Radio Promotions As A Way To Starve

[EbolaMonkey]

Maybe I'm behind the times, but, for young pups in the business, I always thought the idea was to get in the door and wear as many hats as possible. Promotions was usually the way to actually squeeze some money out of the station. It wasn't your only job. You probably got in the door with an internship of some kind and then did some promotions to get a little money in the deal. Not a lot of money of course.

Then... maybe... you'd be in a position to pounce on any entry-level full-time position that might open up.

 

[johnqdoe]

Contrary to popular belief here...not ALLLL banner hanging, t-shirt flinging, sticker giving promo kids WANT to be on the air. For many, radio promotions is a cool gig while they finish school. It's much cooler to say, "I work p/t at the Eagle" than saying , "I work at Whataburger"....

You are SOOOO right! Then again, just because you have it on your resume, it might not mean shit. Trust me, I have radio all over my resume and while it might look "cool", it hasn't done much for me. (I also have a degree. I have found my degree isn't worth the paper, or frame I put it in.) I'd have been better off to start out part-time at Whataburger and move into management. Do you know how much a friggin' FAST FOOD MANAGER MAKES?!?!?! Sure, it's not "cool" but DAYYYUUUMMM!!!

Grocery store managers are banking too. Burger flipping and grocery bagging can lead to better careers than radio for sure! It's rare for promo folks to end up on the air...BUT...they can move up the ranks on that side of the building. I know several Promo Directors that started out as the 7 dollar an hour kids. It seems interns on morning shows have a MUCH better chance to stick on air somewhere than a promo kid trying to rise thru the ranks. I try not to be pissy about it....but it does get under my skin sometimes to see some intern stick in a major market after a 6 month internship while I bounced around and worked my ass off for peanuts in small and medium markets to get to the bigs. I should clarify....not ALL the interns that get gigs piss me off...It's the snot nose punks that know everything about radio that piss me off.... It's who ya know...plain and simple.

 

[Dndsh237]

Maybe I'm behind the times, but, for young pups in the business, I always thought the idea was to get in the door and wear as many hats as possible. Promotions was usually the way to actually squeeze some money out of the station. It wasn't your only job. You probably got in the door with an internship of some kind and then did some promotions to get a little money in the deal. Not a lot of money of course.

Then... maybe... you'd be in a position to pounce on any entry-level full-time position that might open up.

That might have been true in the pre-deregulated days of radio. But the odds of that happening today are few and far inbetween.

 

[board monkey]

Getting "your foot in the door" as an unpaid, official intern or unpaid, unofficial gopher INSIDE the station has to be better than working in promotions.

Even better for youngsters that want to be "in radio": get a "gopher" job at a small radio station outside of the DFW metro area.

Someday, someone with a real job might not show up and you could be pressed into service. That's what happened to me 40 years ago at a 1,000 watt daytimer.

I'm still in the biz; God help me, I do love it so.

Agreed!

I got my first experience at KNON years ago, when they were in the house on san jacinto. I sent out mailers and cataloged cd/vinyl as well. That taught me more about the day to day then getting a minimum wage job tossing out koozies to people.

This makes two of us. I was board op-ing the morning show. Almost fell through that rotted azz floor behind the board. Made John Wiley Price laugh! ;D

I helped start the teen talk show back in 1997, got canned about three weeks into it because I was too white for the station....

I always was a little worried when John's show came around every Thursday. I just didnt know how angry the people he usually brought with him were gonna be at "The Man" that day.

 

[Slambang]

JWP is full of jokes, thats been his whole scene for years...He plays the victim and is a total ass to anyone white.

 

[MikeShannon914]

I met JWP once when he was doing an interview for Channel 8 earlier this year, and found him to be a VERY nice guy, and someone who could talk Dallas history with the best of them. Yeah, I'm white; yeah, I know his background and how he usually acts and how he's usually treated...but I had a really nice visit with the guy. I did start off things by telling him I didn't always agree with him, but I liked his style (and that's the truth...anyone who can mix up the staid machinery that runs city government is ok by me, although I don't necessarily endorse his methods!)

 

[Steve Eberhart]

If you take a position as a promotions assistant and think that job is a career, that's your first mistake.
If you take that job and find ways to showcase your talent beyond that position and use it to impress others to the extent that it leads you to a higher profile position (whatever you choose that to be), then you might be on to something.
There is a reason they call it "entry level".
It's kind of like taking your first on air job doing overnight Sunday morning. It's the lowest position on the totem pole for on air gigs. (if stations even have someone on live on that shift anymore-not likely) I've known people who've been on that shift for years still thinking they will get promoted! If it hasn't happened after 6 months or a year, you either leave and try somewhere else or just leave...unless you're perfectly happy doing it for pennies.

 

[kzewdude]

Ditto Steve's post. It's like a board op. It's a way in to radio. The rest is up to you. If you're all about the money and weren't blessed with on-air talent, there's always sales (better have a thick skin), which could lead to well paying general sales manager or general manager gigs. Maybe I'm showing my age, but back in the day, you did what you had to do--even if it meant working many hours for free--to get into a station, prove your value, learn as much as you could, and move up.

 

[Slambang]

I met JWP once when he was doing an interview for Channel 8 earlier this year, and found him to be a VERY nice guy, and someone who could talk Dallas history with the best of them. Yeah, I'm white; yeah, I know his background and how he usually acts and how he's usually treated...but I had a really nice visit with the guy. I did start off things by telling him I didn't always agree with him, but I liked his style (and that's the truth...anyone who can mix up the staid machinery that runs city government is ok by me, although I don't necessarily endorse his methods!)

Mike, The JWP of today and the one of 10-20 years age are two different people. The one today is slightly more refined and has more common sense than the guy who went up and punched out Fred Watts from KXAS back in the late 80's-early 90's

 

[board monkey]

I met JWP once when he was doing an interview for Channel 8 earlier this year, and found him to be a VERY nice guy, and someone who could talk Dallas history with the best of them. Yeah, I'm white; yeah, I know his background and how he usually acts and how he's usually treated...but I had a really nice visit with the guy. I did start off things by telling him I didn't always agree with him, but I liked his style (and that's the truth...anyone who can mix up the staid machinery that runs city government is ok by me, although I don't necessarily endorse his methods!)

Mike, The JWP of today and the one of 10-20 years age are two different people. The one today is slightly more refined and has more common sense than the guy who went up and punched out Fred Watts from KXAS back in the late 80's-early 90's

I will say this. JWP was always very cool with me. He knew the deal. We were young kids trying to do "radio" and he needed a method to get his message out. Thats why he is at KNON. Low overhead. You wouldnt believe the pledge drive cash that guy can bring in from the crazies that listen to that station. He also understood that we had marching orders from what little management they have. That and the engineer didnt really care how horrible the equipment was. God! I cant believe they actually expected me to make that station sound good in the morning!