10 Questions with ... Jeff Lyons

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Promotions Director for: WERQ/Baltimore, WKSL/Memphis, WPXY/Rochester, WFLY/Albany, Cumulus/Tallahassee, American General Media/Santa Maria, CA ... Gold Coast Broadcasting/Ventura, CA ... Cumulus/Huntsville

1. How would you describe your first radio gig?

An unpaid internship (yes, those did exist at one time), where I got priceless on-the-job training and experience!

2. What led you to a career in radio?

I studied Communications at the Univ. of Maryland and was looking for an internship or job opportunity, and radio was my best opportunity. Interning at WPGC/Washington, D.C. in the mid-'90s as my starting point? How lucky was that?

3. How would you describe the radio landscape in your market?

An interesting mix of the big companies and smaller ownership, and stations who don't let market size restrict the size of their ideas. Competitive, but that's a good thing -- keeps you pushing for new, bigger and better things.

4. What makes your station unique? How would you compare it to other stations you've worked at?

'ZYP is unique these days in having over 20 years of heritage in the market and in the same format, so the station's leadership has done a great job of keeping the sound and feel of the station fresh in terms of programming, production and promotional ideas to keep the listeners who grew up with the station, while still reaching out to new listeners.

Compared to other stations, it probably has the strongest long-term heritage of any of them, and a good mix of people who have been here for the long haul plus new faces and voices to keep the station fresh.

5. Are you wearing more "hats" than you have in the past?

Definitely! I've seen my job go from just handling Promotions to all Promotions responsibilities, plus imaging writing, website management/development, to all new social media platforms. A lot of it has been "learn as you go," but I've had some great teachers and guidance along the way! One thing for sure in radio - you will always need to learn something new ... adapt or become extinct!

6. What are you doing social media-wise?

WZYP is active on all platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope - if it's out there, we've pretty much used it). It is a great, fun way to connect with the audience, both reinforcing what you're doing on-air, plus giving a new layer of connection with Facebook live out on location, in-studio live video, questions, surveys, etc, etc, etc. You'd be amazed sometimes at the things that really click with the audience; we learn more and more about their lives and interests, which only helps us design the station more to what they want and like.

7. "Local local local" has always been radio's mantra. How do you keep your station visible and involved in the community?

'ZYP is blessed to have a strong brand in the community, so we are in demand and we try to take every opportunity to be out in the local area, not only at client remotes, but also charity events, fairs, city functions ... you name it, really! We have a great team of people who work long and hard to get us out in front of people, and it pays off.

8. What is the most challenging part of the job?

Obviously budget, right? LOL - that's got to be one of the most common answers, but it does present challenges. You just have to learn to be creative and not let a little thing like "How do we pay for it?" get in the way of a cool opportunity.

The second biggest challenge would be getting everyone to have a "big picture" shared vision with long-term planning ... short-term plans are short-term solutions.

9. What's the coolest promotion you've been involved with recently?

On 'ZYP we had our annual "Blarney Stones" promotion for St. Patrick's Day back in March. Every year, our PD/OM Steve Smith gets 104 stones (we don't know from where, but some of his neighbors have suspicious holes in their yards) that we paint green and number, then hide all over the area and listeners go out to find them. Each stone also has a note, inviting them to bring the stone to our St Patty's Blarney Stone Party to get their prize - concert tickets, cash cards, cool tech stuff, etc. It's such an annual benchmark that we had people asking for it at Valentine's Day, so we're doing something right!

Another cool one recently was with our Urban AC sister station WHRP when we did an opening night theater buyout for "Black Panther," as everyone knows that movie was insanely huge. Our PD Toni Terrell and I knew this would be massive in general but I particular for the Urban audience, so instead of sitting around crying about "No budget," we made it happen, and it was a home run promotion with WHRP listeners getting to see the first screenings in Huntsville! We weren't going to miss out on something this obvious and important, so we made it happen and made the station shine.

10. What's one thing that would surprise many people to learn about you?

That I am initially very quiet and reserved - weird, given that my job usually entails me speaking with and approaching total strangers. It has been something I had to really work at when I started my career (and still working on it) - I was fortunate to have some great teachers/coworkers, such as Paco Lopez, Russ Allen, Chris Taylor, Mike Danger, Joe Bullard, Jay Blaze, Brian Davis and more who all helped me in relaxing and growing ... all the way up to Steve Smith today, who has recently been threatening to put me on-air here at 'ZYP ... be careful what you wish for!

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I've always had a fascination with the human mind and what leads people to "insanity" or whatever you want to call it, so I did consider being a psychiatrist or Tterapist of some kind. I wasn't sure if I could handle all of the school required for that, so I chose radio - not nearly as much school, and I still get to work with some "special" and "unique" people!