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10 Questions with ... Shawn 'Smith' Peirce
September 23, 2008
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NAME:Shawn 'Smith' PeirceLAST WITH:Three Eagles Communications, Lincoln (Former CC stations)PHONE:(402) 770-4459EMAIL:silversmith@mac.com
Please begin by giving us a brief career history ...
College radio (Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA): KCOE - restarted the station in 1994 after 10 years of dead air. On-air talent, MD; Part-time drive-time reporter/anchor for WMT-A (News/Sports) - On-air weekends/nights at WMT-FM (AC)/Cedar Rapids, IA 1994-95; News Director/on-air talent at KMSD-A (News/Variety) and KPHR (Rock)/Milbank, SD 1996; Asst. Producer talk show/part-time for KLIN-A -- part time/fill-in, KFGE(Country), KEZG(AC), KOOL(Oldies)/Lincoln, NE 1997-1999; Part-time/weekends/nights/primary fill-in on-air, KTGL (Classic Rock)/Lincoln, NE 2000-2007; Chief Motor Vehicle Traffic Producer, CC-Lincoln 2002-2004; Webmaster, KZKX-FM (Country)/Lincoln, NE 2003-2008; Part-time/weekends/nights/primary fill-in on-air, KZKX-FM (Country) Lincoln, NE 2005-2008; Exec. Producer, Husker Sports Radio Network, 2006-2007; Online Content Dir., Clear Channel/Lincoln, 2007; Online Content Director, Three Eagles Lincoln, NE 2008.
1) As if losing your job isn't bad enough, you recently had another stroke of bad luck...
Of course you're talking about the fire. On July 12th, at 6:15a my wife and I were awakened by the building alarms at our apartment. The long and short of it was that it was a three-alarm fire, started just down the hall from us on the third floor, on the other side of the building, by a careless smoker. The fire destroyed almost everything we owned. No one was hurt or killed, but 15+ years of memories from concerts and station events, as well as all my old airchecks, and most of my computer files ... all gone. If you want to, you can check out the pics at the local newspaper's website: (http://www.journalstar.com/shared-content/gallery/?galleryid=7&gallery_page=0&album_page=0&albumid=1293&mediaid=14134)
Our now-former apartment is in pics 2, 4, 7 and 8. Let's just say it's made looking for a radio job even harder than the economy or the market has already done this year. Incredibly, my former radio colleagues and friends -- from both my former complex, as well as the competitors across town -- as well as numerous other friends and family from all over the country, stepped up and donated tons of clothes, household items and other things ... even money and food. Within two weeks, we had another apartment, and within three-and-a-half weeks, I had a new computer with the necessary software to keep doing consulting -- and of course, looking for radio work. And I only missed two total days of work at my current temp job, due to the fire.
2) You only missed two days?
Yeah, and those were non-consecutive. I really consider it a testament to the incredible people I've had a chance to meet and work with over the years who gave my wife and I such incredible support. Many of those people tell me that choice to not stop working is more of a testament to my work ethic and my view of how the world works than anything else. I just believe what I told everyone who I contacted by e-mail, during the immediate aftermath of the fire: The world keeps moving on, whether our individual lives do or not. So you have a choice -- lay down, crumple up in a ball and die, or get back up and get going. My wife and I chose the latter. Thankfully, because of the incredible people we've known, we had the resources to be able to do just that.
I'm still working on a few things for a few long-term clients of mine, in my role as an online consultant. I've even recently picked up another client for some small consulting work. I'm still working a temp job, my wife is still a manager at one of the top Lowes stores in the country. Of course, I still keep watching the media, looking at other radio station, TV, newsprint and online-only websites to see what new tricks OCDs and Webmasters are implementing - and how I might steal/borrow those techniques in any work I do.
3) You lost your job in May -- an eight-year stay at one place -- and then lost your home and everything you own in July. A lot of other people haven't done as well during trying times like yours, yet you seem to still have a generally positive attitude. How do you maintain that positive mental attitude and stay motivated?
These days, more than ever, I believe it's a conscious choice. Proper diet and exercise help, and having great friends and family to support you are key. I also keep looking at the world in a very realistic way; frankly, things could be a hell of a lot worse. In radio, we do all kinds of benefits and sponsorships for people who have gone through much worse -- those living with cancer, those affected by war, or by major natural disasters. None of those things happened to me. I still have my abilities, I still have my wife and no one was hurt or injured. So that's part of how I keep my positive attitude -- perspective. I also realize that my experience in both online content creation/management, consulting and radio puts me in a very unique and rare class of people, who are being sought after these days by the best radio groups in the country, to help them bridge the gap between radio how it used to be done, and how radio will survive the next 10, 15 and 20 years. So my attitude remains positive, in part, because I doubt I'll be "on the beach" very long.
4) You say you've been a consultant ... what kind of consulting have you done. and do you plan on sticking with the radio industry?
I've been a consultant for print industries and individual businesses. I've even worked, internally, with large clients like Wal-Mart, as an employee/consultant. I've never worked as a radio consultant, but truth is, my heart lies in the radio biz, especially behind the mic. I got into radio because my goal, when I was young, was to never work a job that FELT like work. Most of the time in our business - even when you're sweating, the equipment has issues and the listeners and/or clients are a pain, and the weather is making things impossible, and any one of a thousand other issues are happening that drive us all crazy. Even at that point, when you compare what we do to what so many other people do in this country and around the world, radio usually doesn't feel like work. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from one of my former PDs, Doc Jarnagin (Now at KPAW/Ft. Collins). He told me, "No matter how cool it [working in radio] is, if you're not havin' fun, get out. Because the listeners will know and everyone else around you will know ... and that path doesn't lead you to the success you want." I figure as long as its fun, I'll keep workin' in radio because working in the non-radio world, like I am right now, is NOT fun, comparatively speaking.
5) What is the next job you'd like to get into?
Frankly, I'd like to be an Online Content Director again, while having a small on-air shift (if possible). I'm not looking to be the end-all/be-all computer guy for some small-minded, small-time radio group. Those groups that are willing to take radio's position online seriously already treat positions like Online Content Dir., Online Content Coordinator, Webmaster, Online Sales and Digital Content Manager as seriously as they do that of PD, Dir./Sales, OM, or GM. Those radio groups with vision give respect where it's due, and let those few of us who understand the place where radio and the Internet meet, do our jobs well without attempting to micromanage us. There are far too many radio groups that refuse to acknowledge that -- from our end of things, inside the business -- a serious online radio presence requires a serious online game plan, including investment and capitalization strategies that management actually plans on implementing.
Too many radio groups -- and media groups in general -- still seem to think of the Internet as something extra, a feature they can almost live without. Worse yet, there are far too many radio groups, even from some of the big names in the industry who don't know how to capitalize on their online content and/or don't care enough to take care of their online content to make it worthwhile. Before your sales team can sell it, your online content has to be worth buying and have value, just as your on-air content does. For those radio groups that "get it," I'm ready to come help them succeed. For those radio groups that don't get it, I don't have time for them anymore. It's not worth trying to teach that kind of pig to dance -- it's a waste of my time and it just frustrates the pig. Thankfully, there has been more than one radio group that knows what they want, and we've been in discussion about how I can help them succeed.
6) How are you finding the "courtesy level" at places you've applied? (Callbacks, e-mails, rejection letters, etc.)
The courtesy level has been about what I expect; some places better than others. What I'm finding that disappoints both me and some potential employers is the cost of moving. I've been in the "final round" for more than one job, since I ended up on the beach, and the deal breaker more than once has been the cost of the move. Some groups/clusters really wanted me, but couldn't justify the increased expense of moving someone from far away to their location, due to the economy and high fuel costs. Of course, since the fire, my wife and I have a LOT less stuff; and since this summer, the price of gas has come down again, so moving may be cheaper this Fall.
7) Are you spending as much time listening to radio as you used to?
I spend as much time listening to radio as I can, but it may not be what everyone considers traditional radio. I listen to my XM satellite radio and I listen to stations in other cities on their online streams (sometimes even doing that on my cell phone). Of course, I listen to local radio, too, although not as much as I once did. In the modern world of radio today, those radio and media groups that will survive the next 25 years are those who understand we're ALL playing ball with the "big boys" and "big girls" everywhere in the U.S. and around the world. It doesn't matter what size market you're in, the Internet is leveling the playing field for all of us. Look at Chrysler, who's offering wireless Internet in many of their 2009 models. This means listeners can now start out listening to your station on your terrestrial signal, and keep listening to their favorite local station all the way across the country ... but only if your station is set up to capture them. "Radio" isn't just the programming that comes out of the box with the transistors anymore. If your radio group and its management refuse to understand that concept, your stations have a very dark - and likely short - future, in my opinion.
8) Since you've been "On The Beach," what do you miss most about radio?
Free concert tickets. (Just kidding) Actually, it's the pace and the challenges. There's always something new to learn, to do, to see and to hear everyday. If you're working with the best folks in your city/region, and your stations are the leaders, making sure you keep everyone else eating your dust is one of the most exciting challenges. Of course, I also miss the great folks I worked with for eight years at one complex in Lincoln, NE - Hoss Michaels, Joe Skare, Brian Jennings, Doc Jarnagin, Tim Sheridan, Julie Gade, Lester St. James ... the list is longer than we have space for on All Access. Of course, I also miss all the concerts; being on the beach, eating and keeping a roof over my head is slightly more important than goin' to a show. Mostly, it's the pace and the challenges; the challenges of working with AEs to keep the customers happy, while staying within budget and staying true to the history and flavor of the station you're on and/or working with; the challenges of live remotes, and equipment issues, while making things sound like there's nothing wrong; the challenges of coming up with new promotions all the time, while keeping evergreen promotional bits fresh. Of course, did I mention I miss those free concert tickets?
9) What do you miss least about radio?
Poor management with no vision and no understanding of reality. Radio in 2008 isn't radio in small-town America in 1985. There were some things that, even in small-town American radio in 1985, we need to bring back to radio now. Too many cluster executives and small-market radio owners still think it's one or the other -- small, local, live and poor, or big, corporate, voicetracked and rich. There are features of BOTH approaches that MUST be worked into any successful radio group these days. While those battle lines have been drawn for many years, technologies like the Internet are making those two camps less viable and less defined. Voicetracking has a place, and it's not all bad; so does live, local radio. But your on-air talent can be live -- and in the town 60 miles away from your main studio, at their own house.
No matter whether you're in a smaller market, or one of the top-10 markets in the country, you can still make a decent amount of money in radio. However, because of factors beyond the control of most radio folks, those financial gains are no longer going to be double digit year-over-year growth figures. Those executives who don't get facts like these need to grow up and look at the world around them. If you wake up alive, do a great job, and make more money than your costs take from you, right there you're ahead of the game. But not everyone sees it that way. With the Internet portion of radio, the negative attitude from those who don't understand things is often even worse. There's usually a luddite or two who insist that "Everything on the Internet is FREE -- so why do WE have to pay for any of it?" [Because we want to SELL it, that's why!] Unfortunately, there often seems to be at least one person in any radio group who doesn't "get it" in one key way or another, and seems to continually get in the way of the station group succeeding. I don't miss fighting that kind of person at all. As I said earlier, I'm not teaching the pigs to dance anymore.
10) Having been through all you have dealt with in this biz, what advice would you give people trying to break in?
What I've told a few kids who I've run into, who are in broadcasting school, is this: learn it ALL -- TV, radio, film, online, print and some sales, too. In the modern media world we live in now, it seems the only way to get a real and serious shot at the business is to know a little bit of all functions in the media. As I said before, radio in 2008 isn't just about the programming coming out of the box with the transistors in it. Your competitors aren't just the other radio groups in town, but also the TV stations, the newspaper, blogs, other websites, and even other radio stations in bigger markets.
In radio in 2008, in the world made "flat" by the Internet, having the best content is only the first stage to winning, because you're competing against everyone. In the world of the Internet, no one cares if you make any money; only that you have the best products. You MUST have the best product first -- an investment strategy that will pay off by making it so much easier on your sales staff. But having the best products alone is not enough. Having a DOS and AEs who can then capitalize on that content is the only way you'll get paid what you're worth, and have your station group win, not just in ratings, but also in dollars and cents.
The key in the world of the Internet is this: Content is just as important (and sometimes more so) than sales. If you build your radio products right and make them top-notch ... and then use the best sales people and techniques to capitalize on that investment -- everyone in your company, from on-air, to production, to promotions, to sales, right down to the janitor, will be happier and more successful. If you worry about the money first, and the short-term return above all else, insist on NOT investing in both your people AND your technology, and keep trying to cut and cut and cut your way to success, your competition will invest in their people, their products, and these days, their online strategy, and then they will bury you alive.
Bottom line? If you want to break in to radio, be patient, work hard, know what radio will become, and what it has been. Learn every aspect of all different forms of media, because in radio these days, you need to know them all. Finally, know that when you start out in radio, the most important words are, "Yeah, I can do that."
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