[BC] Ignoring Station Procedures. "I Know Better"

[JYRussell@academicplanet.com]

another point could be the idea of *WHY* we are doing remotes in the first
place... ;-D

Some businesses would be better off with a good set of spots through a
quarter to make them sound 'larger than life'... at least it seems that way
to me...

Bad remotes?
Without a reason to respond - the audience showing up at your remotes starts
to fall off as they learn there are no incentives to respond.  They learn
from your bad remotes as well as your good ones.  They learn when you cheat
on drawing names out of the reg box, or, don't bring gimmes to the
remotes... when you claim to have concert tickets and then 'oops, forget
them'... and give them to your personal friends... and people ifnd out.
When you charge big bucks but don't deliver, people find out.

 As an air person - I always asked (in addition to all the stuff you've
mentioned) "WHY are we doing this remote?  HOW is this going to create a
win-win situation for us and the client? What we will we be doing for our
listeners to make sure they come back to our next remote?"  Stupid stuff
like that.  Things about "community service"... a 'raison d'etre' if you
will.  I let the client figure out how to sell their product... it's our job
to deliver hot bodies.


   Of course, there are folks who'll argue "It's all about the money".  To
the point that they have their hand out first... 'show me the money and I'll
go do a remote."  Even get nasty about it.  They just charge to go out and
read newspaper ads from a remote location.

-I saw one tiny hometown station go out and charge a bunch of school kids to
promote the first home game of the season. The coaches paid it out of their
own pockets... Boy did they p'o the parents and coaches.  Station wanted a
fistful of cash to do a celphone break or two from the scrimmage field, out
of the back of the GM's pickup.  No, none, ZERO station presence.  NO
impact, or even suuport for the home team. NOt even any sound reinforcement,
or cool party music, or anything.   Just a 50 something year old in dentures
with a celphone.-

  (Local station, local team, could have been a sports news actuality,
actually, IMHO. Or, a pre-season Go, team, go, sort of thing.  Great PR, or
a really bad remote tha turned people  OFF..... guess which they made
happen.... but they got PAID... yee haw.  And never did another for that
client... plus lost a bunch of sponsors for the fall football package.)

   Like I said..... "WHY are we doing this remote?" is another BIG question
to me... none of the window dressing makes any difference if there's no
professionalism to start with... no public service, no community interest,
no support, etc.

Jason
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rockwell Smith" <rockwell at rmci.net>
To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 10:11 PM
Subject: Re: [BC] Ignoring Station Procedures. "I Know Better"


> I think the original intent of the original post got lost somewhere.  I
> thought what was being pointed out was people making ridiculous requests
> without understanding the real procedure.  To cut 7 spots when only 5 will
> run was considered a waste of time and resources.  Lazy, maybe.
Efficient,
> yes.  I constantly have to second-guess and correct stupid errors by sales
> people.  It's part of my job.  I am in charge of scheduling all the
> board-ops, techs, and equipment for all remotes on 6 stations.  True, only
> four generally do remotes, but still, we have had as many as 11 remotes in
> one day since some stations will book multiple remotes in a day.  Sending
us
> to the wrong address, asking for non-existent equipment or not confirming
> with the client we are actually supposed to be there are very common, and
> best if sorted out in advance.  Many times an agency books a remote for a
> client with multiple stores, and never tells the store we are coming.
> So...I do change orders when needed.  And I do inform sales when they make
> an error.   And I still have my job because if I didn't save their butts
> when they mess up we would lose business.  I have told all my remote techs
> it is our job to make the sales guy look good no matter how dumb the
request
> was.  And, I always make sure the client is happy.  Have I ever screwed
up?
> Yes, but we scrambled and got it going anyway.  On the other hand, I'm not
> going to have my guys put inflatables up where they are traffic hazards or
> will get into power lines.  I'm not going to do a remote where we are
giving
> away concert tickets in a parking lot that is under construction and not
> safe to walk across.  Each situation has its own points for discussion.
> This thread really got unraveled somewhere.
>
> Rockwell Smith
> Radio Engineering Manager
> Journal Broadcast Group - Idaho