Staff Meeting Notes 3/29/15
Welcome:Thanks for joining us here for the Penultimate WESU Staff Meeting before summer break at Wesleyan. Hopefully the snow will be gone by our next (May) meeting!
With no March staff meeting, due to snow, we have a lot of ground to cover including a several updates from the board and a pre pledgedrive talk.
Tech (Mizael):
Adobe defaults: To the people who reconfigure the adobe audition suite and make important things LIKE THE RECORD BUTTON disappear…. please stop! It is great that we can customize many features in this program (outdated as it may be). But it really set other people back when they cannot find the most basic controls when they need them.
It never hurts to reboot the computer if you’re starting a new editing session.
Personnel (Ben G):
Contact info: There’s a new staff list up in Studio A. Please make sure your email and phone are up to date on new staff list in Studio A. Feel free to fill in your phone # on that sheet, or fill it in on today’s attendance sheet.
Training: first sessions happened last week. It’s going well but we can always use more help. Any staff member can volunteer to help teach training, and/or to speak at the Tips and Tricks panel. Get in touch with Ben if you want to do so.
Staff email list: Has everyone here been getting all staff emails? Contact Ben G. if you’re not.
Music Directors:
-Spending our budget for new music. Get in touch with the MDs (wesumd@wesufm.org)
– Seeking suggestions for purchase the station would benefit from adding to the library
– Please get in touch!
Program:
-Reminder that today (Sunday) through this Tuesday are the fifth of the month. So if you have a 1/3/5 show on one of those days, you’re on this week and also next week (the first of the month).
-Julie Burstein speaking event on the horizon – please help and participate! April 8, 7PM, CFA Hall. Julie Burstein founded Studio 360 on WNYC and is overall an awesome person. She’ll be giving a talk about the creative process. Play the promo in the Priority Promo folder!
Events (David):
-Record fair was a great success! Thanks to Lee, David, and everyone who helped pull it off (DJs). It always takes a lot of work but it has continued to grow into a cherished tradition and important fundraising and community outreach event! It’s also a ton of fun!
-sold our entire record fair collection!
-we now have space to store our donated collection.
Public Relations (Tess):
– WESU Magazine: looking for written and audio content.
– New T-shirt designs by Lara and Kaitlin.
-keep a lookout for (temporary) tattoos, other cool merch.
-come to Art Group meetings at 8PM on Thursdays.
Production (Abby):
-Make a promo for your show! Email Abby at production@wesufm.org if you’re interested in getting some help.
-Muslim Women’s Voices – still a few more events, please keep an eye out for and play the promos to help promote this cool and important CFA concert series. (Watch the end dates!)There’s music by one of the artists pinned to the bulletin board in the studio now. Sometimes the artists are available for interviews too!
-For a Radio station, we could do a much better job promoting our own programming to our own listeners. This is not because our production director, Abby is not working hard and producing content of her own as well as helping others. She’s is doing a fantastic job. It’s because many among our 150+ staff haven’t made promos.
-Of the promos we do have, many of them are old. Some show promos are more than 10 years old…. In addition to Abby, there are lots of people on staff who can help you learn to record and edit a new promo. It’s fun!
-Mind you, if you’ll never have a show on WESU again in the same spot after the first 2 weeks of May, when our spring season ends, there are probably better ways to earn a service hour.
Public Affairs (Laura):
– Help gathering info for Public File: this is our way of showing what people talk about on our public affairs folder. If you’re interested in helping to gather this info, get in touch with Laura (publicaffairs@wesufm.org).
– History Rewrite for website: contact Laura & Mizael if you want to help out.
– College Media Conference in NYC: It was super informative to meet people from college radio stations all over the country, and to get a better sense of the media landscape (hooray for buzzwords) that we’re part of. We should definitely keep sending delegates to this!
Election pitch (Danielle and Becca):
Sad but true! We’ll be electing a new Board of Directors at our Next Meeting.
Please consider participating on our form of quasi democratic governance of WESU.
Our elected Board of Directors should reflect the diversity of our staff and programming (including CVs, who have been absent from the board for too long)
Letters of intent need to be posted by 4/19, 2 weeks before May election/meeting.
To announce candidacy, just send an email to staff list.
We encourage creative campaign letters/posters, videos etc.Candidates will make a pitch and answer questions at the May meeting.
Write-in candidates are allowed at the election but are not able to make a stump speech or field questions like candidates who met the 4/19 deadline.
Very quick pitches from all present board members.
Visit wesufm.org/contact to see all of the positions on the Board, as well as the contact info for each position. If you’re thinking of running, you’re highly encouraged to contact the current board member and chat with them about what they do!
Pledge Drive:
Pledge goal is $20K (same amount as last spring)
What’s different about this pledge drive is that however much we raise, we get to keep it!
Most years during our spring pledge drive we are raising just enough to have balanced budget by the end of the fiscal year (July 1).
Because of our successful capital campaign to raise money for upgrades, we have essentially raised enough money to balance the budget.
Anything we raise at this point will “profit” the station!
In that sense this is a VERY IMPORTANT DRIVE as it will essentially be the capstone of our 2-year capital campaign.
By raising $20K we should be able to:
Purchase at least one new mixing board
refurbish the current board and relocate to studio C.
redesign and get some new consoles and furniture in the 2 main studios. Tighten them up soundwise.
make studio b more productive for group conversations/meetings and live performance art.
With 20K we can do that! If we only raise $5K we won’t even be able to replace a mixing board. The money we raise in this drive will ensure that the money that we have raised for this project will be used as it was intended.
We received to several large donations last pledge drive specifically for this upgrade—as well as hundreds of smaller donations but just as important contributions from the various communities we serve.
Long story short – If we raise 15K we get to keep the 15K that we are ahead by. If we raise $20K we get to spend it all on station upgrades.
This is why we are shooting for $20K, which seems very doable considering we raised that amount last spring and just raised nearly $30K in our Fall drive. And of course, the fact that more staff are now inspired to participate.
it’s all about finding a the right way to connect with the various communities we serve. Your contribution to the pledge drive and the station should reflect that.
If more staff really make the effort, more listeners will donate and WESU will be better!
Also, we are working on revising the online giving system that should make it more user friendly and more like a shopping cart, per staff and donor suggestions.
With no March staff meeting, due to snow, we have a lot of ground to cover including a several updates from the board and a pre pledgedrive talk.
Tech (Mizael):
Adobe defaults: To the people who reconfigure the adobe audition suite and make important things LIKE THE RECORD BUTTON disappear…. please stop! It is great that we can customize many features in this program (outdated as it may be). But it really set other people back when they cannot find the most basic controls when they need them.
It never hurts to reboot the computer if you’re starting a new editing session.
Personnel (Ben G):
Contact info: There’s a new staff list up in Studio A. Please make sure your email and phone are up to date on new staff list in Studio A. Feel free to fill in your phone # on that sheet, or fill it in on today’s attendance sheet.
Training: first sessions happened last week. It’s going well but we can always use more help. Any staff member can volunteer to help teach training, and/or to speak at the Tips and Tricks panel. Get in touch with Ben if you want to do so.
Staff email list: Has everyone here been getting all staff emails? Contact Ben G. if you’re not.
Music Directors:
-Spending our budget for new music. Get in touch with the MDs (wesumd@wesufm.org)
– Seeking suggestions for purchase the station would benefit from adding to the library
– Please get in touch!
Program:
-Reminder that today (Sunday) through this Tuesday are the fifth of the month. So if you have a 1/3/5 show on one of those days, you’re on this week and also next week (the first of the month).
-Julie Burstein speaking event on the horizon – please help and participate! April 8, 7PM, CFA Hall. Julie Burstein founded Studio 360 on WNYC and is overall an awesome person. She’ll be giving a talk about the creative process. Play the promo in the Priority Promo folder!
Events (David):
-Record fair was a great success! Thanks to Lee, David, and everyone who helped pull it off (DJs). It always takes a lot of work but it has continued to grow into a cherished tradition and important fundraising and community outreach event! It’s also a ton of fun!
-sold our entire record fair collection!
-we now have space to store our donated collection.
Public Relations (Tess):
– WESU Magazine: looking for written and audio content.
– New T-shirt designs by Lara and Kaitlin.
-keep a lookout for (temporary) tattoos, other cool merch.
-come to Art Group meetings at 8PM on Thursdays.
Production (Abby):
-Make a promo for your show! Email Abby at production@wesufm.org if you’re interested in getting some help.
-Muslim Women’s Voices – still a few more events, please keep an eye out for and play the promos to help promote this cool and important CFA concert series. (Watch the end dates!)There’s music by one of the artists pinned to the bulletin board in the studio now. Sometimes the artists are available for interviews too!
-For a Radio station, we could do a much better job promoting our own programming to our own listeners. This is not because our production director, Abby is not working hard and producing content of her own as well as helping others. She’s is doing a fantastic job. It’s because many among our 150+ staff haven’t made promos.
-Of the promos we do have, many of them are old. Some show promos are more than 10 years old…. In addition to Abby, there are lots of people on staff who can help you learn to record and edit a new promo. It’s fun!
-Mind you, if you’ll never have a show on WESU again in the same spot after the first 2 weeks of May, when our spring season ends, there are probably better ways to earn a service hour.
Public Affairs (Laura):
– Help gathering info for Public File: this is our way of showing what people talk about on our public affairs folder. If you’re interested in helping to gather this info, get in touch with Laura (publicaffairs@wesufm.org).
– History Rewrite for website: contact Laura & Mizael if you want to help out.
– College Media Conference in NYC: It was super informative to meet people from college radio stations all over the country, and to get a better sense of the media landscape (hooray for buzzwords) that we’re part of. We should definitely keep sending delegates to this!
Election pitch (Danielle and Becca):
Sad but true! We’ll be electing a new Board of Directors at our Next Meeting.
Please consider participating on our form of quasi democratic governance of WESU.
Our elected Board of Directors should reflect the diversity of our staff and programming (including CVs, who have been absent from the board for too long)
Letters of intent need to be posted by 4/19, 2 weeks before May election/meeting.
To announce candidacy, just send an email to staff list.
We encourage creative campaign letters/posters, videos etc.Candidates will make a pitch and answer questions at the May meeting.
Write-in candidates are allowed at the election but are not able to make a stump speech or field questions like candidates who met the 4/19 deadline.
Very quick pitches from all present board members.
Visit wesufm.org/contact to see all of the positions on the Board, as well as the contact info for each position. If you’re thinking of running, you’re highly encouraged to contact the current board member and chat with them about what they do!
Pledge Drive:
Pledge goal is $20K (same amount as last spring)
What’s different about this pledge drive is that however much we raise, we get to keep it!
Most years during our spring pledge drive we are raising just enough to have balanced budget by the end of the fiscal year (July 1).
Because of our successful capital campaign to raise money for upgrades, we have essentially raised enough money to balance the budget.
Anything we raise at this point will “profit” the station!
In that sense this is a VERY IMPORTANT DRIVE as it will essentially be the capstone of our 2-year capital campaign.
By raising $20K we should be able to:
Purchase at least one new mixing board
refurbish the current board and relocate to studio C.
redesign and get some new consoles and furniture in the 2 main studios. Tighten them up soundwise.
make studio b more productive for group conversations/meetings and live performance art.
With 20K we can do that! If we only raise $5K we won’t even be able to replace a mixing board. The money we raise in this drive will ensure that the money that we have raised for this project will be used as it was intended.
We received to several large donations last pledge drive specifically for this upgrade—as well as hundreds of smaller donations but just as important contributions from the various communities we serve.
Long story short – If we raise 15K we get to keep the 15K that we are ahead by. If we raise $20K we get to spend it all on station upgrades.
This is why we are shooting for $20K, which seems very doable considering we raised that amount last spring and just raised nearly $30K in our Fall drive. And of course, the fact that more staff are now inspired to participate.
it’s all about finding a the right way to connect with the various communities we serve. Your contribution to the pledge drive and the station should reflect that.
If more staff really make the effort, more listeners will donate and WESU will be better!
Also, we are working on revising the online giving system that should make it more user friendly and more like a shopping cart, per staff and donor suggestions.
