Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Humdinger

We all know the sailors adage referring to the quiet before the storm, but is it really true? In regards to weather, but is it always the case? According to How Stuff Works, warm, dry air is the main contributor needed to produce the calmness we experience before a cloudburst, because it is a relatively stable air mass. The quiet before the storm possibly describes Spokane Public Radio before a pledge drive. All is relatively quiet at the station currently. Starting Thursday, it won’t be that way. Pledge Central will be hectic and filled with volunteers sitting at tables and answering non-stop phone calls. The staff will be hard at work; running around making sure everything is going as planned and even spending their extra time in the studio to help make a push for the cause. The aroma of lunch provided by local restaurants will have people attempting to determine whether they’re at a restaurant or a radio station.

The staff has been briefed, the setup in pledge central is complete and only several things are left to be finished. Electricity is in the air, and the staff at the station is excited to have all the calls pour in as it warms up with all the community support. A tremendous amount of effort goes into a pledge drive which includes the generous support from volunteers who contribute their time and local businesses that donate food and other items to help fuel the drive. Of course, the listening community is imperative to the endurance and success of the station. It has been especially warming to witness the amount of pre-pledges that have been received by the station. The perfect conditions seem to be in place during this calm before the pledge drive storm. Let's hope it's a humdinger.

1 comment:

Polistra said...

It occurs to me that NPR is actually more like a real business than commercial radio. In the same way that a grocery store has to please its local customers DIRECTLY, a local station like KPBX has to please its local customers DIRECTLY in order to get money from them.

Commercial radio stations are at least two steps removed from their listeners; most of their money comes from national advertisers so they only have to show by statistics that their ratings are X% during the time when the national spot is on. Doesn't matter if anyone is actually listening, doesn't matter if the listeners like the content.

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