How Important Are Personal Appearances?

Conquering The Clubs Can Help Win Air Wars

I received several inquiries from programmers who got the sense that most of my editorials were geared to major-market PDs. While that was never the case, what is true is that I need to focus more on programmers who are working where we all started ... in small and medium markets. Those are programmers whose needs and ideas may be great, but whose budgets and staffs are small. This week we're going to focus on those PDs who are in smaller markets. Many are handling an air shift or even running the board for a syndicated show.

Remember the good old days when sales and programming entered into combat over client promotions and value-added giveaways? Tough economic times and consolidation have forced these two sparring partners to exist under separate but equal pressures behind driving ratings and generating revenues. Striking a balance between sales and programming can be difficult if the leaders of both departments fail to understand the critical role both play at the station. A programmer who views the top priority as maintaining an on-air purity might not understand the financial realities of the market.

If your medium-market or small-market station has high-profile personalities and there's a club within your radius, sooner or later your sales department will come up with the idea of doing remote broadcast from there. I know what some of you are saying: "Both my drive-time jocks are syndicated and my night show is voicetracked." I will address those needs later, but for those fortunate enough to still have a live, local morning, afternoon or night show, this dubs for you.

As the programmer, you might want to get the ball rolling yourself. It's a perfect opportunity to get in front of your active audience and make a long-lasting impression. The club owner buying a flight on your station does not hurt either.

If your production department is sharp, they can put together a really hip, slick commercial using some of the music you play. Then, depending on how long the spot runs and how often, you should change up the music and the copy so that the spot always sounds fresh.

Breaking Off Is Hard To Do

Naturally, we have to look at "cutting up the cheese." The question of who gets paid and how much now rears its ugly head. I say ugly head because this is a touchy area. One a lot of busy programmers would prefer to avoid. They do not want to get involved, bB\ut they absolutely have to. You don't want someone else making a decision (and a possible mistake) that directly affects you. Too many things could and will go wrong that affect programming if the programmer is not involved and on top of his game. We'll talk more about that later. Let's get back to costs.

Naturally the amount being broken off depends on the market size and the station's position in the market. If you're the market leader, obviously you can charge more. Ideally, everyone whose attendance is mandatory from talent to promotion people to the account executive should get a taste. And the station should break off something to defray the cost of the giveaways. Unfortunately, under the current economic conditions some adjustments may have to be made.

Something else to keep in mind is the number of these appearances the station schedules per night or per weekend. The sales people are going to say, the more the better, but remember that for obvious reasons, you don't want to run six major on-air promotions at the same time. The same is true for clubs. The key is to try not to do so many that they blur together and the talent and support staff burn out and/or get bored. You'll not only lose effectiveness with your account, but lessen credibility with your listeners.

Always try to take care of the club owner. Doing this also endears you to the salesperson. There will come a time when you'll want to have them on your side.

Back to the club owner. If you brought people through the door and they made money, it was a good night. If you threw in some station T-shirts and some CDs, it was a fantastic night. Perhaps that made the difference between being asked back again the next week or not.

It's generally wise for an account executive or AE to be at an appearance. In fact, I like to figure in a certain amount (part of a normal club fee) that goes to the AE as an incentive to attend. If they don't that money goes to the station. All contact with the club owner should e made through the AE, who should find out in advance what's expected, what they want promoted and how things are generally done.

The AE should then communicate this in writing to the program director, the promotion people and the talent. I personally preferred to inform the talent myself. Many AEs would rather you rather handle this stuff in advance, and then be there at the appearance to make sure it runs smoothly. This avoids getting a note Monday morning from the owner canceling the schedule and jeopardizing any future buys. I remember once such incident when I was programming in Washington, where the club owner cancelled and sent a nasty letter to the GM over a fight his club had with the support staff on how things were supposed to go.

Club & Remote Basics

There are basics to doing club dates and remotes, just as there are for programming. First of all, as the PD you should arrange to stop by early in the day to make sure the station banners are hung properly. This not only gets your logo in front of the people all night long, but makes the club owner feel important when he sees you following through. Now before you say "this is not my job," you must understand, it really is. Some programmers prefer to delegate this task to their APD or just trust the street team. I never did and I suggest that you shouldn't either. But if you absolutely can't take care of this important task, then your assistant has to have specific instructions and a check list - and then report back to you on exactly what is going on. I always liked to have recorded generic background club noise and have jocks record breaks earlier in the evening which can then be dropped over pre-recorded dance music or a syndicated show. It gives you a measure of control that you need to have. There's nothing worse than a remote that's obviously out of control.

Now if you plan to broadcast live, all equipment should be checked a week before the event (including the club-to-station hook-up.) Then, it should be checked again the day before the event. You should have double back-ups for everything. Have a contingency plan on how you'll switch and change equipment during the broadcast in case of an emergency or you lose contact with the club.

How long should an appearance last? Usually two to four hours depending on how special the event is. For example, a live dance party on Saturday night will obviously run longer than a weekly appearance. Another determining factor is how picky the club owner is. No matter how long, make an impact in the time you have. Two hours of a club's prime time is usually enough to give you good audience reach and frequency.

How many times should you go on-the-air live? This depends on how well your talent can work a room and what type of club it is. As a general rule, you should be on enough to let them know you're there, but not so much that you totally break the music flow. If the club jocks are good enough, ask them to cut to an instrumental version of the songs they're playing while you do your break. They can segue back when you're through.

Unless the jock is very talented at working crowds, try to keep the breaks short and to the point; promote who you are. Promote the club and if possible, do the giveaways in under a minute. The people came for the music, not to hear a DJ drone. Who should host? Always match the club to the talent. In most cases, don't send your night guy to the 30-plus club. And don't assign your midday jock to a young-end club. Send your highest-profile personalities because people would rather meet them that a weekender or a part-timer. Also, try to match the club with a talent they like and vise-versa. If a jock enjoys going to a certain club, it's likely he/she will be more enthusiastic and give a better performance.

Another way to increase impact without stopping the music is to produce a sweeper designed specifically for that club. If you're broadcasting live, you might have an ID/sweeper at the station to play over the music, or take it one step further and produce a sweeper for each club appearance.

A word about conduct, especially drinking. The rule has to be no drinking during the appearance or especially during the broadcast. Your team is getting paid to be there and promote the station and the club ... not to drink. Some stations stipulate a maximum of two drinks. Some pursue a policy of sobriety for all staff members. As always, let your market situation and experience be your guide.

The main thing to remember is, it's a radio station in a club, not brain surgery in an operating room. If you're not having fun, the audience probably isn't, either. When and if something does go wrong, you have to remain cool. Overreacting will only get you sunk up to your neck in the very quicksand you were hoping to circumnavigate.

Word.