Hey everybody!
Wow, times flies when you are fighting a pandemic!
Actually, I can't blame Covid for neglecting this blog although it seems like everything gets blamed on the virus these days and I can't lie, it's tempting to do so. However the truth of the matter is I just plain forgot about this blog in all the hubbub of everyday living.
Well, then, this is the update from Gawd only knows how long ago.
The station has weathered a move by the government to cut off student funding and in response the listening community rose to the occasion with a record membership drive. Then the funding cut was appealed. THEN, by gum, the university shut down and everyone stayed home to finish their courses from the safety of somewhere else so once again the money issues reared their ugly heads. Yikes.
Of course, there arose the issue of how to keep content on the air that was current and fresh when no one except the station manager could enter the building. To date he has been at CIUT 105+ days with one day off and that was the day the computer decided to "make changes" to the broadcast schedule. Clearly separation anxiety on its part if you ask me.
However for the rest of us it has been a "jump into the deep end and swim" situation with many of us learning how to put together a show from home to export to the station in time for the usual time slot.
I personally went through three, count em, three different software applications before landing on Garage Band (which, in retrospect, I should have really started with) to build Ruby Slippers and try to keep it listenable. Fun fact, when we are live to air, it's one and done. Sure the playlist takes time to figure out and in my case, I burn it to disc and run it from old CD players (not quite Old Skool but getting there) with an identical playlist on Spotify in the event of an equipment failure. Been know to happen, I'm not going to lie. The most stunning example of that was when the players quit on the night that the show after mine didn't have anyone coming in (Surprise!) and I had to program on the fly. Not one of my finer moments. Likely never going to live that one down, particularly as I pleaded on air for someone to at least call and tell me if they were coming in. Turns out it was just a miscommunication between the scheduler and the hosts. Actually, my heart is racing just writing about it even now.
Where was I?
Oh ya, teaching old dogs new tricks. So, week after week it has been a 4-5 hour commitment per hour of programming (not including picking and arranging the music) to try to level the volumes, filter the tracks to homogenize them into a listenable product without destroying the actual tracks (no one should mess with an artist's baby, I just mean eliminating hiss and such) plus of course the usual posting of playlists and social media. How ironic that the pandemic that shut down our access to the station freed up the time to do all of this? Closing door, opening windows, etc etc.
So that's where we were up to last week. Moving on, when it became apparent that nobody was coming in to man the phones and do live pitches for a membership drive the whole kit and kaboodle was prerecorded and slotted into the prima donna computer. Despite that the listening audience (Yes, you, I'm looking at YOU) came through and generously donated the money needed to keep the transmitter humming. We couldn't give you tshirts or trips or anything this time, and you STILL dug deep to find money to help out.
That, my friends, is community and why we keep showing up to do this stuff week after week after week.
So I guess what I have to say is a big thank you on behalf of the folks on the air, behind the scenes, staying in the studio for months on end without even a soccer ball named Wilson, and other listeners who maybe couldn't help with funding but still support the place by listening.
In my books, you are all radio stars.
Stay safe and thanks for listening.
