Does your station offer tours to schools, clubs, and college groups?

[Groove1670]

The future is out there. (No comments on the decline of the industry please).

Small market radio, and staffed stations. It would be great if you allowed tours of your station to those who have the desire to be in radio. Yes "Nothing to see" would apply to some stations (we won't get into that) but as you read the bottom of this article, there are still some gems out there. Does you station reach out to schools, clubs, and college groups.

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articl...dio-today-there-really-is-nothing-to-see-here

 

[Chuck]

I think it is a lot of fun to have groups come to visit. It is also good for business. The welcome mat is out at my stations.

 

[radioboy]

I used to even have some elementary classes come for station tours when I worked for a local AM.

We would have a tape running and let the kids record something - usually just their names - then would make a dub and give to the teacher to take back.

 

[AMradiofan]

We host our "business after hours" once a year for the Ionia Area Chamber of commerce and offer members attending a moment at our "round table" in the main studio with the owner.

Each Christmas Eve (or closest weekday to it) our studios are open to our listeners and get PACKED wall to wall with people coming to celebrate Christmas and to bring the station home-made goodies.

Tours are usually for groups like M.A.R.E. (Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts) and for Engineers like the West Michigan SBE chapter, but we've also been on the local historical society tours when they do their "Upstairs/Downtown" tour even though we're not downtown, (just a part of area history) Engineers and radio enthusiasts like coming to our station because everything is "on site" and we're not a bunch of cubicles with STL's to remote transmitter sites.

We try to keep tours to those of an age with genuine interest in radio, or those interested in our owner's our radio collection. (see facebook for /i1430....the pictures are by no means complete, just begun photographing) because, groups with ages "too young" like very young cub scouts that just have parents bring them to get a badge or similar have very short attention spans, and need to be more careful with the many radios and radio-related items on display than older visitors.

As a rule, we're always glad to have guests, all we ask is a call-ahead or appointment if at all possible. We're proud of our station, our AM stereo sound (amazes people in person and on our webstream) and our collection of radio "stuff!"

 

[TheBigA]

Interesting that one company that does a lot of local outreach, contrary to their image among radio geeks, is Clear Channel. Several stations I know have performance/meeting rooms in their buildings, where they hold regular concerts for their "loyal listeners." These rooms are sponsored, with company logos on the wall. These rooms are also offered to non-profit groups for meetings and other uses. Tours are also pretty common. I know of several other companies that do this, but CC seems to be the most organized.

 

[ProducerGuy]

I did some tours for the scouts at my old station. Wouldn't mind doing it again at my new one.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Yes, lots of scout troupes have come through. I've tried to get the boss to host the local chamber for hors d'oeuvre but the facility really isn't set up to accommodate 30.

 

[ProducerGuy]

I also run liners on my show inviting pretty much anyone that is having an event to come on the air. I have blood drive folks, the chamber of commerce, etc. on the show all the time. Not really tours, but I do my best to reach out to everyone.

 

[Chuck]

We have an annual "Open House," usually sometime just before the official opening of the Holiday Season. We invite clients, prospective clients, Chamber of Commerce Members, and any movers and shakers from the community. We provide them with food and drink with a chance to see the facility and talk to us and/or their friends. It is very similar to a "Business After Hours" Chamber of Commerce meeting. Last year we had abut 150 people show up over a four hour period. It does cost a few bucks to do, but in the long run, it is well worth while. If nothing else, it makes us clean the place up...

 

[firepoint525]

Tried to stop by and visit a radio station that I formerly worked for (the first station that I ever worked for, no less!) during regular business hours, mind you, and found the doors LOCKED! Keep in mind that this particular station is NOT located in some remote area, but rather in the downtown business district, just a block or two away from the town square! Needless to say, that did not look good to me. I would have attempted to stop by and visit again, but I live too far away for that now. All was not lost, however. I was able to visit a small museum across the street from the station, which I had never visited while I was working at that station.

Had this station been closed and locked like that a decade earlier, I would not have been able to apply for a job with them!

 

[TheBigA]

Tried to stop by and visit a radio station that I formerly worked for (the first station that I ever worked for, no less!) during regular business hours, mind you, and found the doors LOCKED!

Downtown radio stations are advised to keep their front doors locked. I ran an inner city station for a few years, and all kinds of vagrants walked in the front door, especially during the winter. Also, FCC rules require access to the studio area to be restricted.

 

[SaltyDog]

Tried to stop by and visit a radio station that I formerly worked for (the first station that I ever worked for, no less!) during regular business hours, mind you, and found the doors LOCKED!

If it was during business hours, I presume someone would have let you in if you pushed the button. How else would a visitor be able to inspect the public file? I remember when radio stations used to be unlocked but that's been a long time. At some point, almost every station became locked during business hours no matter the location.

It's amazing to think that it used to be we could walk into airports and greet people at the gate, or tour Washington D.C. without walking through metal detectors.

 

[AMradiofan]

Tried to stop by and visit a radio station that I formerly worked for (the first station that I ever worked for, no less!) during regular business hours, mind you, and found the doors LOCKED!

Also, FCC rules require access to the studio area to be restricted.

Please quote that rule.

 

[bossbill]

Restricted access? Really? How do you check the Public File?

We operate 5 stations out of a small building, and mornings are usually busy with guests on all the stations, for various reasons, usually local events.

 

[TheBigA]

Restricted access? Really? How do you check the Public File?

I said "to the studio." You don't want people walking off the street and going on the air, hijacking the radio station.

Also, didn't the FCC just change the rules to allow people to view public files online?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Also, didn't the FCC just change the rules to allow people to view public files online?

Only for TV stations.

 

[TheBigA]

Also, didn't the FCC just change the rules to allow people to view public files online?

Only for TV stations.

Seems to me if anyone is denied access to view public files, it's punishable by fine. Right?

But they have to make the good effort and ring the doorbell. That's the least they can do.

 

[frnkp2000]

Tried to stop by and visit a radio station that I formerly worked for (the first station that I ever worked for, no less!) during regular business hours, mind you, and found the doors LOCKED!

Also, FCC rules require access to the studio area to be restricted.

Please quote that rule.

Transmitter and tower(s), yes! I don't know the exact rule, but that one's "in there"! (Secure fencing/locking gates) Studio, no. Though I did locate some "Warning: Radioactive Area" signs once and put them on the studio doors at one station--some visitors believed it! And buzzer/intercom systems don't seem to be all that uncommon. Some stations where I worked weren't in the best neighborhoods!

 

[AMradiofan]

Only towers. Nothing says you can't show off your transmitter to guests and have them right up next to it if they wish. There's no danger there in observing a closed, properly operating processing and transmitter plant.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I'm waiting for someone to clarify what the rules have to say, if anything, about the STUDIO being locked.

We live in a time where we take nothing for granted these days. I grew up in a house where we NEVER locked the doors, even when we went to town. We never locked our cars. There is no FCC rule on THIS topic, but as a matter of practice I always lock my car doors, even when it is parked in my own driveway, in a pretty laid-back neighborhood.

The thing I would never do today in a radio station is the big picture window where the announcer can be seen from the sidewalk, or in the case of a rural location, from the front yard or parking lot. When I worked in radio news in a small, cozy Midwestern town, I received a phone call from someone who had spent part of the night in the local jail... advising me that HIS name had better not be included in the morning news. (We did a "police blotter" back in those days in the small town. Got to love it! I used to get up at 3:15 A.M. and go to the police station and fire station on the way to work. The police blotter went on the air starting with the 5:30 A.M. news.) I can see that nut-job shooting through the front window and through the studio window to quiet me down. Had he done that it would have had the opposite result of what he wanted. The owner of that station was not one to be intimidated. The guy might have killed me, but the next morning at 5:30 the police blotter news would have included him, what caliber of gun it was, and how many freckles were on the left cheek of his butt. ;D

Times have changed. Just a few years ago I was managing a small low-income apartment community and police investigated a fracas on the premises. It took me five days before I could get a copy of the police report. NO reports were available to the public until the sheriff personally read them and redacted anything he didn't want on there. Getting up at 3:15 A.M. and going to the sheriffs department in that town would not be a viable program for a news department.

But I guess radio station windows would be safe again now. After all, who would stand out in the yard and shoot an automation machine?