Friends and others I haven’t talked to in years…

I’ve been on-air since Weds morning at 5:00. We thought we’d be able to drive in until around 11 that morning. When I got the call they were evacuating I came in immediately. Kristin was staying with Stacey the station Manager… they were here just before 4. We almost didn’t get into the station via truck… and he almost didn’t get out… we’re boating in and out at this point but only 1 trip in and out per day… We boated Kristin out yesterday… she did the updates with me until around 11 then covered the rest of the afternoon while I was on the phone with engineers working out a backup plan…

Thankfully we didn’t have to put the backup plan in place… We do have several backups of all data located off-site, however, the other concern is the radio station being overtaken by water forcing us to shut down before it causes major damage or worse, electrocution. Power, oddly enough, has been solid, even though we’ve got a genset and enough diesel to last 3-4 days. If we need to move. here is a tower farm about 8 miles away with a monster non directional AM tower that is setup for ham radio contesting… and a 500 foot tower used for em-comm… all generator powered. We’ve got a 250 watt FM exciter and a single bay antenna as well as processing lined up and a 60 watt am transmitter on our frequency in case we need to relocate. It wouldn’t be as good as the 50,000 watts we put out, regularly and would cover the county…

My most important concern, besides the employees here are the listeners that are affected by this water… I’ll do whatever it takes to keep us on-air and the engineering team that I have lined up should be able to make this happen quickly if it comes to an evac.

We nearly evacuated the station as water in the crawl space was threatening our power supply… we’ve been able to drop that significantly and are constantly pumping…

She was amazing… She’ll be my relief this morning at 8… I’m going to try to lay down for 2 hours and then prep for the 5a news… WGFA’s News Director was here before I was here Weds… He is also the “part time” County Emergency Services Director. That’s a joke… the job is full time x2 as it is… plus we’re a very large county, and now he’s doing this… IL EMA are in town surveying… Cty has been declared a State Disaster agency…

Details at http://www.wgfaradio.com

Look for aerial footage of the flooding here… http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/

Most recent pics of flooding are at http://www.flickr.com/wgfaradio

Some others at http://www.flickr.com/jrkaiser

My home is fine… Sheldon is 10 miles away and much higher… even though the drainage around that area is very bad, we had 4-6 inches around the area and my entire property was a lake… but the home and garage/studio are dry… a little water in the crawl space. Diana and the dogs are doing well, lonely, but well… and SAFE.

We’ve got water lapping at both doors… never been this high… ever… Rarely comes within a few hundred yards of the station with the regular floods… Yes, I said regular… About once ever couple of years… Jan 2005 was very bad because it froze and there was no where for the water to go… then it got down to 20 below.

This year, we had a lot of snow melt last week, and now the rain.

That’s the update… I need to get some sleep before I do the 5am news… I had 90 minutes yesterday and need to get some beauty sleep.

We’re fine… the community isn’t, but we are…

Justin
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Here to Help!
Justin Kaiser & Associates
Creative Identity Group
Voiceovers and Internet Marketing
Phone/FAX - (888) 519-9575
http://www.JustinKaiser.com
http://www.CreativeIdentityGroup.com
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Another heritage Minneapolis Radio Station

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Dialing For Dollars

Cure your listeners� post-holiday blues by helping them pay off their bills! Each morning at a certain time, have one of your air personalities select a random dollar amount. If one of your listeners has a Visa, Master Card or American Express bill for exactly that amount, your station pays the bill (the first person to call is the winner!). You can modify this by structuring the promotion so that instead of paying the entire bill, if the listener has a single charge that equals the dollar amount given, the station pays them that much money. To claim their prize, the listener must bring in the actual bill; that way, dates and amounts can be verified.

Baby Baby

Tie-in with a baby clothing outlet and a hospital to give a gift pack to the first infant born in the new year. To get your listeners involved, add a �guess the time of the first birth� contest with entry blanks at participating stores and award a prize to the listener with the closest guess.

January Blahs

The holidays are over, the bills are coming in, and your listeners are starting to suffer from the January blahs. A great way to perk up their spirits is to focus on people in your community who really need some help. January is the toughest month of the year for food banks and shelters. Sponsor a food drive around a local sporting or entertainment event. Give free or discounted admission to a basketball game or movie with a food donation, or have a food and clothing drive at your station and let other media know about it too.

January Specials

For most stations, the first quarter is the lightest advertising season at any radio station. To help get those numbers up, present the �WXXX January Clearance Sale.� Sell participating sponsors three weeks of advertising in January at your regular rates, and give them the fourth week free or a two-for-one sale. Clients will appreciate the discount rate since their first quarter sales are likely at a low ebb, too.

Making Lemonade

A slow first quarter could be a boon to the programming department. Use your limited commercial load to have some fun with promos. Create entertaining vignettes that promote jocks, features, or station themes. You could also use extra spots to do a special job for a local charity or group. You�ll enhance your station�s image and keep spot-consuming promotions or events out of busier times.

Half-ey New Year

Start the year off with a retail bang. Choose a weekend in January to sponsor a 50% off sale. Rent a convention hall, armory, or vacant warehouse and sell booths to retailers as part of a first quarter ad package. The only rule: all merchandise sold must be priced at least 50% off the list price. Use part of each retailer�s ad schedule to promote the two-day event and match it with a station promo schedule. Have each participating retailer donate one item to be used in prize drawings at the event. Arrange for a local charity group to have a food concession, with all proceeds going to the charity.

Call me a cab!

Sponsor free cab rides on New Year�s Eve. In many markets cab companies, taverns and radio stations offer free New Year�s Eve rides home from parties, bars and other and night spots. Tie in with your local MADD or SADD chapter. It�s a good promotion and a helpful service.

Gobble This

Here�s a year-end promotion that�s fun for both your station and your listeners. Invite people to submit nominations for the �Turkey Of The Year.� Encourage your morning show audience to nominate someone whose foul actions during the past 12 months may give new meaning to the word �turkey.� Announce the winner and create a small plaque honoring the participant . If the individual has a sense of humor, perhaps an on-air appearance to accept the award would be possible.