Make That Old Idea New Again ...

What Is New...

History repeats itself and with today's 15-minute news cycle, our brains are on constant reboot. It's a constant struggle to stay relevant and in touch with listeners. Our list for competition keeps growing -- cable and network TV shows, Spotify, Pandora, athletes, Apps, Podcasting, Amazon Prime, sports franchises, streaming, new competitive sports, SiriusXM channels, movie stars, reality show stars, Netflix, technology, connect car, wars, civil unrest, boarder debates, YouTube, minimum wage hikes, Hulu, and a lot of other stuff. They are recurring themes with a continuous cast of characters and organizations; only the names change. For example, AT&T has bought Time Warner Inc. and Comcast hopes to purchase most of 21st Century Fox Inc.

Unlock Brain Freeze ... To Think

I remember reading that David Letterman's writers used to visit New York's Museum of Television & Radio to get the creative juices flowing. When I programmed, I would look back through my collected archives of printed materials and word document files for ideas to repurpose; much of which had little to do with radio. Looking to the past and adding in the up-to-date lifestyle can kickstart an on-air bit, retool a new promotion, or provide new content for the station web site.

New Opportunities Are All Around Us ...

I moderated a morning show panel years ago and one of the personalities talked about an annual fish fry his station held every year. After the panel, I asked him a couple of questions and mentally stored the information. I called him a couple of months later and he talked about how TV and local newspapers covered the fish fry and he invited me to come down and check it out. I could not make it but made him promise to send me any of the local coverage of this event.

There It Was ...

A few years later when I was looking for a way to get a station over the hump to beat a competitor, I was going through my catalogued stuff and came across the fish fry promotion and a lightbulb went off in my head -- find a way to map-out a series of picnics in the actual neighborhoods of our hot zip code areas and not make listeners drive to a location. I told the Promotions Director about my idea and he gave me all the "What Ifs;" liability, cooking, organizing, cleanup, security, etc.

We Just Had To Show Up ...

Believe it or not, we came up with a way to persuade the neighborhoods to do the organizing, cooking, and even provide a DJ for the occasion. The whole idea formulated and mutated until it was time to go to sales to get businesses that wanted to market services and goods. It turned out that a couple of banks, car dealers, finance companies, and realtors purchased the food; in exchange they also came out to troll for customers.

They Did It Themselves ...

The neighborhood residents cooked the food, organized programs to honor students and others in the community, and the police and fire departments stopped by with safety demonstrations. The neighborhood even did their own cleanup. That first event became our template and we proceeded to orchestrate 12 neighborhood picnics during the summer months.

The Benefits ...

My station just showed up with the van, took part in the program, ate, and the personalities made friends with the listeners. Audience-wise, it was the whole family, a lot of press coverage, and a ratings generator. That summer we finally beat our direct competitor and never lost to them again.

Save It ...

The experience opened my eyes in a big way to making sure I catalogued every article and idea regardless of where it came from. The only drawback to becoming a Reference Desk is the expansion into your surrounding and your hard drives. But I think living space is overrated ... save away.