December 2002 RAP
December 2002 Highlights
Feature: Avoiding Computer Injuries in the Workplace
By Don Elliot
With workload increases bound to happen, these are some thoughts on how
to protect yourself physically from the computer and make it your friend
before it consumes you alive! Its hard to look out for something that subtly
sneaks up on you a few extra spots one week, a dozen more than usual the
next Friday. You still get it done, but you find yourself working non-stop.
You find you have stopped socializing with people you used to be friendlier
with at work. You don't take breaks. You find yourself drinking more coffee
but fewer bathroom breaks and a lot of holding it (your breath). (Grin).
Your lunches get shorter, and sometimes you find yourself not taking one at
all. Maybe you used to exercise or walk at lunch. The time just flashes by.
Radio Hed: Writing to Sound Effects
By Jeffrey Hedquist
What sound would you use for the breaking of writers block? When your
creative juices have dried up, go your sound effects library, close your
eyes, and just pick a sound effect at random! Then give yourself two minutes
to write a commercial for your client using that sound effect. No matter
what the sound effect is, commit to going through the process and see what
happens. Try a few different SFX, and eventually something will click.
You'll get a cohesive commercial out of it.
Interview: Neil Holmes, Voice Creative, Charlottesville,
VA
By Jerry Vigil
Though it seems most of the initial effects of consolidation should be
behind us by now, there are aftershocks that continue to shake the
production departments in many markets, and unfortunately, many Production
Directors continue to find themselves out of a job. With the job market for
production pros shrinking further, this leaves little choice to the
downsized Prod Pro who wants to stay in the business but to seek another
production gig at another station, almost assuredly for less pay, or to
start his or her own production house, oftentimes servicing those very
stations who let them go, along with a few others. Last year, after a
typical multi-station deal that produced one too many production people,
Neil Holmes opted to start his own business. This months RAP Interview gets
an up close look at what this process has been like in the early going for
Neil's company, Voice Creative. Unlike some of the more fortunate former
radio types who left radio with dozens of high-paying freelance clients
already on the line, Neil pretty much started from scratch. The good news
is, there's lots of work out there. The bad news is, unlike the paycheck
they used to hand you at the radio station, you have to go get this check.
It doesn't come to you.
Test Drive: CD Architect 5.0 from Sonic Foundry
By Steve Cunningham
Its baaaaack... After a long hiatus, Sonic Foundry has re-released CD
Architect as a stand-alone application. Long considered to be one of the
most comprehensive CD burning programs for any platform, CD Architect
version 5.0 has added several new features along with support for both USB-
and Firewire-connected CD drives.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Who Were Your Mentors
- Part 1
Q It Up: What people had the most influence on
developing your skills, and what are a couple of the important things they
taught you?
Production 212: DEFCON 1
By Dave Foxx
Every year about this time, I think the world is about to end because I'm
jumping around like a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. You too? Its
enough to make you hate the Holidays! Well, its certainly enough to make one
very cynical. Bah, HUMBUG!
I guess the one thing that always pushes me over the edge is "Jingle Ball,"
Z100s annual Christmas show at Madison Square Garden. Every year it seems to
get bigger and more elaborate, and every year the push for promos seems to
be headed up a steeper incline. So far, I've done 60 promos, and were not
even through the second week! {Sigh} But it IS a killer show and a proven
ratings booster.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
I remember that call every year. Its a memory that sits on the same shelf
as the year I got my electric train, my first school holiday pageant, my
daughters eyes when she saw her first Christmas tree, and the complete
loneliness of spending my first Christmas Eve away from my children after
the divorce. Its all a part of what makes the holidays for me now. Giddy
excitement tempered with a little tasteful restraint, deadline-induced
insanity balanced with peaceful moments to share with family and friends.
There are smiles, there are tears, there is fun, and there is the real joy
that is better than any present. It is the best of times, it is the worst of
times, but above all else, it is more than putting bells in a spot.
Way Off the Mark: Classified Ads
By Mark Margulies
A towing service operator who also has a deli, convenience store and
restaurant on site A nightclub owner who wants to make sure every night of
the week is mentioned in their ad A restaurant owner, who wants all their
weekly specials listed
These and dozens of other examples you can cite in your weekly log are what
we "affectionately" refer to as classified ads. Day after day, week after
week, were forced to write and produce these monstrosities under the guise
of "its the clients money -- they should be able to get what they want on
the air."
Feature: My Best Christmas Yet
By Ed Thompson
The frost nearly obscured the view through the tall windows of Ekstrand
Elementary School. But nothing could obscure the clock high on the wall in
Mrs. Hansen's 5th grade class. It was nearly 3 o'clock. The bell would ring
at 3:05, and school would be released in a symphony of children's voices
raised in celebration of two weeks of Christmas vacation. 3:05 came as it
always does, right at 3:05. Never soon enough for a fidgety 11 year old boy
whose Christmas vacation would be much more adventurous than previous
Christmas breaks filled with snow fort construction, sledding parties at
Springbrook Country Club, and opening presents on Christmas Day. Nope. This
Christmas vacation, Mom and Dad would pick this lad and his two brothers up
from school and leave directly for San Diego, California.
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