Okay, that’s not quite true. 3 hours 21 minutes is the edited running time. That’s after removing the various technical detours that help make teleseminars so interesting for those of us behind the scenes who are sweating bullets to keep it all going.
Here are the questions he tackled on Saturday…plus some additional insights that came along during the marathon session.
Welcome to another in my series of critiques of award-winning radio commercials — those honored as “the best of the best” by the 2007 Radio Mercury Awards.
A few of the winners are good. Most are not. And some — including this one — deserve an extra special award:
First, listen.
They’re being clever, but they’re not at ALL selling the results of what they’re advertising.
They could tag this with, “…you still can save 20% off everything in the store at Sears, this weekend only.”
Or, “…You don’t have to be perfect to learn how to make big bucks stuffing envelopes at home.”
Naturally (i.e., stupidly) they end with two Calls To Action. Normally that’s a surefire way to lessen total response, but in this case the point is moot: The only measurable response this campaign generated was the award for the agency.
They spent their time and taxpayers’ money to show off. The kids they were supposed to be helping deserved better.
February, 1995: February usually is very busy for me, and this year was no exception. The month began with a trip to Nashville to speak at the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio (my second appearance there).
Due to odd airline schedules, I found myself with almost an entire “free day”; I spoke in the morning but did not leave town until the following day. I cajoled a couple of desk clerks into suggesting a restaurant worth leaving the hotel for, and they recommended Bro’s Cajun Cuisine (Murphy Road & Cherokee — this was before they moved to their larger, fancier digs).
Bro’s Cajun Cuisine
I took a taxi for the two-mile ride. Bro’s looked like a typical diner from a movie: 10 tables, very informal. In fact, it was the first restaurant I’d encountered that instead of having napkins for its customers put a roll of paper towels on each table. And forget about asking for a non-smoking section.
To my great disappointment, a sign inside Bro’s indicated they serve jambalaya only on Wednesdays; this was a Friday. On a hunch, I asked if they had any left over from a couple of days earlier…and they did. (Jambalaya gets better with age.) Not the best I’ve ever had, but worth the 2-mile walk back to the hotel.
A few days later I flew to Vancouver, B.C., to work with Brad Phillips and the air staff of CISL/CKZZ. On the first day we had an air talent seminar for the entire staff. On the second day I got up very early and sat in — silently — on the Z95 morning show.
(More and more stations had begun doing it this way. The first day gives me a chance to work with the entire staff while allowing the morning hosts to become comfortable with the idea of my being in the studio the next day. Actually being in the control room with them leads to structural insights & ideas that I wouldn’t get by listening from my hotel room.)
Brad had a brilliant technique for handling complaint calls: When a listener would call with any kind of complaint, the receptionist was instructed to put the call through to Brad immediately. If he was in a meeting, the receptionist was instructed to interrupt the meeting so Brad could take the call. What a great way to communicate that you truly do want to hear from your customers when they have a problem.
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