Digital Arts Service Corps - Oregon

Radio Nerds 2009

Megan Donovan — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:38:30 +0000

Hey there,

From March 31-April 4 I attended the NFCB (National Federation for Community Broadcasters) annual conference in Portland, OR. What struck me immediately when I arrived at the Hilton was:

1. I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person at this conference
2. The radio station I represent was the most illegitimate, pirate, DIY station out of any other station being represented
3. I thought I was nerdy but I barely was at all compared to these people

All the different sessions were separated into the following tracks: All, Producers, Development/Underwriting, Fundraising, Management, Youth, Community Engagement, Technology. Naturally, I chose sessions under the producers and development tracks for the most part because that is what I focus on developing in my work at ZUMIX Radio. I dabbled in a bit of everything to get a comprehensive learning experience at this conference.

The following are the sessions I attended: Interview Techniques, Strategic Planning, Marketing, Setting Up a Membership Program, Producers Shaping the Sound of Tomorrow, How Do I get more Latinos to Listen to My Station?

Generally, I found the conference to be an excellent learning experience. I was disappointed by a few of the sessions that I was counting on to be helpful, namely the marketing and getting more Latinos to listen sessions. I couldn't have expected every session to be amazing! I wished there was a session specifically geared towards getting underwriting going for a community station. Underwriting is something I have been working towards achieving for ZUMIX Radio since I began my year of service but sadly hasn't gotten much of anywhere. Bummer.

There was a field trip for conference attendees to KBOO which is a community radio station in Portland. I enjoyed this part of the conference immensely because KBOO is full of some of the most eccentric people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, including this dude with this insanely tricked out bike:

Here is a snippet of the inside of KBOO:

My jealousy festers over their insane music library, and its color-coded organization!!!

I was invited to participate in a late night show after schmoozing with some staff people there! Sadly, none of the contacts I made followed up with any of my e-mails, the same goes for the people I met at the actual conference. Shrug. People are busy I suppose. All in all it was a great experience and a pretty cool city. I think I brought back some useful knowledge to ZUMIX and I would recommend this conference to anyone working for a community radio station. I would like to attend next year!

The end.

lauren bratslavsky — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:38:28 +0000

It's been one year. And all the should ofs and could ofs are now expired. But I think I've accomplished a lot of good things, learned a lot and definetely had a great experience.

Sure, I could have blogged more, or made more programs, written more grants, etc etc etc. At least I can say that I have followed most of the workplan and hopefully instilled a foundation for a strong youth program at Media Bridges down the road.

Since the last blog, I have taught another great class - Ad Attack! The kids were middle schoolers and very receptive to learning about advertising and the NMMLP's list of persuasion tools. They knew they were being marketed to, but only to the obvious level. Hopefully they'll keep in mind the other marketing techniques and persuassion tools and practice being smart consumers. For anyone teaching such a class, I would suggest recording some recent commercials from the kids stations and also places like BET and MTV. I thought some of the commercials would be too mature for them, but these kids watch a lot a lot of tv. One student really liked the "bow chic a wow wow" commercial - the Axe one. So I also threw in info on sex appeal, since they already were aware of those commercials. Also, when preparing for such a class, come up with a tv/media watching survey and throw in some questions also about what they think advertising is. Then that will take you into a discussion about their favorite commercials and all that. Anyways, that class ended with some short videos that were, eh, ok. But I think the main point about ad techniques was well recieved.

The rest of my month was rather boring, tying up loose ends, making an end of year binder and all that. The highlight was going to Washington DC, courtesy of Danielle and that Housing Network conference. I presented with Nettrice Gaskins about Digital Media. I think it went well. And it sure was fun to go to DC for free and hang out with the ol' vista leader!

So thank you CTC VISTA project for exisiting and providing such a phenomenol opportunity. This has been the ideal situation for me, being between schooling and not quite sure what to do. I was actually able to utilize previous education, gain knew knowledge and experiences and of course look impressive on the resume (seriously). Future plans (which is basically now) are to move to Oregon. I'm in Ohio, so it's a serious excursion. I'm going to the University of Oregon for masters in communication and society. Maybe I'll continue down the path of media literacy, community media and media reform, as I have been doing the past year. But who knows where this will take me! And here's a note - if you are applying to school anytime following the VISTA year, whether you believe it or not, you are an impressive candidate for being in Americorps. And depending on your duties and experiences at your site, you may be able to translate that into a full ride! I'll be a graduate teaching fellow (fancy for ga) because I have Photoshop and Final Cut Pro experience, so I think I'll be teaching or assisting with those in some way (still don't know for sure). So if you're going to school, try to find the department (even if it's not what you are going to school for) that can utilize your experiences, and hopefully you too will be offered an assistantship.

Take care all! Rock out, don't crack out.

Intro

Rob Heck — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:25:17 +0000

My name is Rob Heck and I'm originally from Gainesville, FL. I will be serving as the Events and Program Coordinator for the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) in Portland, OR.

I became a VISTA in order to use my experience with technology and organizing in an attempt to make a difference and help further social change. I'm also excited to get out of Florida, where I have lived for 23 years.

I have never been out west at all, but according to Mr. Ben Sheldon I will like it since I'm very "Portland Oregonish." According to another new VISTA, John Van Houdt, I am something of an anarcho-transcendentalist, but I think he drinks a little too much and is a bit of a Eurocentric neo-Hegelian. Don't let these people bias your opinion of me though. And no, I'm not Mormon. I am looking forward to all the great grassroots activism I hear goes on in the NW though.