August 2004 RAP
August 2004 Highlights
Feature: Don't Flunk the Fest Test - How to Survive Your
Station's Big Summer Show
By Steve Stone
Hi! Pretty fun this time of the month. You know! The latest edition of
the only publication dedicated to us boys and girls of radio production.
Ahhhhh, love the smell of fresh ink! Eh, okay I'm not gonna get too weird,
but RAP mag is a definite highlight for me. Let me start by saying that when
I was working as a radio Creative Director, the most exciting and the most
dreaded time of the year for me was our "summer festival." Oh sure, its the
musical highlight of a stations year, and the opportunity to get really
creative is a definite plus but lets be honest; its a crap load of work!
Interview: Ric Gonzalez, Infinity Broadcasting, Austin,
TX
By Jerry Vigil
They're not commonplace yet, but "Creative Services Directors" for the
sales side of radio are popping up here and there. They're not new, but they
still seem rare. Ric Gonzalez is the Creative Services Director for
Infinity's 4-station cluster in Austin, Texas ( market rank #42). Unlike the
CSD whose main responsibilities are usually the stations imaging, Ric takes
that same focus on quality and creativity and applies it to the stations
in-house produced commercials. The results are happy clients, happy
salespeople, some awards to hang on the wall, and "radio" made a little
better for everybody involved, including the listener. Be sure to check out
a sampler of Ric's work on this months RAP CD!
Test Drive: Adobe Audition Version 1.5
By Craig Jackman
In the beginning there was Syntrillium, a small software company Okay,
one guy, David Johnston (a.k.a. The Creator), and the freeware audio
application Cool Edit. And, it was good. Cool Edit begat Cool Edit 96, which
added a bunch of extra features and sold for real money at a reasonable
price. The ability to multitrack was needed, so Cool Edit 96 begat Cool Edit
Pro 1.0 (CEP), which in rapid succession begat Cool Edit Pro 1.1, Cool Edit
Pro 1.2, Cool Edit Pro 1.2a, Cool Edit 2000, Cool Edit Pro 2.0, and Cool
Edit Pro 2.1. In the intervening years the winning equation of low price
compared to a seemingly endless list of included features resulted in a
legion of devoted and rabid followers (including followers like me!). The
business food chain being what it is, it was inevitable that Syntrillium
would be swallowed by a bigger fish, and it was when Adobe Systems acquired
the technology assets of Syntrillium. Development didnt stop as Adobe began
integrating Syntrillium into their company with the goodwill free upgrade to
Audition 1.0. Audition 1.5 is the heir to the Syntrillium line, and the
first real injection of Adobes DNA into the bloodline. Like a lot of
offspring, if you just look on the surface, you may not see a lot of
changes, but take the time to look closely enough and you'll see some
significant changes.
Production 212: My FAQ Sheet
By Dave Foxx
I really need to publish a FAQ. I get about 100 pieces of email every
month from subscribers like you, asking pretty much the same questions.
They're all pretty good questions, but Id like to see some new ones. To that
end, here is a list of my most Frequently Asked Questions with the answers.
I don't want to discourage anyone from writing to me, unless they're selling
software, mortgage discounts, debt management, Viagra or any other sex
industry products. (I'm really afraid to even look at some of these things!)
Please DO write. I love getting email from broadcast professionals.
Radio Hed: The Story Spine
By Jeffrey Hedquist
The Story Spine is a template originally created by Kenn Adams, a
playwright and improvisational actor, to aid improvisers and writers in
creating well-made stories. It can give you the bones or structure of a
story on which to hang your commercial and give it flow.
Begin each sentence or part of the story with one of the numbered phrases.
To demonstrate how this works, I've included an example of notes for a
commercial we created for Carroll's Home Design Studio. The finished spot is
on this months RAP CD.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Have you produced a
promo or commercial that received listener requests?
This months Q It Up is a fun one! It comes with audio for every response.
Although the question garnered limited response, probably due to the rare
nature of promos and commercials that get listener requests, we received a
nice collection of some extraordinary audio, which is featured on this
months RAP CD. Enjoy!
Q It Up: Have you ever produced a commercial or promo that
actually received requests from listeners to be played again? Tell us about
it. What made it so special? If you still have a copy of it, attach an mp3
with your reply and well put it on the RAP CD!
The Monday Morning Memo: Selling to Introverts
By Roy H. Williams
The ratio of extraverts to intro verts in our nation is 50.5 to 49.5
percent. So why do sales trainers assume that every customer is extraverted?
Extraverts like to engage you verbally, believing that dialog produces
superior thinking. Consequently, the best way to keep an extravert thinking
about your product is to continue talking with them about it. But that's the
worst thing you can do when selling the half of America that's introverted.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
I happened to be in the newsroom when the tour came through. None of us
saw them coming; the cubicle walls are about 4 feet high, giving even the
tallest a good 3 inches of cover. For all we knew, the promotions guy was
just there for the same reason I was drop in, see what condition the news
folks conditions were in. By the time the first little head popped around
the corner, it was too late to scatter.
RAP Forum: Production Nightmares
By Sean Bell
We've all done it at some time or another had a major, production
nightmare. I know I have. And it was a boss, Jon, at a production company I
used to work at who reassured me that it was okay. "You'll learn from your
mistake Sean, and then never make the same mistake again" Yer right!
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