Meetings, Calls & Support

My first week at Common Frequency began with a small informal gathering at DAM House, marking my arrival & birthday, as well as the replacement of a dude who lived in the house with one of Common Frequency's board members. For now I'm working out of a punk rock & experimental noise venue that has been inhabited by Common Frequency's program director on-and-off for 10 years. See Todd in the photo.

I have made numerous calls and typed out tons of emails, setting up visits to community groups who are working toward getting their radio stations on the air. Common Frequency helps groups compete with out-of-town religious broadcasters for community access, specifically by filing petitions to deny when the FCC makes technical mistakes on applications. I'm not writing filings, but I am helping to track down applicants whose projects have been on hold for years and they are so excited to find out I'm here to support them!

On my first day, I had a good meeting with the steering committee at KDRT-LP, which will be my home radio station until some of our projects get closer to launching. Next week I'm participating in a conference call organized by Prometheus, meeting with an operations training person at KDRT, deciding what kind of smart phone to buy, and starting a (dreaded) spreadsheet to keep track of everyone I've contacted so far. I also have community visits to Santa Cruz and Stockton planned now.

Meanwhile, this weekend we'll be looking at my job description, trying to update it to make it as realistic as possible. Funding levels really make a difference in terms of how much the org can get done. So I think getting the timelines to be more realistic on a few points will be key to success. I want the service I do to fit into what is acceptable to Transmission Project, and most important of all is the community groups I'm serving. I really want to deliver, you know?

Comment from Philip Dahl on August 8, 2010 - 2:24pm

Santa Cruz!! aw man!

I bet being the guy on the phone is tough but it seems like you're giving out some good news (people are seriously waiting that long without pursuing other avenues?). I bet that a lone will make them excited to work with you.

Comment from Megan Andrews on August 9, 2010 - 10:56am

Is the conference call you have tonight at 5? I will be on that as well.

Comment from Ben Sheldon on September 2, 2010 - 11:17am

What has your first month delivered so far? I'm glad you're diving into things though I don't think I was ever concerned that you wouldn't be going in head first. It's good too that you're tracking everyone you talk to (ugh, spreadsheets)---nothing sucks more than being 6 months and needing something from someone whose name you don't remember. Also, what smartphone did you buy? (I had to ask)

Comment from Gavin Dahl on September 3, 2010 - 1:14am

Decided smartphones are too expensive right now. Got a phone for $75 by Samsung on the MetroPCS network. $45 per month total for unlimited calls, texts and basic email. Since I have a laptop, I'm mostly just on the Mac. No need to spend all that extra money for a fancy device I won't really use right now. Hmm, what has my first month delivered? Plenty that I'll try to describe in the next field report. What have I delivered? Unfortunately that list is not long enough yet.