Fort Wayne Site of the Day

This is the last week of Media Monday. The past 6 months I have featured most of the media outlets that have had a website as my Fort Wayne site of the day.

Today's site is also a salute to my former employer for the past 8+ years.

The four radio stations broadcasting from their studios on Lower Huntington Road, are in my opinion, some of the very best to work for. That is why I stayed thru various changes.

When I was hired by Karen Travis in April 2003, I had a background in radio both on the air and in sales, but wasn't doing anything in the business except some free lance commercial voice work.

I have worked on the air at several radio stations in the area, including some that are no longer on the air in the same format. The list, starting in my high school days includes:

WLHI 88.3 FM
WCMX 101.7 FM
WFWR 1090 AM
WMEE 97.3 FM
W??? 106.3 FM
WBTU 93.3 FM
WFWI 92.3 FM
WGL 1250 AM
WAJI 95.1 FM

And I also worked on the air at WBAT 1400 AM in Marion, Indiana; WIOU 1350 AM and WZWZ 93.5 FM both in Kokomo, Indiana; W??? 98.? in Indianapolis, Indiana and WMUZ 103.5 FM in Detroit.

Earlier this month I accepted a position at Cirrus ABS in Fort Wayne, and one day I'll explain more about what that involves.

But as I wrap up the Media Monday, I want to provide you with a "hidden link" to the Summit City Radio Group of stations, that include:

WGL-AM 1250
WGL-FM 102.9
WNHT FM 96.3
WXKE FM 103.9

Just click on the pic and you'll go to the website where you can then select one or more of the 4.

A Brand New Chapter

The following I wrote Thursday evening:

Monday morning as I drive to work, I'll be taking a different route than I have for the past 8 years and 2 months.

Instead of driving to radio stations ROCK 104, WILD 96.3, 1250 The River & V-102.9; I am taking a much shorter drive to the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center complex.

The reason?

As some of you know, I am starting a different direction in my marketing career, moving from the traditional radio world to the internet centered world.

I made the decision at the end of May, after being pursued by a local company that is doing work on a local, regional and national level, Cirrus ABS.

Last weekend I spent several hours cleaning out my office, which was filled with way too many papers and several personal items.

This is the second time I've walked away from a radio career, but the first time I've done it as a way to further my overall career goals and follow my passion.

That passion, simply stated, is "To help businesses and people make connections by improving their marketing relationships."

And while I will miss the daily relationships with many of my radio co-workers, the friendships with several of them will continue.

It feels like I have been working 2 jobs the past couple of weeks as I have been transitioning, spending several hours at Cirrus ABS last week and this week in addition to doing my radio work.

And Friday (today) is an all radio day with a sales meeting followed by a managers meeting with a conference call to our company president, a pizza lunch as a going away party from my office staff and then a traditional radio event, a live car dealer remote to wrap up the day.

If you're in Fort Wayne, Indiana this evening, feel free to join me and ROCK 104's Doc West at the Kelley Auto Tent Sale on Lima Road. We'll be hanging out from 5 to 7pm.

(Pictures include Big Kess at a WILD 96.3 remote at McDonalds, Doc West during one of our staff meetings, and the ROCK 104 van hanging out in my driveway).

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Wrapping down Media Monday over the next 3 weeks....

Click on Pic

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Wrapping down Media Monday over the next 4 weeks....

Click on Pic

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Media Monday continues with yet another station I worked at on the air. 1999 was the year. Click on Pic.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

I worked here a long time ago on the air and have friends who work here now. Click on Pic.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Go up the radio dial as Media Monday continues. Click on Pic.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

As Media Monday continues on this site, we move from the part of the FM dial that the F.C.C. has reserved for non-profit organizations to the rest of the FM bandwidth starting with 92 and above.

I have worked for some of these radio stations, currently work for some of these stations and/or have former co-workers who work for some of these stations.

Today's station used to be known as Music 92.3 and I did afternoons on the air for about 6 months, before they flipped to an All 70's Music Station, as the first version of the Fort. The stayed on board doing mornings for about 6 months.

Click on Pic to visit them now.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Media Monday continues with one more high school station that technically is out of town.

But since I make the rules, you get to click on Pic.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Media Monday continues High School style. Click on Pic.

Tech Tuesday Tip

Every once in awhile you need to listen to the radio.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine wanted to listen to a guest on a local talk show that airs on one of my radio stations, WGL 1250AM The River, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

We have a website and most people can listen live by following the link on the home page at http://www.1250theriver.com/.

But there is another way that I discovered recently to listen to radio stations not just locally but all over the country. It's called Tune In Radio. You can find it on the web at http://tunein.com/

They boast about access to over 30,000 stations, and there are applications for all major mobile devices and smartphones.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Media Monday continues as we move up the FM Dial. A former co-worker of mine from the early 1980's is on the air every afternoon. Click on Pic.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Media Monday continues. This week there are actually 2 Fort Wayne based stations, one I listen to the other I don't. Wanna guess which is which?

Click on Pic.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Media Monday continues for the next several weeks with a focus on radio stations.

I work for a group of 4 stations and when we get to them I'll be sure to let you know.

My radio connection grew from listening to the radio as a youth to actually working on the air as an announcer, as a disc-jockey, as a radio personality and in management as a Program Director.

It all began in the summer of 1975, between my sophomore and junior year of high school at Concordia in Fort Wayne. 30+ years ago, you had to pass a test and get a licence to be on the air and Concordia was starting a radio station.

If memory serves me correctly, there were about 30 students who volunteered to take a class that summer to learn and study for the Federal Communications Commission test, about 15 to 20 passed the test. That high school radio station started out as 10 watt WLHI at 88.3 FM.

Today it is a million dollar + operation as Star 88.3. Click on Pic for their website.

Twitter is Dead and other Fables

First a disclaimer:

I work in the "old media" world.

I earn a living to support myself and my family via selling advertising schedules on a group of Fort Wayne radio stations known as Summit City Radio. Summit City Radio stations include WXKE, the city's Heritage Rock station known as ROCK 104, which has been on the air since the 1970's.

We also have WGL-AM 1250, which is Indiana's First Radio station. Currently known as 1250 The River, we acquired Pat White, former afternoon talk show host on WOWO, to host a morning talk show from 6am to 9am. We brought in his former co-host and producer, Queen Diane, and also added long time Fort Wayne weatherman Greg Shoup to keep us on top of things.

When Pat and the Queen sign off at 9am, we feature music that I would characterize as Easy Listening from 9am until 6am. Our listeners have come to rely on our hourly newscasts from CBS too. We also carry some sports on 1250 WGL, namely High School Football & Basketball, and IU sports as well.

Next on the list of Summit City Radio stations is WNHT, commonly known as WILD 96.3, and our latest addition is WGL-FM, known as V-102.9. Click here to check them out and contact me if you would like any, yes any information about advertising. My email: Scott@ScLoHo.net

Along with being in the radio business since the late 1970's, I have been involved with other forms of marketing and advertising, consulting, giving seminars, coaching, mentoring, etc.

And since 2005, I have also been involved with Social Media, which used to be called "New Media." The website you are reading write now is the second blog I created 5 years ago which is considered one form of Social Media.

The term Social Media really didn't have much of an impact and go mainstream until the rise of Facebook. Now it seems like everyone is on Facebook, young, old and in between. In the seminars I've given, I ask people if they are on Facebook, and those that are, (90% or more), are involved with social media.

So, what is social media? Basically it is any one of a number of platforms available on the internet. What makes it social is the ability to have some form of two way communication.

Facebook has the largest number of members. Over 500,000,000 worldwide. Facebook is a modern day America On-Line. It is a world of its own that includes photo albums, games, conversations and is the most accepted form of social media today.

YouTube is considered a social media platform since it is accessible to all, and you can comment online.

LinkedIn is a social media platform for connecting with professionals.

Twitter is a social media platform that when used properly is very social in that it is a conversation agent.

Also blogs, like this one are considered social media if they allow comments. No comments allowed? Sorry you're just another website in my book.

Earlier this year, my radio station managers wanted to get a handle on social media for our advertising clients. One of the stations Program Directors said "Twitter is Dead". I could have argued with him, but it wasn't worth it. My goal is for the stations to get active in using social media to interact with listeners and due to the mass appeal of Facebook, that's where our stations are focusing their efforts.

Last night I attended my first city council meeting to observe and afterward spoke with a few people I knew including one of the council members who was used to be pretty active with a local blog focused on news worthy items. He admitted to me that I am much more active than he is these days, which has been noticeable, but then he repeated a statement that I heard this summer, "Twitter is Dead".

(For more on why I went, click here).

Sorry to tell you this, but it is not dead.

The rapid growth of new members has slowed but it is not dead.

Dead would mean no one is using it.
Dying would mean people are giving up and not using it anymore to the point of decline where it will be dead soon.

I believe Twitter is neither.

And here's why.

Everybody does not stick with something that is new. Lot's of people will try it, some will understand it, others will try it for awhile, many will abandon it if they haven't figured it out for their own lives and purposes.

One notable exception in this country is toilet paper, thankfully. Bu there are other cultures around the world that don't use toilet paper. It never caught on.

Because I don't like the lyrics to Hip/Hop music and don't listen to it doesn't mean it is dead. We have over 75,000 people in Fort Wayne that listen to one of the two stations featuring Hip/Hop music in town every week according to the rating services that I have access to.

Twitter is so simple that many people don't understand it.

Twitter is a conversation tool, similar to text messaging.

Twitter is a way to send clickable links to a website.

Twitter is a way to get answers and give answers, fast.

And because it is not filled with some of the crap that Facebook has like games, photo albums and all the other silly apps, it is streamlined communication.

And I suppose I should wrap this up with ways you can contact me via social media.

Twitter is where you'll most likely find me. @ScLoHo Short & sweet.

I have a Facebook page too and LinkedIn profile, a couple of YouTube profiles and even an old MySpace account that is inactive.

If you Google ScLoHo, you'll find a few thousand links to me. Or just go here = http://www.scloho.net/

Empathy

Years ago, I needed to create an advertising campaign for the Detroit Rescue Mission. So, I decided to get a taste of what it would be like to spend a couple nights on the streets as a homeless person.

I didn't tell anyone ahead of time that I was doing this, but the director of the mission was amazed at the perspective I presented in the radio commercials that I wrote and produced afterward, so I shared with him what I did.

There are other ways to have empathy as suggested in this from the DLM Blog:

How to Walk a Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 06:55 AM PDT

You’ve probably heard the saying “Don’t judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” It’s a reminder that we can never know what it’s like to be that person: perhaps they’re struggling with problems which we’ve never seen, or never guessed at.

Other people’s behavior can be frustrating, irritating, and hard to understand. In many situations, though – whether in your professional or personal life – it’s hugely important to be able to empathize with others.

You can develop the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, to see a situation from their perspective. This has huge benefits for you: it could mean no more arguments with your spouse, or twice as many clients because you anticipate and deal with probable objections.

Here are a few tricks to use.

Writing
Give yourself time to do this thoughtfully – it might take an hour, but that could be the best hour you spend this month.

Whose behavior are you struggling to understand? Maybe it’s your teenage son. Maybe it’s those prospective clients who seem to need your product, but never buy it. Here's how to write your way tpo understanding someone:

1. Day in the Life
   Write about a typical day in their life. You won’t know everything, but use your imagination. Add in emotions, too. How do they feel about their usual routine? Bored? Stifled? Stressed?
   


2. Thoughts on a Situation
   Another way to use writing is to pick a specific situation (e.g. you want your teenage son to do his chores; you want your potential customer to buy something) – and write down the thoughts which you imagine going through that person’s head.
   


3. Letter to You
   If someone is in conflict with you – perhaps you’re constantly having arguments or stonewalling one another – then try writing a letter from their perspective, to you. Again, you won’t know exactly what they’re thinking, but you can make sensible guesses. This can really help highlight aspects of your behavior which you might want to change.

Work Shadowing
This won’t work for every person in your life, but if your problem is in the workplace, how about shadowing someone through their day? Perhaps you’re the manager of a team who just can’t seem to get their act together – they won’t follow simple instructions, and work often has to be redone.

By setting aside a few hours to spend just watching people go about their typical routine, you can learn a huge amount. Maybe the system for processing an order is far too complex. Perhaps staff have no idea of the impact of their actions further down the line – they can’t see the big picture.

If work shadowing isn’t practical, how about simply asking people to step you through their typical day? Pay close attention to the emotions which they describe.

Reading Similar Accounts
Whatever situation your colleague, friend or relative is going through, it’s a safe bet that someone else will have been through the same thing.

Perhaps you’ve discovered that one of your friends is an alcoholic, and it’s a huge shock. You can’t believe how she could put drinking above her family or her work. By reading accounts from recovering alcoholics, you can gain more insight.

Look for books or blogs on a particular topic, ideally written by people with personal experience of a similar situation. Even if you can never see yourself in your friend’s place, you’ll have a clearer idea of what his anorexia or her self-harm is about. You may find yourself feeling more sympathetic, and you’ll probably pick up some ideas for how best to talk to your friend when s/he is going through a difficult time.

Most of us empathize naturally with others, particularly when we see someone in pain or upset. Occasionally, though, we do need to do some extra work to conquer feelings of frustration or irritation at another person: and this can preserve friendships, solve workplace problems, and even make you a significant help in someone else’s life.

What are your own tips for empathizing more fully?

Written on 7/14/2010 by Ali Hale. Ali writes a blog, Aliventures, about leading a productive and purposeful life (get the RSS feed here). As well as blogging, she writes fiction, and is studying for an MA in Creative Writing.

Photo Credit: photos8.com

Pat White Returns

I work for Summit City Radio.

I've been here since April 2003, which makes me the one of the most senior staff in this building on Lower Huntington Road.

There are 4 people who work on the air at ROCK 104 that have been here longer than me: Doc West, Leslie Stone, JJ Fabini and Jason Lee.

Having started in radio in high school, I've been on the air, in advertising sales, in management for more than 20 of the past 30 years.

At Summit City Radio, our stations include WGL-AM 1250, The River; WGL-FM, V-102.9; WXKE-FM 103.9, ROCK 104; and WNHT-FM, WILD 96.3.

But this is not about me. It's about what is about to occur Monday.

First of all, it is true, Pat White is returning to the local radio airwaves.

He will be hosting mornings from 6am to 9am on WGL 1250 AM.

That's just up the dial from where he has been for the past dozen plus years on WOWO in the afternoon.

Pat has had a great run on the radio and when he was released from WOWO, we knew that there was still an audience for him.

As Pat says, we don't care if you agree or disagree with him, just listen and call in.

His new phone number will be 969-1250.

Give us a few days to work out some of the bugs and get things rolling smoothly.

And here's some behind the scene info for you too:

Aishah Hasnie used to do news for WOWO with Pat White until she took a job with WANE-TV.

She was given able to get a preview interview at Pat's home last week and they ended up with the scoop on television.


Here's the story from WANE-TV:



The first mention actually came from Kevin Leininger of the News-Sentinel. I first saw it online Tuesday morning.

Here's his latest story:

Pat White excited about return to airwaves

His new show starts Monday on WGL.

By Kevin Leininger

of The News-Sentinel

Pat White says he takes no satisfaction in the fact that, starting Monday, he'll be going head-to-head with the popular morning show of the radio station that fired him in April after 14 years.

But that doesn't mean he's not looking forward to the competition – and a return to his talk-show roots. “In this business, if you haven't been fired yet, you will be,” said White, who was one of the rotating hosts of WGL-AM's “Windows” program before joining WOWO, 1190-AM.

That station replaced him with Pat Miller as host in the slot from 3 to 6 p.m., saying the change would make the show more compatible with other more-political WOWO fixtures, including Rush Limbaugh.

“There's no revenge here. Just the luck of the Lord,” White added. White said his new 6-9 a.m. show on WGL, 1250-AM, will be similar to his sometimes “bombastic” WOWO broadcast – which focused on local news and opinions – but will have to meet the unique needs of morning listeners, such as reporting weather-related school closings.

That has long been WOWO's niche, but White said he's confident his show will do well against the show hosted by WOWO's Charly Butcher, which features regular segments of news, weather and sports, interspersed with short interviews but few listener calls.

With its performance-based incentives, White said his contract would be worth about what he was making at WOWO. He said WGL contacted him just two weeks after he'd left WOWO. He also considered hosting a show for a Bluffton-based FM station.

White said many of his old WOWO advertisers have agreed to sponsor his new show, and he expects to help WGL close the competitive gap with the station that has for years been the undisputed leader in local talk radio.

Even if that means getting up much earlier than he's used to. “I get up early anyway. I'm a light sleeper,” he said.

And Dan Turkette was the first blogger to let people know via http://www.fortwaynenews.com/

At Summit City Radio, we are a non-political organization. I work with people who have all kinds of viewpoints and lean left, lean right, or don't care either way.

We are in business to serve our listeners with entertainment and information.

We are also in business to make money for our employees.

And we are in business to make money for our advertisers.

We do that by selling advertising on our four radio stations, their websites, and the events we are a part of.

Our hope and desire is that our listeners will spend their money with our advertisers when they need or want the goods and services offered by them.

It keeps the music playing, the conversations talking, and the lights on.

Everyone in this building is dedicated to seeing Fort Wayne grow and thrive, so we work our tails off to support our town.

And while I'm at it, if you want info on advertising, contact me: Scott @ ScLoHo.net

Video Time: Fort Wayne's new Radio Station

Yeah, a bit of self-promotion.

The website link is www.V1029.com and you can listen on line too.

Oh yeah one more thing.

Listen tonight from 7 to midnight.

We brought her back to town.

Delilah.

Turning 50

Tomorrow's the day for me.

But last Saturday evening.... Well, here's the email I sent out the next day to those that were a part of it:

A big and heartfelt Thank You for the surprise 50th Birthday Party last night. I was totally surprised and despite the fact some of you couldn't get into the house before I arrived, it was a big surprise!

Kathy and the rest of you pulled this off without any hints of what I was coming home to.

As far as I knew, we were going to our usual Saturday night church at 5pm, then out to eat at a nearby local restaurant. Towards the end of church, Kathy asked what time it was, and I opened my cellphone to check and saw I got a text from Rachael asking for the Garage Code about a 1/2 hour earlier.

Still I wasn't suspicious since, our attic has been a storage depot for some of our kids belongings and I thought perhaps she needed to get something.

When we left church and was in the parking lot waiting to leave, Kathy asked me if I had any ibuprofen, when I said no, she asked to swing by the house on our way out to the restaurant.

It wasn't until I turned the corner and pulled up in front of our house that I saw my son, Josh from Richmond; daughter Tiffany and her husband Jon from Indianapolis; and my former wife Karen with her husband Steve and niece Tarryn from Warsaw; along with our friend Joan Ice and my daughter Racheal and her fiance Brandon that it all clicked.

I'm not sure what happened next but I found myself in the living room with the door shut and a bunch of commotion going on in the Florida room, family room, and kitchen. I was about to sit down when the doorbell rang and our neighbor Rita was there and I directed her to to kitchen. The doorbell rang again and it was Bob & Sherrie Floyd.

Bob and I sat down and talked for a few minutes in the living room and then the folding door to the family room opened and Rachael invited me to my birthday party that everyone had worked so hard to assemble.

A short time later, a friend of mine that I met 29 years ago when we both worked at a radio station in Kokomo and his wife arrived. The infamous Dr. Dave and his wife Pat live a few blocks away from us and we've been meaning to get together and will do more in 2010.

As I glanced around and saw the decorations and the food, I knew that A LOT of planning had gone in to this event, and it was so much fun.

Thanks to all who where there whether in person, or in spirit and for the gifts, (I know I am impossible to buy for) along with the scrapbook, the poster, the music, the karaoke, the hugs, the cards, the conversations and I hope all of you had as much fun as I did.

Kathy asked me to get out the old airchecks of me on the radio from years ago, which I eventually found and it was fun watching my kids listening to the tapes of their Dad as a radio personality since it had been 10 to nearly 30 years ago that they were made.

Last month a friend of mine turned 68 and the week before we grabbed lunch a couple of time and I picked up the tab, as an early birthday present, "...in case you don't wake up on your birthday..." I told him! I see Kathy did the same by having this party nearly a week before I turn 50 on December 11th.

Again..... Thank you for everything and here's to the next 25 years....

Not a Shy Guy Anymore

I used to be a little shy when I was a kid. I had my circles of friends from the neighborhood, from school, from scouting, etc. But I wasn't the life of the party, even though I had a great sense of humor.

Later in life, I found myself on stage in front of about 1200 high school students representing the radio station I worked for and I had to talk. I was scared.

A few days later, same thing. Another school, hundreds of students and me on stage.

And then it hit me.

I had already done this. And I could do it again. And I lost my fear of public speaking at the age of 21.

Maybe it's not that you want to be a public speaker, but you just need to get out and meet people and have fun. As I was checking my email this afternoon before heading home, I saw this great article from the DLM blog that may change your life:

Dumb Little Man - tips for life

How to Build Your Social Circle Posted: 02 Apr 2009 06:26 AM PDT They say it's not what you know but who you know, and when it comes to getting the most out of life and having fun, I think friends play a huge part in that. If I think back to some of the happiest and craziest moments in my life, there's no doubt that they involved some of my closest friends. I've already written a guide on how to make friends and being a social person is obviously going to help with this aspect of your life. Additionally, these five points below should definitely help you in the process of growing your social circle. Adopt an Abundance Mentality One key reason people struggle to make great friends or build a social circle is because they are coming from a scarcity mindset. They don't realize that there are literally billions of potential friends out there and lots of people that you are going to meet on your journey through life. Knowing that there are lots of opportunities to make friends, you should realize that you don't have to 'change' to get other people to like you. In other words, don't lie about your interests and don't agree with things you disagree with. Be yourself, be your best self. Actively Pursue Your Passions Think of some things that you really enjoy doing right now, off the top of your head. To help, some of mine include: Public speaking Going to nightclubs Personal development DJing / Making music Once you know the things that you like to do, you should actively pursue those passions. If you like public speaking then join Toastmasters, if you like making music then sign-up to a college / university course or go online and find other people who like it as well. The point here is that you will find people who like the same things as you, so you already have some common interest which tends to quickly build rapport. Meetup is a great site to find people getting together around topics that may interest you. Organize Events People like to keep in touch with the person who is always throwing cool events. Whether it is a trip to a nearby city, a house party or a day out go-karting, make some plans. You don't have to do all the work, but get people together and put new people in touch with each other. When you do organise some events, it's likely that your friends will also bring their friends that you haven't met, which gives you a great chance to expand your 'network'. Be a Genuinely Fun Person There will be times when you are feeling low and you want to talk about this feeling to others and that's fine, that's normal. However, if that is your default state then it's going to feel draining to others who spend time with you, constantly feeling they are going to be brought down with you. A genuinely fun person tends to keep a positive outlook, see problems as situations or opportunities, rather than problems. Look at ways you can help to make other people happy without relying on your own happiness to come from your environment. This is a geniunely fun person and this is the type of person that people want to be around. Be Open to Making New Friends If I look at some of my best friends, I've met most of them through education (i.e. school, college, etc.) and through my job which seems to be a common thing. However, I've also met people that later became close friends at the likes of running clubs, speaking clubs and even standing in the line for a nightclub. You don't 'just' have to make friends through your current friends and the people they know. You walk past amazing people every single day and you never know when you might come into conversation with someone. Don't assume that just because you're not talking to someone in normal context it doesn't mean you can't arrange to meet up with them at another time. Building a social circle is definitely one of the best ways to get the most out of life in my opinion, and experience more of our time here. Hopefully these tips will help you expand yours. Written on 4/02/2009 by Glen Allsop. Glen writes on the subject of Personal Development at PluginID. His sites main aim is to help people Plug into their Identity, be who they want to be, and live the life they want to live. Photo Credit: crabchick