July 2010
44 posts
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Day Twenty Nine - Amanda Niblett, Swing Announcer...
Roller coaster of a day. Up and down and over here and over there. This job hunting thing is getting to me. HOWEVER, although I’m slightly discouraged right now, I am far from giving up. It’s that weird feeling I’ve described in the past. In this business you can have a great looking resume and cover letter, but it all comes down to talent for the majority of the jobs and...
June 2010
46 posts
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Kind Words from Joe Leary - Host, Morning Sports...
I received an email a couple weeks ago and through the day to day stuff, I forgot to post it. My bad! This was one of the first emails that I received about the blog that was unsolicited. This email just goes to show you the community feel that comes with working in “The Industry”. Have a read!
Mitch: I just wanted to write and tell you that I think your blog idea is solid,...
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Day Twenty Eight - Karen K (The Todd and Karen...
What a crazy day for me. I went into marketing mode. Marketing myself and the blog… I think I spent most of the day cross-eyed. It doesn’t help that my Mum is currently going through “reno-pause” meaning another Hawes family renovation… this time the main bathroom. Anyways that’s a conversation for another day. In the next couple weeks there should be all...
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Day Twenty Seven - Brian Bailey Morning Show,...
Today I made stuff happen. I woke up this morning and I decided I’m going to take my teachers advice about marketing this blog. My teacher told me to promote it to radio magazines, so that’s what I did. I spent the morning designing and putting together a sales package and sent it out to a bunch of publications. That was the majority of my day, well that, and more applications and...
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Day Twenty Six - Questions!
Seeing as how I really did nothing today… seriously it’s almost pathetic, I decided let’s make this site a dialogue. I want this to be interactive, so go ahead. Ask me anything. From radio questions to pop culture to that weird youtube video that only a hardcore viral vid watcher would appreciate (like myself) BRING IT ON! You can also find me on formspring where you can ask...
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Day Twenty Five - Emo-Appeals
By “Emo-Appeals” I don’t mean appeals made by thirteen and fourteen year old kids dressed in the latest black fashions from head to toe, complete with slogans in angry style fonts disclaiming “The End of the World is Near” or “I Hate Mondays” no it’s back to creative techniques. Emotional Appeals, and speaking of which I have a story for you...
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Day Twenty Four - The Funk
Don’t be confused by the title of this post thinking that it may be the latest dance move to sweep the country. Nope. “The Funk” as I like to call it (yes the quotation marks make it official) is the term to define the feeling when all you want to do is go and eat copious amounts of ice cream but then you realize that you don’t have any money. Debit card doesn’t...
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Day Twenty Three - Functional Appeals
The day after grad is always super productive right? Well for me I was just sleepy and hungry, so I guess not much changed haha. Like I said in yesterdays post, I officially graduated from BCIT, meaning I actually walked across the stage, so PD’s, CD’s, GM’s and all other abbreviations, you can hire me now, I can show you the piece of paper, and I have very nice interview...
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Day Twenty Two - GRADUATION!
What a crazy cool day! Today was two years in the making. I officially got my diploma in radio broadcasting from BCIT! But whatever… the cooler part was seeing all the people I had spent every day with for the past couple years. It was like a tiny reunion, even though we were missing a couple people. Although it’s only been a month and a half it feels a lot longer when you are...
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Day Twenty One - Applications
My eyes burn from staring at the computer all day writing cover letters and resumes… luckily there’s a Visine for that! No but seriously yesterday I mentioned that I should probably send out some more packages, or I’ll never get a job, so that’s what I did all day! I’m not going to lie, cover letters will be the death of me. There is only so much I can tell you...
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Day Twenty - Jamie Trevor (Host/Producer of The...
Mondays. If I had any ounce of cooking ability I would have spent the day making a massive lasagna, so I could sit back in a chair, eat the lasagna right out of the pan and exclaim that “I HATE MONDAYS”… but I don’t actually mind Mondays, and that seems like a lot of effort plus I don’t think it would be as funny if I wasn’t a fat, orange cat… it...
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Day Nineteen: Dave Sawchuk (Music Director Zone...
Sundays are awesome! Isn’t it almost frowned upon if you have to work on a Sunday? I dunno, something about a holy day/day of rest… anywho, it is also Fathers Day, which in our house means we leave my Faja to himself for the most part. Then we get an awesome meal and dessert, ohhh Sundays, how I love you. So seeing as how I did nothing but relax all day, I thought I would share...
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Day Eighteen: Friends and Cake
It’s Saturday… now normally it would be a sleep in till noon sort of day… but not today… it was a sleep in till 10:00 kind of day haha. Today didn’t have much to do with radio. It was all about hanging out with my best friend to celebrate her birthday. With this said, I guess I could tie it into Scott McGregor’s advice when he said that radio people should...
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Steve Parsons' Advice - PD Rock 101 in Vancouver
As I have been saying for a couple days, this blog is getting pretty big, how do I know this? Well when one of the Program Directors for one of the top stations in Vancouver contacts you… yup, you have something going for you! Steve Parsons sent me an email the other day and he had a lot of awesome things to say. So I’m going to stop typing and let Steve take it away!
Hey...
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Day Seventeen: Spreading the Word
If you follow me on twitter (@mitchhawes) then you would know that today was a rather busy day… I believe I said “Busy Busy Busy…. but good busy… like if busy was ice cream it would be chocolate chip cookie dough, that means good busy also! What?…” and if you’re confused by that, well I like ice cream, I like cookie dough and I like cookie dough ice...
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Day Sixteen - Scott McGregor's Advice & 107.3 Kool...
What a crazy awesome day. Today I had the opportunity to go hang out in the control room with Scott McGregor, the afternoon drive announcer on 107.3 Kool FM. If you are not from Victoria, Kool fm is an AC/Top 40 format station that has some fantastic ratings. In this post I’ll share my experience and Scott’s email that he sent me a couple days ago chalked full of awesome advice!
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Day Fifteen - Advertising
Phew. What a whirlwind. These past couple days have been an exciting whirlwind, but still whirlwind-ish. I thought today I would go back to some tips for the radio world and so I dove into my school binders and flipped through all of the doodles (I have come to the conclusion that I have no drawing/doodling talent) and I am going to share with you some of my advertising notes. Veterans and...
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Ed Bain: The Q Morning Show Host, CHEK TV Weather...
This blog is seriously the coolest thing. I have been saying how I received a lot of feedback from industry professionals and Ed Bain was one of them. Now if you are not from Vancouver Island, Ed Bain is a celebrity here. He runs a fantastic morning show on The Q and also is the weather guy on CHEK TV. I grew up listening/watching him so it was really cool to hear from him and this is what he...
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Convient Archive Pages
I have created three pages on the left hand side of this blog to help you navigate through the site. Extras, Dailies and Advice. Extras is where you will find all the ridiculous, mostly not radio-related stuff. In dailies you will find all of the daily posts and lastly on the advice page you will find all the links to the stories, advice and the tips and tricks that actual professionals have sent...
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Day Fourteen - Follow-Up
I am still amazed how much attention this blog has received and we are only at day fourteen! It’s all about networking, networking, networking and through yesterdays excitement (Day 13) I am going to be going to hang out in the control room with Scott McGregor on 107.3 Kool FM this Thursday! WOOT! With that in mind, he sent me an awesome email that I will post with my Thursdays post....
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Creative/Production Tips - Rob Arnold C.D. Big Dog...
Remember that time I said people were sending me awesome stuff?! Well I got another email this morning from Rob Arnold who, like the fancy title says, is the Creative Director at Big Dog 92.7 in Regina. Let’s face it. He’s a creative director… he is going to have some really good tips! If you are a copywriter or creative director I encourage you to check out today’s...
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Extra - Creative Styles
YAY! See I told you I wouldn’t forget. This begins the new section of the blog that I am going to call “Extra”. If you see this image, it means it’s an additional post, beyond the daily blog. It might contain stuff that a said I would cover, but then pushed to the next morning…cough cough, or it could (and mostly will) cover stuff that appeals to radio/non-radio...
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A Message from Airchecker
I have talked about Airchecker Canada before and they do an amazing job of keeping everyone informed on the changes going on in the industry and it was pretty cool when they sent me an email this afternoon. I meant to post it sooner… my bad haha enjoy!
“Radio is a dream job. Everybody wants to be on the radio. Reality is not all people can be on the radio. Your frustration is...
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Day Thirteen - Craziness
I know, I know. “Mitch you promised us creative techniques today”. I don’t want to keep setting a schedule and breaking it because something else came up… but I am going to do it one more time. I promise first thing in the morning I will write up the creative stuff. Today, though I have to share with you my ridiculous/awesome day. I’m also going to share some new...
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“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Share Your Story - Tim James
What can I say about Tim. Tim is also another recent BCIT radio grad that has done everything right. He is successfully working (what a jerk haha) as a newsie in Red Deer, Alberta. I asked him if he would be willing to share how he went from BCIT to Red Deer and, well, this is his story.
“When BCIT’s Radio program said they required an internship… I called my cousin. He owns LA...
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Day Twelve - Getting Creative
I have made up my mind. I am becoming an inventor on the side. Seeing as how I am still fighting for a job in the radio biz, I am going to create the best product in the world so that I don’t have to have money worries. My idea… Sunscreen Hair Gel. This is mostly because I, being a spiked-hair enthusiast, spent the day in the sun and now have a severely burnt scalp… not...
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Day Eleven - EQ
What a day! For the first time in several days I have actually had a life?! I know it scared me a little too. So eventful day = later post. I apologize for that, but it doesn’t mean that todays post is half-assed. I realized today that the majority of my tips/tricks were for on-air… and on-air is such a small part of a radio station, so we are going to switch gears for the next...
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Day Ten - One - One (I Like Hyphens)!
WOOHOO double digits! We are getting serious here. I feel like this relationship is going places. Like if we were dating I would be comfortable to wear that pair of sweatpants that have been infested with moths and are plagued with holes. That is quite a step! Before you know it we will be buying a condo and a yappy dog, so prepare yourself! Today’s post is a double whammy. Networking...
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Day Nine - Prep Pt. II
Two part two’s in one week, how very exciting! I got a little side-tracked with getting a couple stories in, which are awesome by the way… and of course if you have one to share, send it to me: mitch.hawes@gmail.com, but as promised a few days ago, lets talk more prep! I shared some great sites for finding material for your show, but how do you format your breaks? Well again, they...
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Day Eight: Good/Bad
Well. I knew these days would come up and it’s not like it was the most devastating day out there but it definitely put a damper on things. I heard back from one of the job postings I applied for and on the flip side I found out today that I won an award?! Say what?! So if you haven’t figured out what’s the good news and what’s the bad then read on (actually read on...
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Jeremy Baker's Story Pt. II
Just like the Godfather… minus the mob, this is the second part of Jeremy Baker’s story. From school to the Zone @ 91.3 in Victoria. If you missed the first half check it out here. Today was also a very weird/crazy; frustrating/exciting day so look for another post shortly. Again, for now I’m going to stop typing. Jeremy Baker Pt. II GO! (Yes, you can clap)
“I’ll skip...
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Do You Like Reading Other Broadcasters Stories?
I'm really enjoying reading other broadcasters successes and frustrations. However you're reading this blog. So what do you want to read? More tips/tricks. More from real industry people? Let me know in the comments down below or as always you can reach me @mitchhawes on twitter.
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Day Seven - Jeremy Baker's Story
I always find it fascinating when I hear about established broadcasters careers. So when I received a message from Jeremy Baker, THE afternoon guy on the Zone 91.3 (Victoria, B.C.) all about how he got into the biz, not going to lie, was pretty stoked. He has a lot to say so I’m going to stop typing.
“Mitch over at the Radio Industry blog is chronicling his journey to FM...
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Day Six - Joanna Witham's Story
Yesterday I mentioned that today I would talk about how I format my prep… I lied. No, something better came up. I have been asking the people I know in the industry to share their story and one of my great friends Joanna jumped at the chance. Quick! Backstory time.
Joanna and I went to BCIT together. She has a job. I do not.
Told you. Quick. Here is Joanna’s story:
“I...
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Share Your Story!
This blog is about my journey to become a radio broadcaster… but we all need a break from me. So if you are in the biz and want to share your story about how you got into the industry, or if you have some tips and tricks…send me an e-mail and we will give everyone a break from my rambles.
Send your stories to: mitch.hawes@gmail.com
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Day Five - Prep
Ah yes… back to a normal post. Today, not so productive… but I mean it’s Sunday. Isn’t it written in the bible or something that on the seventh day we are supposed to rest? So what if I rested on the sixth and seventh day, I was merely pre-resting so that when I was supposed to rest I would be ready… that’s how it works right? Haha, well that’s the...
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Day Four - Lazy Saturday...
Well just like the title suggests… it was a laid back kind of day. I slept in, read a couple blogs and because I was still beaming from yesterdays excitement I decided to allow my Maja to buy me a bunch of clothes… I know… I am such a great son. So now I have a great set of outfits for all the job interviews that should be pouring in any day now…. right?! Haha. Well...
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The Power of Social Networking
Let me just preface this post by saying today felt like a movie, and although nothing may come of it, it just goes to show you with directed social networking people might hunt YOU down, and lastly before I continue to recap my great-day-with-a-lesson, I’m going to say once again I LOVE TWITTER!
This morning I had a chitty chat with my Maja (aka Mum) about this blog and how I’m...
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Day Three - Postings
As you know I have graduated from college with a diploma in radio broadcasting and the point of this blog is to go through my journey to become a broadcaster, but that’s fine to say but what’s the next step. Well finding a job obviously and fortunately for us there are a couple sites that every broadcaster should be keeping up with… think of them like industry newsletters.
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Day Two - Twitter
I have loved you for so long interwebz and I think some people might underestimate you. Especially that little thing you do in 140 characters or less… you know… that twitter thang? Haha. Twitter was a cause of many headaches for a lot of people when it first came online, mostly because people believed that it was only for sharing things like “Hey world! Guess wut?! I’m...
A Message from the Radio Industry →
A fellow producer sent me this link to the Puget Sound Radio/TV Forum. Check it out, it gives some great insights! (Click on title)
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Day One - On Top
Here we go! It is time to get serious about getting into the radio biz. I have been applying like a mad fool to every job that I find and to this date, I haven’t even had a “thanks for applying” e-mail. Nothing. Squat! So, this blog is going to document the journey (Don’t stop, believing!… Did you get the reference? No?) which is being thrown into overdrive right...