WESU All Staff Meeting Notes

by Posted on

Studio etiquette/default Reminders

  • Late night please turn down studio monitors and head phones.
  • Do not let hp cords hit the floor. They are long and get caught in wheels, tripped over and eventually within 1 year broken. We go through 5-10 of these per year.
  • Be aware, mindful and friendly with all others working at WESU. Big diverse groups that work well together let’s keep it that way by not stepping on each other’s toes.
  • Be mindful especially of the person who is on air
  • No FSRN  at 6pm, for now Feature Story news in its place.

Training – Tips and Tricks (EKM)
– Annual T&T is coming up. Nov. 17th @ 5pm in PAC001
– Looking for DJs for that panel
– Email eliza—personnel@wesufm.org, an email is coming
– Look out for those interns!—remember only two at once, the studio experience is key!
Calendar update
– Be mindful of the 1/3/5 and 2/4 schedules
Announce Hard Nips  (Izzy, where when, staffing, public status? Promos?)
– Please play the Promo
– Nov 16th @ Eclectic: Hard Nips and open to the Public/Free
CMJ Report from MDs? (Just a quick word would be awesome)
– DW, RG and EH all went to the MusicMarathon
– Working on the Recap for the blog, look out for that
December meeting date change! To Dec 8 – same place and time
pivotal meeting, please come!
let us know, students especially, if you can’t come
Open House went great – Thanks to Rob and Red and Black for the dangerous cookie and hot beverage station. Was well attended by alumni, wes faculty, and current and prospective staff family! We even sold some merchandise!
Record Fair – Success! Congrats and thanks to Izzy, and the volunteer staff with special props to NG, and LB for the ridiculous amount of work they both put in!
Twitter – DP 2 feeds:  schedule and general… more info?
– should be ready for the pledge drive
Spring elections for Public Affairs and Personnel next meeting 12/8
Email the board, let us know if you want to run!
Pledge drive – As a result of the Wesleyan academic calendar and success of our spring pledge drive we are changing the way we conduct our Fall Winter Pledge drive at WESU.
Make sure you do your due diligence when it comes to finding replacements for your show. With the board and potential fill-ins.
MYRP openingsI Needs some love, email personnel@wesufm.org if you are interested in becoming a part of this unique thing we do.
Any other station questions comments concerns before we get into Pledge drive and 75th anniversary plans?
CC says good job
Cosmic updates and we are working on studio B
More from Ben on Pledge Drive:
Basically we got rid of the one week heavy handed traditional drive in favor of a longer, less frantic, and more strategic approach, that we ease into in November, continuing into December (if need be).
We are calling this our “Kinder gentler” approach to fundraising, in contrast to the typical strong handed tactic of the condensed one week telethon model we have used since we started a new model last spring. **Please do not use the term “silent pledge drive” we toyed with last spring**
Despite the inherent risk, that drive was out most successful fundraising effort yet. This isn’t to say we cannot or shouldn’t solicit pledges over the air. Please do! We encourage you to get the pledges by any means necessary.  We’ve even added some incentives to encourage you to be successful.
This year, if you raise: $100 – you get a WESU T-Shirt, If you raise $200 –you get a Hoody and…  
The person/show who raise the most donations will get a combo pack and another special prize, TBA.
**Make sure you advise all of your donors to include your name/show name in the appropriate field when making a donation!
New online donation system is up and running (As of this week): most of you probably didn’t notice but we had no live donation link over the summer. This is more streamlined and is more like a shopping cart than a form/survey we have used in the past. ACTEVA IS A BAD BAD COMPANY !!! STAY AWAY
The campaign begins with a mass mailing going out this week to nearly 700 past donors. To be followed up by:

  • Recorded Promotions: We are getting rid of the majority of old promos and are working on a whole new batch that clearly conveys the new approach.  The board has already created a new batch that should be available this week. Hanna can provide details on when and where you can find them?  For now we ask that you play at least one of them during each hour of your program.  As we continue we will increase frequency with a goal of unrolling a new batch of promos throughout the campaign rather than all at once to be repeated throughout the effort.
  • Social networking will continue to be an important way for us to connect with our listeners and will be utilized through duration of campaign for updates and special incentives.
  • Email campaign to past donors, guests, ad ticket winners – thanks to IM Work Study
  • Your own creative efforts, including on and off air approaches.  We will have packets available at our December meeting similar to our spring drive.  These will have some form of a station update, pledge pitch, and include pledge forms for you to put in the hands of the friends, family and other people in your community who value your experience at WESU.  This was very successful last spring!
  • WE NEED MATCHING DONORS!! They make a huge difference. Employers, family businesses, and family trusts or just deep pockets… Please look into this. Last year we got donations from P, P, and some generous family members and alumni, to the tune of $500 to $2,250 (when an alumni parent said they would cover half of the remaining $4,500 during the last week.  

Our goal this Fall will be to Raise $13,000 (last fall we aimed for $10K and got $12K). I am hopeful and think it is possible that the return will be more like our Spring success of $15K!
Questions ? Concerns comments?
Back to MB
75th Anniversary

  • Committee Meeting to follow this one. Please join us. We have met once and have some great ideas for our campaign to celebrate the legacy of WESU and give something back to the community.
  • New T-shirt design has been selected and is being refined – reveal later this week?
  • BM will provide an overall update on where things are currently at.

    Over to BM – or MB, if you want to handle this or part of it:

We are still honing in on our branding but so far, the ambitious campaign includes live events, public exhibits and displays. This is in addition to our own promotions, new 75th anniversary gear for sale, and on air coverage.
I encourage each of you to consider how you can join us in this effort.  I myself am working on a program concept, featuring people, bands, and occurrences from WESU’s past.  Ideally this could create content for our film project. More on that later…
In addition to all of this WESU will commemorate this milestone by giving back to the community by using airtime to spotlight nonprofit and community organizations in our listening area throughout the entire year.
Hopefully all of this will result in strengthening our community connections, provide some great public relations opportunities for us, and help us develop stronger community support.
This campaign will last throughout the entire calendar year, which is quickly approaching.  Setting a goal of raising an additional $25-$30K to upgrade our studios and kick off a film project about the history of WESU.  Studio upgrades: New Mixing consoles for the studios ($14K), backup power ($11K).
Events: A series of concerts, and other live events at various venues reaching out to the listening communities we serve most directly. Caribbean, Gospel, Folk, Oldies, indie rock, Local artists, hip hop, and EDM.  We should work on events for our public affairs listeners as well. Perhaps some can be coupled with music, film, or other events.
The 75th Anniversary should be fun and rewarding but will require the help of many to pull off.
So far we have a great team. Please feel free to stick around for the 2nd half of the meeting to participate!

Published by wesugm