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CPR Promotional Check-Up - Mar 19, 2013
March 19, 2013
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. Paige Nienaber is VP/Fun 'N Games for Clifton Radio and C.P.R., which is radio's first-ever promotional consultancy.
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Summer Interns
This is topical for me because one of the coordinators auto-added me into a batch of intern candidates she was emailing with info about a meeting. (Somewhere in Illinois, a girl named Paige is wondering why the station hasn't reached out to her.)
Basic intern rules and math:- The era of people just lining up to apply to be interns ended in about '98. You need to recruit. The best intern program in Radio is at Cumulus in Saginaw and it's because Rachel busts her butt and is out after Christmas posting fliers and meeting with classes.
- You want 25 when the Summer starts. 25 will insure that you'll still have maybe four when Labor Day rolls around.
- If you DON'T have manuals, I have a couple of good ones I can share.
- But if you JUST give them manuals, you're doing them a disservice. Do Street School and spend a day training them, followed by doing something like going to a theme park or a ball game. Clear Channel in Minneapolis has always done a great job of that.
- You want a head street teamer. A Street General who not just manages them but manages making sure that you have everything covered on the streets.
- One of the Canadian stations got ALL their promo prospects in a ballet studio for a night of bootcamp. The ballet studio was great because there was space and there weren't any chairs so it immediately took them out of their comfort zone. And while the Promotion Director did all sorts of Freshman Orientation Week exercises with them, the GM, the PD and I stood back and watched and made notes and decided on who would make the cut. We wanted fun, silly-bordering-on-stupid, out-going, personable people. Wallflowers and shy people got cut.
The Volunteer Fair
For the first anniversary of 9/11, a lot of the stations hit me up for ideas for fund drives. My question was, "Who would you be raising money for?" After the attacks, the country REALLY pulled together. There was a lot of community activism. That's never, ever bad. So, for the anniversaries, stations like Wired in Philly and KDWB in Minny and Power in Miami, did volunteer drives. All that day they had reps from various organizations on the air to tell them what their needs were, in terms of bodies and bodies with talents, cars, skills, etc.
Any time you can facilitate listeners becoming "active" and participating, it Will. Be. Huge.
So, a non-client reached out to me last month. Post-holidays, they'd done some lame beg-a-thon...and donations were way way off from previous years. Geez, ya think?
What do people have? More then, say, money? Time. And passion. And hot-buttons. And interests. I'd actually been talking about something like a Volunteer Fair with one of the stations a couple of years ago, and voile' a month later, I stumbled into one at the Mall Of America. It was packed. Every agency had a booth with info and sign up sheets and reps to answer questions. And there were lines, actual LINES of people signing up.
There was something called Speed Volunteering. For the children, there were tables for Operation Happy Sock (making catnip toys for Feline Rescue) and lunchbag decorating for Meal On Wheels. There was also a Silent Auction.
In the rotunda there was a stage with entertainment and hosts from the affiliate TV sponsor. CC here was the Radio sponsor. There was a print media sponsor. Best Buy, the Mall, and Land 'O Lakes were among the corporate sponsors.
You would want to do this for two reasons:
- It's a great thing to do.
- To make money.
What if people who signed up got goodie bags of client coupons and sampling products. The transit company could be a sponsor. There could/should be a soft drink sponsor. You'd want to have an activities/games area for children that a myriad of vendors could be a part of. You're really only limited by your own creativity on how to make money off this.
And don't forget, McDonalds, Wendys, Pizza Hut, Pepsi....just about every major client has a charity that they're passionate about. Helping them fill the ranks of volunteers would be one way to stay at the top of the Good List.
This is a list of all the organizations that had booth space. At a traditional 'expo' you'd sell these. Which is why this is Non Tradition-Non Traditional Revenue.
- A.C.E.S. Athletes Committed to Educating Students
- Aeon
- Airport Foundation MSP
- Amicus
- Anaphylaxis & Food Allergy Association of MN (AFAA)
- Arc Greater Twin Cities
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities
- Bolder Options
- Boundary Waters Advisory Committee
- Brain Injury Association of Minnesota
- Bridging
- Bundles of Love
- Catholic Charities
- Catholic Eldercare
- Cheerful Givers
- Children's Home Society and Family Services
- Cinco de Mayo Fiesta
- CommonBond Communities
- Community Action of Minneapolis
- Courage Center Volunteer Services Dept
- DARTS
- Doing Good Together
- Eagan's July 4th Funfest
- Fairview Lifeline
- Family & Children's Service
- Feline Rescue
- Free Arts Minnesota
- Great River Greening
- Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life
- Global Citizens Network
- Goodwill/Easter Seals
- Guardians ad Litem - CASA Minnesota
- Guild Incorporated
- Guthrie Theater
- Hammer
- Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota
- Helping Paws
- Hennepin County Volunteer Programs
- Hmong Youth Education Services
- HSI - Human Services, Inc
- Ignation Volunteer Corps
- International Religious Organization of India
- Jabbok Family Services
- Junior League of Saint Paul
- KFAI Community Radio
- Kids 'n Kinship
- Kinship of Greater Minneapolis
- La Conexion/City South Cluster Ministries
- Laura Jeffrey Academy
- Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly
- Living Waters Healing Network
- Loaves & Fishes
- Lutheran Social Service of MN
- Lyngblomsten
- Majestic Hills Ranch for Children
- Memorial Blood Centers
- Metro Meals on Wheels
- Metropolitan Minority Outreach
- Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
- Minnesota Boxer Rescue
- Minnesota Family, Career and Community Leaders of America
- Minnesota Literacy Council
- Minnesota MILE
- Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency
- Morris Park Players
- Neighborhood Involvement Program
- Neighbors, Inc.
- Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless
- Our Fair Carousel
- People Serving People
- Perspectives Inc.
- Pet Haven Inc.
- Project for Pride in Living (PPL)
- Project SUCCESS
- Ramsey County
- Rebuilding Together Twin Cities
- Rein in Sarcoma
- RESOURCE
- Ronald McDonald House
- SCS (Senior Community Services)
- Second Chance Animal Rescue
- Senior Linkage Line
- Simpson Housing Services
- Single Volunteers of the Twin Cities
- St. Stephen's Human Services Shelter
- Stages Theater Company
- Store to Door
- Student Volunteer Foundation
- The Aliveness Project
- The Salvation Army
- Theater Space Project
- Tree Trust
- Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities
- Vail Place
- VEAP (Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People)
- Vision Loss Resources
- Volunteers of America - RSVP
- Walker West Music Academy
- West Bank School of Music
- WomenVenture
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