Re: Picture of the Week

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Daylight-Savings Time has arrived. The first several days after adjusting your clocks can be a confusing time. In honor of daylight savings, the picture of the week will be pushed back until later today. Several people commented that last weeks picture was difficult. The location of the picture was from Silver Car Collector Auctions, just down the street from the station.
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Ahoy Mates!

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Hey, it’s Friday! The last several days have been great weather-wise. Saturday just might be the last great fall day before the storms roll in. So, while you’re out and about, drop by the Spokane Masonic Center Auditorium at 1pm to see KPBX’s FREE Kids’ Concert. Tom Lewis will be performing shanties and telling sailing tales. Bring the whole family - it is a must ‘sea!’

Election Day

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"The country's 24-hour politico-pundit-perpetual-panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them much harder," John Stewart

It probably is a cliche at this point in the election to say that I am sick of all the negative election coverage. Flipping through cable television channels the last several months it was impossible not to witness attack ads and talk show hosts bashing candidate's and propositions. Since I'm from Colorado, living in Washington, election season is a unique experience that has its trade offs. I can't vote here, so I've tuned out the local coverage, and at the same time, I haven't kept up on the issues in Colorado. Since turning 18, I have only voted by mail. While the last presidential election energized everyone to vote, I'm not as motivated this election cycle. It wasn't until I started hanging out at Spokane Public Radio that I remembered why I liked to vote. Unfortunately, I missed the mail-in ballot deadline.

Election day at SPR is a stimulating time. Every hour at the station, staff members are commenting about election results. The news department is getting prepared for a long night of partying. Actually, they will be asking tough questions at the local Democrat and Republican election centers. In the news department no side is safe, considering the brief time I stopped by their office, they were making jokes about how the local Democrats are meeting at the Lincoln Center. Wasn't Lincoln a Republican? The station tries to remain unbiased during elections and does not support any candidate, unlike Glenn Beck or other cable television show hosts.

Last weekend the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" MC-ed  by John Stewart, the host of the "Daily Show" was regarded as a success after tens of thousands of people turned out to proclaim that they are tired of the bickering in politics and the biased opinion of cable television pundits. While standing in front of the steps of the Capital Building, Stewart said, "The truth is, we work together to get things done every $%#* day. The only place we don't is here, or on cable TV-but Americans don't live here or on cable TV"

During the election, employees and volunteers at SPR may not agree on issues or candidates, but for the most part everyone still works together to ensure that programming and news is professional.
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Picture of the Week

It has been two weeks since the last picture of the week. Several people commented that the Riverfront Mall escalators were too easy of a location for the last picture. This week hopefully will be a little more difficult. Leave a comment by clicking on the comment link below this post to let other's know how well you know the city of Spokane.

Pledge Drive Recovery

The final phone rang at 8:12 a.m. to end the week-long pledge drive of fall 2010. Extended for one more day, in a mere two hours the pledge drive was able to generate ten thousand dollars in pledges. Not long after the station reached its goal the building seemed to return to normal. When I arrived at the station at ten in the morning the pledge center no longer buzzed with excitement. The fridge had been emptied of all the delicious donated treats and the hallways no longer echoed with conversation. It felt like the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas. The staff was grabbing salads for lunch, after several days of eating tasty, but high calorie food. Some retreated to their desks to finish their daily work while others mingled in the lobby talking about their plans for the weekend.

Stephanie, the volunteer coordinator, was finishing the last of the thank-you cards and was noticeably excited that she and others no longer had to arrive at the station at 4 am. I completely understand after spending three hours the day before answering calls; I was worn out. It was great talking to many of the generous donors. Several callers were probably not as excited to talk to me as I was to them, since multiple times they had to repeat their contact information before I finally got it right. Pam and Helen, two other volunteers working with me, seemed to have no problem quickly getting people’s information. These two generous ladies helped the rookie out when I fumbled to get the courage to say, “Spokane Public Radio volunteer, May I take your pledge.” “It’s best if you say volunteer when you first start out because they will cut you some slack” Pam said, as with ease she answered another call. Reflecting back on my first pledge drive, I was amazed at how well the pledge drive went considering the size-able number of dollars that the station needed to raise. Spokane and the surrounding communities have great listeners and the people who volunteer and work at the station are great as well. This partnership between the listening community and the committed volunteers and station staff makes me proud to be an intern at the station.
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Community Chest

I will not play Monopoly anymore! Do you hate playing for hours and landing on properties that produce no income, like the Electric Company, while other players live it up with Boardwalk and Park Place? I always feel obligated to buy every property I land on. Later I regret that decision, while I watch as time after time other players pass by with plenty of cash, and I sit there broke. In reality, don't we all wish we owned the utility company? If life was a Monopoly game, Spokane Public Radio would be the first player pursuing that property. While in the studio today, I learned that SPR spends well over $3,000 dollars in electricity costs on a monthly basis. It takes a lot of juice to power up a radio station! The SPR pledge drive continues through Wednesday and is a way for you to help the station pass GO and collect $200 in order to keep the airwaves operating.

Today's Pledge Drive Pic

Patricia Felgenhauer won tickets to the YWCA
"Women of Achievement Luncheon"

 

“Mmm…sprinkles.” This morning the Homer Simpson in me emerged when Maggie, a volunteer at Spokane Public Radio brought in doughnuts. It was hard not to grab a pink pastry and retreat to a desk to take a siesta. Instead, there were guests in the studio and pictures to be taken. The last several days have been interesting taking shots of studio guests, drawing winners, and daily events. After spending time in Pledge Central, it became apparent how enthusiastic the volunteers are about answering calls. Everyone was so excited to answer phones that an informal competition emerged. Between the volunteers battling for phones, and the staff hovering over the new “delicious dish” in the lobby, it seemed more like a scene from “The Bird’s” than a friendly public radio pledge drive.  Today is Friday! But at SPR it’s just the beginning of the week. While I might pull out the hammock and relax on a fall day like Homer, the volunteers at SPR will be working hard to take your donations throughout the weekend. Pledge your support at (509) 328-5729.

 

 

Daily Pledge Drive Picture

It's pledge drive time at Spokane Public Radio! Verne and everyone at the station are energized by the amount of outgoing support for SPR. Each day during the pledge drive "Making Noise" will be featuring a picture of the day. If you have a spare moment, log on and check out the action going on behind the scenes and call into the station to pledge your support (509-328-5729).

Verne got an unusual surprise this morning when a listener dropped by the station to give her donation.