I believe the most important skill required by a program director is to be a leader who spreads the vision. You have to be the cheerleader, the evangelist if you will. Those around you must believe the station can win and will win....even during the worst of possible situations...for that very belief, causes will, and with that anything can be overcome. The people that had the most influence on my programming philosophies: Indirectly it was Rick Sklar who created WABC-AM in the 60s, that was copied by WLS-AM 890. I grew up listening to WLS, it�s high energy, high profile personalities and tight formatics. Formatics created by Rick Sklar. Others, a former VP of programming Keith Edwards (Radio Works), from the style of programming he did in the early to mid 1980s at KZ-93 in Peoria. The station was tight and had that certain feel and sound....one where you would cut a limb off to work at. Another influence when I was younger was in the area I grew up in, and that was from Don Munson, a Marconi Award winner. My parents listened to him religiously and I eventually got to work at that very station. He demonstrated the importance of being Local, Local and above all Local. Another is Paul Dunn...the person who gave me my first radio job as a teenager. Paul worked mornings on-air and sold advertising (yes, we are talking small market radio), his influences on me was the local factor, but most of all the importance of advertising...of reaching radio�s other clients...the sponsors.
What I can bring to this situation that make me the most qualified person for the job:
I bring a level of maturity and an extremely strong desire to win. This is not a job to me, this is a career move and an opportunity to win for all involved. I am not someone who will blow in here, and if they win, blow out...or if they fail, just disappear. This matters to me, I bring this level of passion to the table. I will win if given the chance and I will not be blowing out of town with that win...I will take on the harder battle, and that is keeping the properties successful and taking new ground.
The greatest opportunity facing 21st Century Stations:
Opportunity is cutting a large fragment away from other listening sources and to cut a chunk of ad dollars along with it. The problem facing anyone in this matter is being able to stand out, being competitive with literally 19th century technology in the 21st century. The computer age is only in it�s infancy, being able to fight for people�s time as a source of entertainment and information is only going to become more difficult.
What Air Personalities would say about my working relationship:
I have always had an excellent relationship with the staff. I know what it is like to do mornings, therefore I can relate and offer proper coaching and support. All would say I am friend to all and a buddy to none. I have an open door policy and encourage people to come to me if they have problems or questions. I firmly believe in empowering the team and keeping people informed (on what isn�t sensitive material). The staff also knows I wouldn�t ask them to do something I wouldn�t do. I have lived on billboards in the dead of winter, covered last minute airshifts, and come in a moments notice because of emergencies or technical problems (once lost satellite programming during a late Friday afternoon...I kept the station on mostly myself that entire weekend until Monday when a new receiver could be brought in. I did this because the staff was stretched thin and I wanted to keep the station on the air and moral up).
I am most proud of:
Personally, being able to say I was able to complete a novel as a writer. Professionally, it is defeating a heritage station (___________) and turning around a station that was ranked dead last up to number one in it�s targeted cells. Another is saving a person�s career. My former employers had given up on a certain part-timer...they believed he was not able to function in anything besides one shift a week because he wasn�t motivated. I believed it was lack of direction, discipline, motivation and a personality conflict. I took him over to the ______ stations, and in a short while, he ended up taking over mornings and with direction became community involved (he is still there and doing well). I am also proud of the fact I was able to prevent another lost cause from being let go over there. I worked with someone...and eventually they landed a full-time position elsewhere in the company...this same person had been targeted for termination.
