The Industry

     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 probably would be more sad. Anyways…. Today Twitter came through yet again! Remember when I said I posted about this blog on radio forums? Well, Jamie Trevor clicked through and has been following the blog since then. He started following me on Twitter… I asked if he would contribute something to the blog and he said absolutely!

Before I get to Jamie’s email, I will do a quick update as to what today looked like as far as the job search is concerned. I woke up this morning and met with a graphic designer who is designing some pretty sweet looking business cards that I can use to market the site. I came home and I was able to do some rough drafts for a couple job postings, which will be completed later this evening (I realized with all of this blogging about getting a job, I should send out some more packages… DUH!) So that is what I did for the majority of the day, besides upgrading my iPhone software… but no one wants to hear about that… So without further ado let’s get to Jamie’s email:

Hey Mitch;

So you’re looking for a type-up for my experience in radio? Before I started at BCIT, I was hired by Mike Whittingam as a Board Operator at CFUN 1410AM. During my first year there, I was responsible for babysitting the automation systems for CFUN, QMFM and TEAM 1040 from 11pm till 7am. Working overnights was a great experience. Although being alone in a big building at 2am while listening to Art Bell talk about aliens and boiling pits of sewage on Coast to Coast AM was sure interesting…After my first year with CFUN, I moved into a much normal shift 7a-3p.. I was responsible for babysitting CFUN and editing paid programs that were burned on CDs for sales/clients. I really enjoyed my time board op’ing, especially as my first real job in radio. It not only gave me cash while going thru BCIT, but it also made me getting a job within the CHUM radio chain on Vancouver Island much easier. During the practicum portion of the radio program, I worked for CFAX 1070am as a Technical Producer. Basically, I was glorified board operator with on air duties. I can remember going on reasing one of my first weather/traffic reports and saying “And, you’re forecast for VANCOUVER….” The joys of live radio. After a year with CFAX, I decided to start looking for full time opportunities in radio. It took me almost 8 months, but after countless interviews I was hired with Radio NL 1230AM (Merritt Broadcasting Ltd.) as the Afternoon Announcer/Music Director. When I found out I got the gig in Merritt, I actually shed a tear. No more Kraft Dinner! Woo Hoo!Working in a small market station gave me opportunitues that I never had working at CFAX. I hosted my own 6 hour show, wrote copy, produced commercials, remotes, etc etc. You always heard Dennis, John, Randy and Kat talk about working in small markets and the opportunities they give students like you and me… How right they were! I left Merritt a year later with a good structure on how to prep a radio show and localize all prep content, write commercials that delievered results, executing on air remotes and heaps more.. I’m not saying I’ve learned all I can and that I’m the best there is.. I’m continuing to learn every day new skills that make myself a better announcer. During my time in Merritt, I landed another radio job in Castlegar, BC with Mountain FM (Vista Radio Ltd.) as the Afternoon Show Host/Creative Writer. This position was probably the most demanding job I’ve ever held in my life. I would get to work at 10am, write copy for 3 hours, then prep my radio show… voice track… write more copy… then do a live show.. all within an 8 hours that quickly turned into 10 hours most days. On top of those duties, I also was reponsible for ensuring the on air logs for our main station in Castlegar along with the repeaters in Nelson, Grand Forks and Trail were all in order for the next day. I enjoyed the position because it gave me multi-tasking skills I use everyday. After leaving Mountain FM last October, I took a few months off work and decided to take a new direction with my career. I launched my own syndicated Top 40 radio show thats now heard on 11 stations with a listener base of 15,000+ every month. And, since April of this year I was hired by a few DJ companies around Kamloops that hold contracts with clubs around town. I work the clubs during the weekdays and DJ at weddings on the weekends. I love private radio. There are many great people who work in the industry who I’ve worked with over the years. But, I really believe most commercials stations will need to adapt new the new technology that is available today otherwise most will find their listener base slowly fading away to other mediums such as internet radio/shows, podcasts, iPods/iPhones..Adapting to new technology means a lot more than just create a twitter and facebook account, it’s utilizing all mediums to your advantage. Weither it’s promoting special contests online only, offering special giveaways from clients to listeners being able to listen to the station and interacting with the on air hosts.
Jamie TrevorProducer/Host “The Jamie Trevor Radio Show”

This is one aspect of radio that seems so incredibly awesome. Syndication. Now for all of you that might be unsure of what that means it’s a pretty simple idea. You create an on-air show and get radio stations to buy it from you. The biggest example is like Ryan Seacrest’s AT Top 40. It’s played on hundreds, if not thousands of stations. However, just because it is a simple concept, doesn’t mean it has a simple execution. It is a lot of hard work but Jamie is well on his way, I mean 11 stations, that’s amazing, seeing as how he only graduated from BCIT 3 years ago! So there is hope! Hahaha. Perhaps this is something that you might be interested in. In theory you are the creator, producer, host, marketer, sales person etc. That sounds incredibly exciting. Now of course it is very tricky to get into this position, but if you have the drive and are willing to do the leg work to make it happen, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be possible…… gross that just sounded like a line from any 90’s family sitcom… I apologize haha.
If you want to check out Jamie’s work you can go to his website, or you can do the whole social networking thing and check him out on Twitter or Facebook.
Thanks again Jamie!
- Mitch