[BC] Re: How we got our first break in radio....

[Mark Croom]

This is a fun thread!

I was interested in radio as a young kid but didn't really think I could
seriously "do" radio for a living (you're no Herb Jepko, young man). I was
given the opportunity to volunteer on the campus radio station when I was 19
years old, got over the early mistakes and showed a little aptitude. I had a
great time, too. After a semester as a 4-hour-a-week volunteer, I was
offered one of the summer announcer jobs, working three mornings a week in
exchange for a room on campus. I already had a couple of other part-time
jobs for the summer so I could also afford to feed myself and my car.

By Fall, I was was fully infected with the radio bug, changed to Broadcast
Communication as my major, and the rest is history. I still love working on
the air but there's not much time with 22 sites to watch over. So I do a
holiday every year, and an occasional fill-in when somebody calls in sick at
the last minute, but that's about it. The rest is tech support and
operations management, and I'm mostly OK with that because my family can
actually afford a home and meals on what they pay for that, as opposed what
they pay former medium market on-air jocks.

Mark
MN

On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 9:52 AM, Bob Barnswatts <AMFAN at collins21e.com>wrote:

> All this talk about starting out in radio made me wonder as to exactly HOW
> many people got their start.  I didn't know anyone in the business and lived
> in a small midwest town that had 2 AM radio stations back in the 70's.   I
> annoyed the hell out of both stations trying to get a job as a DJ but was
> turned away at every corner.  Only the kids of big advertisers ever got to
> be DJs in those days.   I