10 Questions with ... Ray Auger

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Internships, part time and janitorial work including, but not limited to, coffee runs, dry cleaning and whipping post - 1990 to 1997

• 1997 to 1999 - Nights - (96.3 The Rose)/Cape Cod - as "Kid Cruise"
• 1999 to 2000 - Mornings - (U92)/Salt Lake City - as "Ray Mathews"
• 2000 to 2003 - Mornings (The Breakfast Jam) - WJYY - Concord, NH - as "Kid Cruise"
• 2003 to 2005 - Mornings (2 Guys and a Girl) - WERZ/Portsmouth, NH - as Kid Cruise
• 2008 to 2009 - Swing Host - WCAP-A - Lowell, MA - as "Ray Shackett"
• 2009 to present - Promotions/Production/Website and Social Media Director and Host of "Living For The Weekend" - WMRC-A - Milford, MA - as "Ray Auger"

1) What do you view as the most important issue facing radio today?

Keeping people interested in your product. Keeping them happy and coming back for more. It's like being in a relationship, except this one I'm successful at!

2) What makes your station or market unique? How does this compare to other markets or stations you have worked at?

We are unique because we can directly connect with each and every listener on a personal level being that we are a small, tight knit community... and we are very active within that community. We're a "Big fish, in a Small Pond."

3) What has been your station's biggest accomplishment?

I can't speak for our owner Tom McAuliffe II who has done some wonderful things here at the station over the past six or seven years, but I think he would agree that it would have to be the launch of www.WMRCDailyNews.com.

This is not just a radio station web site but an online newspaper for our community. We launched just over a year ago and I can't imagine working without it. We are just about ready to add a new local shopping page and multimedia center that's going to be fantastic.

4) How can radio capitalize on digital ad revenues while competing with services like Groupon, and other social media?

Build it and they will come. We give our advertisers a good reason to consider these alternative sources for their advertising budget... we draw people to our site and social media venues through fresh, local content and promotions.

5) Do new technologies like on demand music, videos, TV, streaming, and mobile smart phone apps enhance consumer's interest in traditional media such as radio, the CD, or even the MP3 player? Or are these new technologies replacing traditional media?

I think it's a tough position we are in. Those technologies definitely have taken a bite out of our backsides but, at the end of the day nothing can beat local. Give them something they can't download from iTunes... local content. Our local content within the music we play will keep people listening.

6) What can we be doing with our station web sites to better our stations as a whole?

Stay away from the same information that they can get on a hundred other sites. Try to stay clear of cut and pastes. Make your site local and keep it fresh. Give them a reason to come back tomorrow. Jocks... listeners will look at your bio once and never come back. Write a daily blog, do recaps from your show, a daily top ten... keep 'em coming back for more!

7) How do you prep yourself for your radio shift?

My show Living For The Weekend airs live once a week and I am proud to say that I do as little prep as possible due to time spent elsewhere at the station. I take an "I'm learning as much as the listener" approach when interviewing my guests. I find it to come off more conversational.

8) What should radio be doing now to secure a role in the future of the ever-changing media landscape?

I sound like a broken record but you need to engrain yourself and your station in the community. Become friends with your listeners. They are listing to Lady Gaga on their phones and computers and IPads. Why should they tune in to your station to hear what they can get on their handheld? Because YOU care about your community!

9) How are you using social media to market your radio station?

We are on Facebook, of course. We are also using Linkedin, Youtube and Twitter. Facebook allows us to promote the station and website to our friends immediately. We also use Facebook for exclusive promotions and giveaways.

10) What is the one truth that has held constant in your career?

There's someone that will do your job cheaper waiting in the shadows... they may not do a better job but with money the way it is radio companies don't necessarily want to best guy for the job anymore. They want to save money.

1) What do you do in your spare time?

I sing in a rock band. www.reverbnation.com/bostonreach. We rock.

2) What type of features do you run on the station?

We pipe in our AC music with local drops throughout the clock. Mornings are live and local. Our specialty shows include "Living For The Weekend," "The Snooze Button." (a show for teens, about teens and by teens), "Biz Buzz," "The Paul Parent Garden Show," "The Sports Buzz" and the "Voice of Portugal."

3) Tell us what music we would find on your MP3 player right now and what is it you enjoy about that particular selection?

Backstreet Boys, Elton John, AC/DC, Barry Manilow, Aerosmith, The entire Television's Greatest Hits collection, Spinal Tap, BeeGees... it's so random that I have changed my name to "Mike-FM" legally.

4) What's one thing that would surprise many people to learn about you?

I once killed a man just to watch him bleed. (That's not true).

5) Who is your best friend in the business?

The listener.