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10 Questions with ... David Dean
October 15, 2019
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
DEMO:
It all started when I saw an ad for an overnight board op position at Mix 105.1 (WOMX) in Orlando. Within a year I was working full time for Metro Traffic and used that to sow my wild oats...basically moving around the country aimlessly reporting traffic! Eventually I settled in to a seven year stretch at KMLE/Phoenix doing nights, middays and then afternoons before leaving country radio to start my own morning show "DAVE / Ceej" with my best friend. To be able to do that has been a dream come true and we're so excited to find a new radio home soon
1. What do you do to maintain a positive mental attitude and to stay motivated?
I just try to tell myself the things that I've always told people in the past who I respected or thought should be working. "Keep working hard... keep preparing...Talented people always find a home in this business." I also try to keep in touch and buy as many lunches for radio people as I can afford in the meantime so I don't get forgotten about!
2. How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?
The prank calls to Steve Kramer only fill so much time so the rest of my days I'm driving for Lyft and enjoying time with my mom and my cat.
3. Some people get discouraged or enlightened with the business when they actually step out of it for a while. Tell us your observations from the outside.
I wouldn't say I am discouraged, but I am a little worried about the industry as a whole. We aren't doing a good enough job of encouraging and scouting out new talent. We have far too many talented people who've lost jobs and gone on to other things. Radio is a lot of talk and not enough action. Lots of programmers who say they want to be on the cutting edge and take risks, but then revert back to the same old ideas and people. I get it, now more than ever, nobody wants to risk their job and they have families, responsibilities, etc. But if radio is truly going to continue to exist then I believe we have to continue to deliver something. We have to be unique. We have to give Millennials a reason to care. We won't survive the flood of new technologies if we are just wallpaper.
4. Do you plan on sticking with radio?
I've always said that no matter where I am in life I want to have a hand in radio and I don't think that's ever going to change!
5. What's the longest stretch you've had on the beach?
This is it. It's actually the one year anniversary of being unemployed by radio on this very day as I type this!
(Ok, not really exactly today, but it sounded better) #theaterofthemind
6. What's the best way to get your foot in the door?
Don't take "no" for an answer. Spend time crafting your employment requests. Don't send generic boring emails. And network, network, network!
7. What has been your best resource for finding out about job openings?
Allaccess.com is an amazing resource. You guys are fantastic. Plus Ceej, despite being new to radio, pretty much combs the websites day and night. Get a partner who is organized and hungry like him, it helps a ton!
8. What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a job?
We were interviewing for a morning show in Raleigh so I flew there from Phoenix to make a silly video for the management and show how motivated we were! They had asked us via email to answer the question "on a scale of 1-10, how interested in this position are you?"
9. What is the next job you'd like to obtain?
I'm the epitome of a free agent right now! I just wanna get back on the air but obviously the dream job remains to do a morning show with Ceej. Hurricane Michael was such a horrific event for so many people and we were so fortunate to be a part of the rebuild and support system... but ultimately it cost us our job and we cannot wait to get back to it!
10. Are you finding salaries/benefits lower than you ever thought, about the same, or have you seen some pleasant surprises?
You'll have to contact my agent Steve Gallagher of Creative Talent, Inc. on this one. I'm no longer allowed to answer these types of questions.
Bonus Questions
Care to contribute a recipe for our "On The Beach" cookbook
Ceej is really the man to ask for this one. Just add honey mustard to anything that is questionable.
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