take you too far from your format or you'll 
lose people who don't care about it. There are still creative ways to work 
the client's message into the show. At WOR we did remotes all the time, 
even a weekly one from Sardi's, the famous showbiz restaurant. The audience 
was invited in and it added a little something extra to a talk show. Music 
is harder.

>cause it's just all about the money (he even gets vulgar and loud) and
>our audience is GOING AWAY in droves.

That's just bad management and bad breeding. Bad people skills. If he makes 
you feel like slashing your wrists it may be time to find a better place to 
work.

>  How can I nicely correct that, without hurting his ego, or tipping my
>hand, so we actually get some ... sing it now... results- as in Radio
>Gets Results... (and I would like to get some GOOD results, like we used to...

You're the one who looks bad if it doesn't go right. Offer some suggestions 
(making him think he thought of it) and come up with some contest ideas (be 
careful of lottery rules and be sure to make the rules clear on the air). 
You need to show him that the remotes need excitement to get people into 
the store. Good client feedback will be your best ammunition. You've got a 
tough job ahead of you.

Rich

Rich Wood
Rich Wood Multimedia
Phone: 413-303-9084
FAX: 413-480-0010