How many SPR employees does it take...?

How many SPR employees does it take to record a promo?

I’d written a few 30-second spots promoting the Making Noise blog, and headed back to one of the mixing consoles to record.

“Uh…” I’d recorded in this room before, but Patrick had always been manning the computer. Today, though, he was downtown playing at Street Music Week.

There was a picture of our President in cool dreadlocks on the monitor, which I found amusing, but I could not find the Next Gen audio icon anywhere on the desktop. Another thing: Talk of the Nation was blasting over the speakers, and I had no idea how to turn it off without pushing the wrong button and wreaking havoc on the entire station.

The last time I’d recorded stuff on my own, Verne had set it all up for me. I’d made some mistakes, but I’d figured it out.

There was no way I was figuring this out alone.

Luckily, Neesha is a whiz with most things technical. She noticed right away that there were two machines hooked up to the one monitor. Unsuccessfully, she searched for the switch to change over to the machine I needed. With Jerry’s help, we figured out keystrokes instead.

“Oh!” Jerry suddenly announced. “Here’s the switch!” It was hidden behind the monitor. Neesha and I laughed. “That’s what I was looking for!”

Neesha hadn’t recorded audio for a while, but she got me set up in Next Gen’s promo file and gave me a quick refresher on the mini editor. Neesha and Jerry wished me luck as they left, shutting the door.

Okay, I thought, I can do this.

I sat down in the chair. I put the headphones on. I started recording.

I heard nothing on playback.

Uh-oh.

Once again, I looked down at the mixing console. I swear it looked more advanced than the cockpit of a 747. There were at least 12 pots (potentio-meter-something), with various on-off switches lit or unlit, volume sliders, Audition mode, and all sorts of other modes and lights and…

I could feel my eyes crossing, and had a vague memory of flunking the circuit-building part of my Physics final. How did anyone ever figure this stuff out?

Luckily, Brian Flick had just finished an important project, and had time to come and help me out.

“You need to make sure this—“ he pushed a button “—is on Audition, and this—“ he pushed another “—is off, and this—“ He pushed about eight more buttons, which all turned light green. “Okay, now you should be able to hear yourself.”

Viola! All of a sudden I was in business.

I thanked Brian profusely, and he gave me a hearty pat on the back. “Every console is a bit quirky, and so is every computer. We all have to learn each one all over again, too!”

I felt tons better.

So, how many SPR employees did it take to record one promo? Not including myself, it took three. And I never could’ve done it without them.

Party!

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Sprinkles.

Sprinkles and syrups.

Sprinkles and syrups and fresh cherries and decorations.



That's how the table in the lobby grew this morning. Each year about mid-July, the station has a hot dog roast and ice cream social during the lunch break to celebrate summer birthdays. Right now Verne is playing 52 minute stretches of music to snatch a few extra minutes to help with preparations. A line of ice cream machines churn away on the back porch. Stephanie is coordinating buns, beans, and barbecue. All in the midst of actual station work.



"We like to do this each year to zero in on our real love... food," said Verne. I've been told that his homemade (or rather station-made) ice cream is a big tradition. Added to Verne's vanilla, Patrick and Shelley have brought chocolate ice cream, Neesha is making, according to Verne "something Neesha-esque," and Nancy is whipping up a batch of sherbet for a non-milk-based alternative.

"We've also been eyeing the root beer in the fridge," Verne said. "Somebody might experiment with that."

Luckily for me the annual "ice cream orgy" as Verne put it, falls right on my birthday. So, as a special treat, I get to take a bit of a break from press releases and promos to blog about ice cream. The only concern is that we might wind up with more ice cream than the station can handle.

"It's like why I don't wear Spandex," Verne said.

Spandex? I gave him a look of complete puzzlement.

"You don't have to gear up and make a big fuss to ride your bike to work. Just like that, you don't have to go all crazy to enjoy some ice cream at work. It should be something normal," he added in explanation.

Well I, for one, am all for the normalization of ice cream at the station. Yum!

Paper Parade

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Today SPR is preparing for one of its biggest mailings just as The Guide is nearing completion for the printers. So, everywhere I turn there is paper. Third, fourth, and fifth versions of pages from The Guide hit my desk to be proofread and then passed on to Neesha or Stephanie's desk to be proofed again. Every little detail must be caught and made perfect before the finished product can go to the printers for distribution. Shelley types away correcting everything that the office full of proofreaders manage to spot, and dozens of papers in various stages flit from chair to chair.

At the same time, Mary, our Membership Coordinator, is organizing for a massive mailing on Friday. Just moments ago, Brian's voice came over the intercom with a polite, "If you'd like some exercise we could use help setting up for the mailing." Then came Amy's voice, a little more insistent, "Whether you want exercise or not, now is the time for action!" At that, people from across the office rose from their chairs and were put to work carrying stacks of envelopes, address sheets, and chairs down to the mailing room. By the time the paper parade came to a close, the room was ready for mailing and The Guide was ready to go to the printers.