Max woke up early - just after 5 as the sky turned pink. It was his favorite time of day. He rolled out of bed, stretched, got dressed, and headed downstairs to strap on his helmet and climb aboard his bike.
Just four years ago, Dr. Maxwell Straw started a routine of riding around Lake Mendota three days a week. From his condo overlooking Picnic Point, he could see the water through the change of seasons. Every once in a while, the winter cold allowed him to walk on water.
It was frozen, of course. But he learned that tired joke sometimes was the ticket to relieve the pressure when working with patients frustrated and tired from a long-lasting allergy. He liked these morning rides.
Looking over the lake and shoreline helped him mark the passing of the seasons and the fresh air kept his nose in tune with the pollen, ragweed, and other allergens. It won't be long before ragweed kicks in. That usually doesn't increase his workload too much, but it means pharmacies stock up on the meds to keep noses from running.
Yet that wasn't the thing on his mind today. He liked using the 15 to 20-mile route to sort through problems, and the case of the small town radio guy with Red Meat Allergy was something new.
So far, Max didn't know Ken Records. He's poured over test results and doctor reports, but that only went so far. This case was rare. 'Wait a sec,' Straw thought, 'rare? Meat allergy? Ha. No, that may not even work on Record's radio show.' He decided he'd clear that with the host first, so he would know he isn't making fun of the ailment.
And with that thought, Straw made a note in his mental Rolodex to call his friend, Dr. Zorba Paster. Paster is a local doctor with a syndicated National Public Radio program, a Sunday column in the paper, and regular gigs on TV. Max decided he needed some preventative treatment from Zorba before he went on the radio next week.
Shifting gears and stretching his legs with a couple miles behind him; Straw saw C's Restaurant and Bakery on the corner. It's one of the few stops along his route on the west side of the lake and part of his ride. Tea, a cinnamon roll, and time to check out the sports section in the State Journal before getting back on the bike.
In Roseville, Steve was pulling into the station for a team meeting. The excitement from the successful ski show had died down, and it was time to move on to the next thing. For Steve and the rest of the station, that meant high school sports.
The secret of staying successful in local radio when people have so many choices - the internet, personal music devices, satellite radio, etc, etc - is offering what they want, but can't get. Hyper-local is another way to describe it.
Steve, Jeff, Pete, Jack, and the rest of the staff at WRSE/WMJM knew being the voice of local teams and local issues is the only way to make it.
Some parts of the meeting were routine - scheduling full and part-timers to run the board before, during, and after games didn't change much - but he had an idea for this fall he thought could give the station some buzz and more ears every Friday night.
As program director, Steve scheduled everybody. Working games are perfect for new hires. It wasn't easy. Games and commercials need to air at precisely the right time, which means advance prep work in the studio. On the other hand, there wasn't much exposure on air, so the pressure and nerves were less.
Coming off the big weekend of live remotes from the Ski Show, Steve began hatching this plan a little at a time. He knew Marberg Implement, the local banking institutions, Karen's Kandies, and Gus and Tom's were all very happy. If they were happy, he knew other merchants would be more likely to join the local station on their next productions.
He had his presentation pretty well polished in his brain before the meeting started, so after the coffee and Mt. Dew was poured and the box of donuts passed, he began.
"Alright guys, as you know, we had a great response on air and from advertisers to the whole Ski Show remote. What I'd like us to consider this morning is doing something kind of like it during the fall and winter sports season.
"Football Fridays are a big deal, and that's where I'd like to start. Using a smaller scale version of the ski show coverage, I'm suggesting we work with Gus and Tom to create a studio feel in their restaurant so we can use it for pre and post game coverage for football, volleyball, and boys and girls basketball."
"Steve?" Jeff always asks the first question even when he's just walking in after his on-air shift, "This sounds interesting, but that was one weekend and now you're talking months. What else can you tell us?"
"No problem, Jeff," came the reply, "this isn't set in stone, but I've put some thought into this. Pete is already out doing games on Friday night and occasionally we get Kevin involved on a second game to air on the FM side. They can't host. Jeff, you work the morning drive, so it's not fair to ask you to do this part of it.
"You may not know this, but Kathy, who did an excellent job spearheading and hosting the Ski weekend knows her football. Her dad was a successful football coach up north and she grew up on the sidelines and the practice field. I bet she knows more about football strategy than most sports directors.
"Anyway, I think we have her host the pre and post game from Gus and Tom's. Pre-game will involve taped pieces for the game we're featuring on WRSE and short interviews taped earlier in the day for other games that night. Jeff, I'll look for your help with some of those taped interviews."
"I like the idea," Jeff said. "What else?"
"We aren't exactly blazing a trail on the cutting edge of social media, but here's a way we can create a presence and some synergy at the same time. We'll recruit through each school in our listening area a person committed to "live" Tweet score updates for us and be available to give some more detail over the phone to Kathy and her co-host as necessary. We may even ask them to come on the air, or use them to line up phone interviews after the game.
"A big reason to be at Gus and Tom's is for the post game. We'll do a scoreboard show with interviews and live updates. Best of all, when the team and coaches come back into town after the game, a lot of them go to the restaurant and we can have them on the air live from there. Even the kids will go for that. And that's great for the restaurant and other places downtown.
"There are other variables to work on - incorporating the station's Facebook page and finding sponsors - but I'm telling you guys, this town and a lot of the listening area is anxious to be part of what we do next." Steve looked up from his last page of notes and smiled.
"The first game is in three weeks. By next week, we need a sales plan ready to roll and a promotional plan. Kathy is pretty excited and I think you guys can help us pin down local talent to rotate through as co-hosts for the different shows.
"I'm not sure on all the details yet. For example, I want to put volleyball on the air, but I think we start slow on that with an occasional game so we can be ready for their playoffs when they startt in October."
Pete, Kevin, Jack, Kathy, and Jeff stood up and made their way over to Steve one at a time to congratulate him on his idea and offer their support. They knew good local programming meant more listeners, which meant more advertisers, more advertisers means more ad revenue, and that means better pay and job security.
Not bad for a small station. If they can get Ken Records healthy soon, they can really start rolling.
Come back tomorrow morning at 9 for the next Chapter of On The Air.
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