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25 Years Later, Country Cares More Than Ever
January 23, 2014
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Country radio and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital enjoy a near-symbiotic relationship, the genesis of which has become the stuff of lore. It was CRS, 1989, when Randy Owen of the group Alabama -- then one of the format's biggest and most influential stars -- challenged Country radio to join the fight against childhood cancer.
Country radio accepted the challenge.
Perceptually at least, St. Jude has grown to become the cause marketing go-to for this format. At least 200 stations annually stage St. Jude radiothons, along with other, ancillary events raising money and awareness for the Memphis-based hospital that not only treats children free of charge, but vigorously and passionately researches methods to cure them.
In the past quarter-century, Country radio has raised $500 million for St. Jude.
I was in the room when Owen made the challenge and as PD/afternoon personality of KNIX/Phoenix back then, aired the first-ever St. Jude radiothon later in '89.
It was anything but an auspicious start.
Executed on a national, rather than a local, level and hosted by then-WYAY/Atlanta personality Rhubarb Jones, that inaugural fund-raising effort was nearly unlistenable. The message about helping kids and the medical advances occurring at St. Jude were powerful, but the delivery method was excruciating. It sounded more like a Southern Baptist revival and a desperate one at that.
I was doing a remote at a local car dealership during the afternoon session; listeners were pulling up not to buy a new car, but begging us to pull the plug. I was thinking the same thing and so was Larry Daniels, our OM. We seriously considered bailing, because it sounded nothing like KNIX and that was a problem, seeing how we were the #1-ranked radio station in Phoenix -- with a lot to lose.
Now, I share that memory not to pour cold water on this year's 25th anniversary of Country Cares For St. Jude Kids, but to look back in utter amazement at how overwhelmingly successful the program has become.
At last weekend's annual Country Cares Seminar in Memphis, more than 1,000 radio personnel - PDs, MDs, promotion directors, sales managers and GMs - gathered to celebrate a quarter-century of success and do what they do every year: discuss and share ways to make the fundraising nuts & bolts better, more successful and a greater satisfying radio listening experience.
After the first event in 1989, the event's brain trust regrouped and implemented systems geared for all of the above. In fact, at last weekend's event, four of them were honored them for helping Randy Owen - and Country radio - realize the dream of helping very sick kids. Bill Mayne, Greg Fowler, Lon Helton and Don Langford were each presented St. Jude's Founders Award during a Thursday, January 16th ceremony.
A formal radio advisory committee was formed 20 years ago and St. Jude began its seminar for radio, which takes place each year in January. The event was localized and executed by individual participating stations. Resource materials were provided to stations in the form of imaging pieces and patient stories. The concept of "Partners in Hope" became a mainstay of the fundraising program, where listeners could commit a monthly amount to St. Jude. And there are so many other granular components that evolved over the years, it would take pages and pages to describe them.
The seminar is an absolute emotional roller coaster, celebrating overall and individual station success, juxtaposed with a hospital tour where radio meets face-to-face the real doctors, researchers and patients while there, the latter of which can be a heart-wrenching, life-changing experience.
As part of this year's "Veterans Tour," (comprised of people who have previously been to the seminar and/or participated in a radiothon) I was particularly moved by a panel of three individuals who work at St. Jude. Mark from the IT department, Gabby in research and Sabrina, a nurse who works directly with the patients. Their passion for the kids, commitment to helping others and sense of appreciation for radio's involvement were palpable. That's because all three were former patients at St. Jude, who, if not for the treatment received there, would never have survived their illnesses. What a tremendous loss that would've been for the kids now being treated at St. Jude.
We got a tour of St. Jude's still-under-construction, $192 million building that will contain something called a Proton Radiation Therapy Center, designed specifically for children and the first of its kind in the world. I haven't attended every St. Jude seminar and the lapses between each one I have gone to have been several years, so there has been a noticeable and impressive change in the St. Jude campus over the years. It's massive. And still growing.
When I joined KZLA/Los Angeles in 1993 as PD/OM, we were already a committed St. Jude station. Driving that passion for the event was our Dir./Promotions Teri Watson, who many now know as ALSAC - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Sr. Director/ Entertainment Marketing.
While at KZLA, Teri and I oversaw radiothon events in 1994 and 1995, with the '94 event a most memorable one. Our morning show raised $110,000 between 6-10a and we were on a roll, to say the least. But the phones stopped ringing in the middle of that June Friday, thanks to OJ Simpson and his white Ford Bronco taking a ride on Los Angeles freeways for most of the afternoon. We had to toggle coverage of what was not only a huge local event, but a national news story along with the radiothon -- which, frankly, took a huge back seat -- and it was a real challenge. There are lots of reasons to dislike OJ Simpson; his sabotage of our St. Jude Radiothon will forever top my list. In spite of him, we did rally, eventually raising nearly $600,000 during our 36-hour event.
Whether you're new to it or have been around it for all 25 years, the entire St. Jude experience is a lot to take in, on so many different levels. What resonated most for me during the 2014 St. Jude Seminar is how deeply radio people genuinely care about the bottom line here: saving the kids. It's not about a radio promotion. It's not even about ratings. Unlike a lot of other events radio does so well during the year, St. Jude is a personal cause for all involved. After visiting the hospital, how could it not be? I would implore any programmer new to this format to become educated and involved, so that 25 years from now, somebody can write a story celebrating 50 years of a beautiful partnership.
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