April 2008 RAP
April 2008 Highlights
The ballots are in, and your votes have been counted! This year's
competition was another close race with the usual ties in several
categories. Kudos to Drake Donovan, Jerry Long, Rob Vavrek, Andrew Crothers,
Dave Cruickshank, Chris Nicoll, and Arden Hanley, who take home the “gold”
this year, and to the copywriters and VO talents who helped them get there!
All but Rob Vavrek are first time RAP Award trophy winners! Rob picks up his
3rd trophy! Please join us in congratulating all the winners, runners-up and
finalists of the 18th Annual Radio And Production Awards!
Interview: Adam Burgess, The One Network, Bristol,
United Kingdom
by Jerry Vigil
As the regular stream of contributions for the RAP CD come through the
Inbox, occasionally we’ll hear a piece of work from somebody new that makes
you go, “Whoa… who’s this guy?” Adam Burgess is his name, and he’s climbing
the imaging ladder rather quickly. Still in his early twenties, he’s the
Network Imaging Producer for GCap’s One Network in the UK. This CHR
formatted network consists of over 40 stations and reaches an audience of
nearly seven million people. This month’s RAP Interview gets acquainted with
Adam and takes a peek at the One Network. Be sure and check out this month’s
RAP CD for an ear-poppin’ sample of Adam’s work.
Production 212: Avoiding the Speed Bumps
by Dave Foxx
Well, I’ve already heard back from a number of you about last month’s
column, It Ain’t Quadratic Equations. I’m pleased to say that with some
minor glitches, everybody seems to be getting it quite nicely. I’m doubly
pleased, because it means I wrote a fairly clear explanation of how to edit
music so that it remains true to what was originally penned. I am also
pleased because it means I can jump right into this month’s topic, making
the music fit your promo.
Radio Hed: Defuse the Objection Bombs
by Jeffrey Hedquist
When your advertiser is face to face with prospects, or on the phone with
them, or in an email or IM dialogue with them, and a buying objection is
presented, a good salesperson can overcome potential customers’ objections
and turn the skeptics into buyers. But for every spoken objection, there are
many voiced by potential customers in their own minds and hearts. Then they
decide not to call, visit or click. The advertiser never gets the
opportunity to convert a potential customer to an actual one.
Test Drive: Pro Tools Workflow Enhancements for Mac:
Snapper & PT Plug-in Manager
by Steve Cunningham
This month I’ve decided to focus on a couple of software enhancements
that significantly speed up my Pro Tools workflow on the Macintosh computer.
For those of you on Windows, fear not — I’m putting together a collection of
workflow utilities for the PC as well. If you have a favorite workflow
enhancement for Windows, please drop me a line at
rapreviews@audiotechsupport.com and I’ll get after it. But for now we’re
gonna look at zippy tools on the Mac. Rather than making newer and perhaps
stranger noises, these specifically make the work go a bit faster.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks! - How Does Your Station
Deal With "Pro-mercials"?
Q It Up: How do you deal with “pro-mercials” — you know,
those inevitable “promos” that end up sounding more like commercials after
the client has provided you with their “mandatory” copy facts? How critical
is it that the client is 100% satisfied with the final promo? Do they have a
say in the music or the voice used? How do you deal with their desire to
have their phone numbers and website addresses in the promo? Do you give
them a chance to “approve the copy”? How about approval of the final
production? Where are the lines drawn? How do you keep it on the “promo”
side of things?
...And Make It Real Creative - Things Change
by Trent Rentsch
You’d think I’d have learned by now. No matter how “right” I am, it turns
out that my wife is. Example… I was kicking around ideas for this column,
and she suggested that I write about hunting for a job. “Nah, been there,
did that… last month, remember?” She shook her head. “No, talk about all the
things you need to go through, getting everything prepared, where to look,
all of that.” Again, I disagreed. “I don’t want to come off like a whiner,
just because I haven’t found a job in a month!” She gave me that smile. “You
wouldn’t. You might help someone else in your situation. Isn’t that why you
write the column anyway?” It still took me a few hours to admit she was
right… I am man, hear me give in.
Monday Morning Memo: Peter Pan and Superman
by Roy H. Williams
Glance at the headline above and you think, “Imaginary characters.” Add
angels to that list and the category will blur to “Characters who do good”
if you’re a believer in angels, but will remain unchanged if you consider
them to be imaginary. Change it to read “Peter Pan, Superman, Angels and
Airplanes” and a new category will emerge, “Things that can fly.” Pattern
recognition is an important function of the right hemisphere of your brain.
Grouping is a form of pattern recognition.
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