December 2005 RAP
December 2005 Highlights
Feature: You've Got Your Square "Rock" Peg, in My Round
"Country" Hole! - Multi Format Producing
By Steve Stone
I don’t care what anybody says, today’s radio imaging Production Director
is the most overworked employee at a radio station. Oh sure, the GM and PD
may have more responsibility, but the fact is, when 5 o’clock on Friday
comes, everyone jets out of the station faster than a marriage counselor at
a "Danny Bonaduce Husband of the Year" ceremony. The only one still around
is you! Why? Because you’re the one who has to get that weekend promo on the
air! Let’s face facts, you are the life spark of creativity and your audio
masterpieces are the glue that holds it all together. You’re the one that
makes the station pop and sizzle. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
Now how do you do it for more than one station? It’s not easy to
successfully produce high-end imaging for multiple formats at the same time.
No matter what the format, or multiples of stations, it’s done everyday and
you can do it too, without bringing a sleeping bag to work.
Interview: Yaman Coskun, Clear Channel, Washington, D.C.
By Jerry Vigil
When you’re truly passionate about this business, it seems there’s no
limit to what you can do. Yaman Coskun is a prime example. Bitten with the
passion at age nine using a walkie-talkie as a “radio” transmitter, Yaman
was “on the air.” His passion has fueled him through an illustrious career
in radio including several successful years on the ad agency/prod house side
of things. But it is radio that has most recently called him back as Clear
Channel’s Creative Director of Sales for their Washington D.C./Baltimore
cluster. Yaman shares highlights of his 20+ year career and focuses on his
role with Clear Channel’s Creative Services Group and “Less Is More.” Be
sure to check out Yaman’s demo on this month’s RAP CD!
Production 212: Less Really Is More
By Dave Foxx
This column has nothing to do with Clear Channel’s mantra of the last
several months. (Some people outside the company have been thinking that the
math doesn’t add up and that less really is LESS, but I digress already.)
This column is about something entirely different. It’s about clarity of
thought.
Feature: Pack Rat
By Craig Jackman
I’ve discovered that I can be a bit of a pack rat. Why else would I hang
onto and store some of the stuff that I have, not only through a couple of
moves, but through a couple of different companies as well? In my defense, I
have to say that technology has played a part in this too, as most of what
I’ve kept has been for technology that was once a cornerstone of the studio.
Radio Hed: Rewrite It
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Here’s the tough news: Great radio is a matter of rewriting more than
writing. Ernest Hemingway rewrote "A Farewell to Arms" 39 times. His effort
paid off. He won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes for literature. All you want
to do is reach the imaginations of a few jaded consumers and motivate them
to buy from your client… and maybe win an award or two in the process.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
Unlike Santa, I don’t check my list twice. That’s probably because I
don’t make lists. This might explain why I scramble every year at the last
second to find a present for someone I forgot. It’s not that the forgotten
person isn’t important to me. There’s just a lot going on this time of year,
many people I’d like to remember with a gift. So many to remember, I always
forget somebody. It’s become a holiday tradition of sorts, the seasonal
scramble. I’d like to break with tradition this year. In fact, I’ve already
started the list, if only in my head.
Feature: Waiting For the Miracle
By Ed Thompson
In my heart, I am a hopeless romantic. My favorite movie? Casablanca.
Ilsa Lund is the most beautiful woman God ever put on this planet, and Rick,
who says he’s no good at being noble, does the noble thing and lets her walk
off into the fog. My favorite baseball team? The Chicago Cubs. 1908. Need I
say more? My favorite Christmas carol? Stille Nacht, performed by Manheim
Steamroller, a perfect marriage of piano and violin finishing with sleigh
bells and a child’s piano. Brings me to tears every time I hear it. What
makes me a hopeless romantic? I’d like to think that romance is born from a
sense of optimism.
Feature: I Need Three Ears - Adventures in Radio, and
Production
By Ian Fish
Every year at Heart FM we organize a huge charity event, and technical
nightmare, called "Run For Home" where we take over 1200 of our most
dedicated listeners to a secret venue far away. That is, far away in English
terms. By American standards it’s the sort of distance that somebody who is
used to driving on freeways twelve lanes wide would travel to buy the
groceries. In the UK, any journey of twenty miles or more requires the sort
of planning and backup that goes into artic exploration — which explains why
the Brits were able to discover America in the first place… lots of practice
planning just getting around our small island.
Monday Morning Memo: Deconstructing a Great Ad
By Roy H. Williams
Transactional and Relational are the two styles of selling and the two
modes of buying. Customers in Transactional mode are concerned only with
today’s transaction. They enjoy the process of shopping, comparing, and
negotiating. Their only fear is paying more than they had to pay. Relational
customers don’t relish the idea of comparison shopping. Their only fear is
"buying the wrong one." This is why they’re hoping to find an expert they
can trust. Good ads target one mindset or the other.
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