Peer Pressure and the Peerless Novel

Peer pressure can be good or bad -- depending on what it guides you to do. In this case, after talking about it for a few years, two colleagues signed up for NaNoWriMo. Which "forced" me to do the same.

The National Novel Writing Month is November, and the goal is to do just that. Start and finish a novel of at least 50,000 words in the space of a month. Great art? No, but it can be great fun. And a great way to get the creative juices flowing.

I was ambivalent about signing up because my time's already at a premium. On the other hand, doing what I really want to do -- write, compose, play music, draw -- seems to be continually pushed to the bottom of the list in favor of more practical things, like meeting deadlines, running a business, and maintaining some kind of normal family life.

So I've taken the plunge. My friends quit talking about it and acted; I felt I could do no less. So tomorrow morning, I start in on my new novel. The outline's ready (that much prep is allowed). All I have to do is fill in the words.

Is peer pressure a bad thing? I'll let you know at the end of the month.

- Ralph

Day 136 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Slamming the Post with the BBC

This post's just for folks who've been in radio -- or perhaps not. I've talked before about the Chris Moyles Show, heard daily on BBC Radio 1, and how effectively it uses the medium of radio (especially in conjunction with new media).

Chris Moyles and the team had a bit of fun with show's assistant producer, Matt Fincham. The previous week they had uncovered a tape of a very young Fincham calling in to a local radio program and talking about his own college radio program.

That resulted in quite a bit of teasing, but it also prompted the team (or at least the support staff) to dig even deeper and come up with some air checks of young Matt on CUR1350, Cambridge University's student-run station.

An important technique for Top 40 DJ's to have is the ability to talk over the musical introduction of a song and stop right before the vocals start. If you can do it and actually say something intelligent in the process, you've passed from skill to art. The technique's known by a variety of terms; the one I've heard it referred to is "slamming the post."

Moyles and company have a bit of fun with this concept as they get Fincham to relive his glory days and slam the post (or "hit the vocal" as they call it).

Chris Moyles Show - Matt Fincham Segment

Listen carefully to the adept use of the audio clips in this segment. There's no pause, no hesitation. Whenever a clip's used to punctuate the conversation, it's always cued up, and it always runs for exactly the right amount of time. Very simple audio elements, but expertly handled for maximum impact. That's what radio should be about.

And the bit at the end where Fincham intros the song? I think most people will find it funny. But only people who have been on the other side of the microphone will fully appreciate the humor.

- Ralph

Day 135 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU and the Dull Surprise

So this morning I did another fund-raising marathon program for WTJU. If you've been following the saga, you'll know that I've had a program under just about every set of circumstances (good and bad) during WTJU's fall fund drive.

This morning I did a jazz show featuring the music of Buddy Rich. So how did I do? Slightly better than I did Saturday evening, but I still raised only a fraction of what I did the week before.

On the plus side, I was in my regular time slot. In theory I should have been talking to the same people that listen to my show throughout the year.

On the minus side, I wasn't playing classical music; the genre normally heard in that time slot.

And the results were disastrous. For the past five days, we've been airing classical music throughout the day, driving away listeners who are used to hearing jazz, folk or rock programming at specific times. Last night we finished classical fund-raising programming, and started jazz.

So in the middle of the week, the station goes completely to jazz. The jazz listeners who would perhaps respond to this programming were nowhere to be found this morning. And why should we expect them to be? First, that time slot has always been classical music, so jazz lovers have learned not to turn on the dial before 9:00AM, when jazz programming normally starts.

As for my regular audience? Well, I think they gave generously Friday morning when I was on (remember, most people maintain the same listening habits Monday through Friday) and were done.

And those that weren't? Well, I'm sure once they heard the Buddy Rich Big Band swinging hard they knew there was no classical music this morning. *Click*

So the classical audience left, and the jazz audience didn't show up. Several of my fellow volunteers were surprised that the show did so poorly since I had been so successful last week. Nothing surprising about it -- for those who understand how radio works.

I did as well as I could -- and I really do appreciate the calls from the few folks who did pledge -- but it's tough to fight reality.

- Ralph

Day 134 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU and the Shifting Gear (sans clutch)

Today I hosted a lunchtime fund-raising program at WTJU. There's been a good conversation going on in the comments field of my last post about the station and the way it raises money.

So how did I do today? Better than Saturday, that's for sure! But was as much as I potentially could have raised?

A number of factors were at work that determined my success (or lack thereof). On the minus side, folks who normally listened to "Walk Right In," the folk program normally heard at this time probably weren't in the mood for Chopin, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Schumann piano music. In fact, if they made WTJU part of their lunch-time routine, they probably tuned out Monday and haven't returned. So the strong following our noonday programming has was gone.

On the plus side, our fund-raising marathon had been running since Friday, so some people understood that classical programming is what they could expect to hear. That audience, was, of course, the same group that regularly listens to classical throughout the year.

So there were some more pledges today than Saturday, but still from the same subset of WTJU's total audience.

And now that folks are getting used to the classical programming, we'll switch gears tonight and hit them with five days of jazz.

Now don't get me wrong: there are a lot of really great jazz shows scheduled, and a whole series of live, in studio performances with some phenomenal regional jazz artists. As far as content goes, it will be wonderful.

But the classical listeners who tune in tomorrow expecting more of the same will be disappointed. As will any folk or rock programming listeners who tune in hoping the madness is over and they can get back to their routine.

And the jazz listeners? Well, some will understand that we've made the switch, but it will take many a few days to get up to speed. At which point the marathon will be over.

I've got a jazz fund-raising program tomorrow morning 6-9AM. It's my usual time slot, but my usual audience expects classical, not jazz. I don't anticipate getting a lot of pledges (not that I won't try my best). Immediately following my show, however, is the regular 9-12 jazz host with a jazz program. I expect it to do very well, as he talks to the audience that he's developed over the years.

To the volunteers at the station, changing formats for the marathon may seem like just shifting gears. But to the listeners it's like grinding the gearbox. Without some kind of clutch to ease the transition, it can be a jarring experience -- one that most radio listeners prefer to avoid.

- Ralph


Day 133 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU and the Shocking Surprise

I won't keep you in suspense. The shocking surprise is that radio has a certain role in people's lives -- regardless of format. And people are creatures of habit.

Think about your own radio listening habits (for those readers who still use the radio, that is). Chances are, you most often listen to the radio in the car. And most often while traveling to and from work. You probably have a few choice stations preset on the dial, and you flip back and forth depending on what's on.

On the weekend, there's probably certain times you like to have the radio on. I like turn it on when I'm in my garage workshop on Saturdays, for example. And I often use it while I'm working in the attic or other home maintenance-type projects where wearing an iPod would either get in the way or be dangerous.

However you use the radio, it's most likely part of a routine. Complicated schedules don't enter into the mix. Either what you want is on, or it isn't. And if it isn't, then you move on to another station where it is.

So when WTJU blew out its regular programming for five days of classical music and five days of jazz, they messed with people's routines. And what do you do if the station you have on isn't playing what you like? Right. Either turn it off, or turn to another station.

My Saturday evening fund-raising program on WTJU did what I thought it would -- very little. Do I fault those that listened and didn't call in? Not really. Because I don't think that many were listening, anyway. I replaced the Saturday program that had it's own [non-classical] following, so I'm sure many people just tuned out.

I've had many discussions with my fellow volunteers about fund-raising at the station. They continually cite anecdotal evidences proving that listeners love our marathon fund-raisers and wouldn't have it any other way. Well, perhaps, but each drive there's a few less of those long-time listeners who contribute. New listeners (especially those who are used to how public radio works in other parts of the country before moving here) don't know about the marathon tradition at WTJU.

All they know is that they turned on the radio one day, and something different was being broadcast on WTJU. And so they went somewhere else.

I understand how people use the radio. And anyone who uses the radio, if they paused to think about it, understands it to. But to many of my colleagues at WTJU? It continues to be a shocking surprise.

- Ralph

Day 132 of the WJMA Web Watch.