WECQ (Geneva NY) is a legend. No really. You may not have heard of the station, but trust me, a ton of very talented people came out of WECQ to go on to much success in radio. It was the ultimate farm team station. Program directors in large markets kept an eye on the station and would often swoop in and grab on air people and news people for large market gigs. I don't want to give the impression that it was some kind of revolving door situation. Folks that got the chance to work at CQ got some coaching, some encouragement, a nice work environment and when the time came, a helping hand out the door. What I mean by that is, that David Weinfeld who was part owner and General manager would gladly help you find that next great gig when the time was right. It was ok to tell him you wanted to move on. You didn't have to sneak around making air checks and typing resume's. No, David was fine with you moving on to something better when it was time. In fact he was happy to make some calls on your behalf. He used this to his advantage in attracting talent.
How does a revolving door help your station? Well, on David's wall in his office he kept a page of yellow legal pad paper with a list of all the names of people who had worked at CQ and then moved on to a larger market. Most of the names had a city and station name listed. When interviewing someone David would
pull the sheet down from the wall and hand it to the prospect. He would say, well here is a list of the last few people who left CQ and where they went.
It was an impressive list and this was usually enough to seal the deal. Using this technique plus his astute nose for talent CQ 102 was always staffed by a very talented group.
This was the first time I had encountered this kind of open-ness around a radio station. After leaving CQ I rarely have encountered it, but when given the chance I attempted to emulate David's approach. It was one of the many lessons I learned while working with David, but maybe the most important.
Radio only has one resource. People. The tower and building and transmitter and studio equipment mean nothing without talented people to create great programming. So it's not much of a leap to say, you really need to take care of your people and get the most out of them if you want to be successful.
You'd think everyone would understand that, but alas the Radio industry is full of C students. Most of them in managment through some accident, or inheritance or just plain dumb luck. In the spirit of full disclosure I must credit the "C student theory" to Gary Burns. Gary will show up later in the story.
Anyway, it was rare that radio stations had an atmosphere of openess and encourgment. There were lots of closed door meetings and sneaking around to make air checks. Plus lots of late night copy machine usage in the sales area when it came time to make resume's
Radio, until the mid '90's was very Mom and Pop. The FCC limited the number of stations you could own. There were no mega companies that owned stations. No stock, no stockholders, no IPO's. Just stations run by small companies. Many times family companies. We didn't have many benefits, no human resource department, no legal department and not much training on how to manage people. Oh sure we taught people how to be on the air and write copy and do news and so forth. But most companies did not spend much time teaching managers how to actually manage people.
Given that, a lot of stations were really very poorly run in terms of how their people were treated and that was generally accepted by folks who wanted to work in radio.
That's one of the reasons why CQ was such breath of fresh air.
I arrived in September of 82 to take over as PD at CQ 102. Pat Gillen the current PD was adding his name to David's list on the wall. He was going to program a station in Trenton NJ WPST.
It was sort of a reunion at CQ. John Hogan was the sales manager and we shared an office. He of course had been my partner in crime in the unfortunate Oneonta episode.
Once again I settled into a motel for a while, with Vicky and Erin remaining in Rushford. Shortly I found a small house to rent in nearby Waterloo and once again Mom and Dad helped us move our stuff and get settled.
I took over a station that was well staffed and focused and really one of the best sounding small market stations I had ever heard. It was a little intimadating.
But soon I was setting about putting my mark on CQ like all the previous PD's had done and having a great time.
During my time at CQ 102 I encountered a collection of characters that influenced me and made my experience one of the richest in my career.
Next time some of those characters and some of the amazing things we did at CQ.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
OK IS THIS RADIO THING WORTH IT?
As I look back on the events that have unfolded so far in my radio randy history, it makes me wonder why I didn't just decide to do something else. I don't remember thinking that at all at the time. As I write this story I'm wondering why I wasn't more bummed out. Young and stupid might be the answer. But clearly I did have a passion for radio that just wasn't going to be extinguised.
After the fiasco in Oneonta we moved back home again. Once again my mom and dad to the rescue. My grandmother had just died around the same time and she was living in a house in downtown Rushford that my folks still owned. So it was proposed that we stay with them thru the Holidays and then move into my gramma's house after the first of the year. One positive we have experienced in Oneonta, in the trailer, was that Erin had started walking. She was only about 11 months which is pretty early. But if you know Erin, not surprising.
What to do about a job? Clearly there were no radio opportunities in Rushford, or the surrounding area. Once again my brother lent a helping hand. He and my cousin had just started a new venture that involved a new technology. This new system helped large consumers of electricty lower their electric bills. Mostly designed for Restaurants and other businesses of that size. It was a computer unit that was installed and connected to all the cooling units and walk in freezers. This computer controlled how many of the units could switch on at any given time, there bye limiting the demand charges that businesses have to deal with.
They had sold the system to a chain of restaurants in Buffalo and they offered me the chance to work with the install crew to put these systems in. So we drove to Buffalo each day and spent time in the kitchen area of these fine eating establishments. What we all learned about what goes in kitchens has given us all pause ever since. One day while installing a thermostat inside a walk in freezer, we notice a stack of what looked like fluorescent lights stacked up. They were about 2 feet long and when we enquired about what they were doing in the freezer, one of the cooks explained. Synthetic eggs he said. What? Yeah we thaw them out and then slice them up for use in salads. So whenever you see one of those perfectly sliced hard boiled eggs don't assume it was the work of some contentious chicken.
This work continued throughout the winter and when the weather got better I started working with my brothers other business. I became a truck driver. Hauling sand and gravel for small construction projects. This appeared to be the direction my career was going for the time being. I had had little chance to prepare tapes and resumes from Oneonta and hadn't sent out any. I was continuing to look at the trade magazines for openings, but it seemed pretty bleak. That's the way it feels now, but again I don't remember feeling that way at the time. We were basically happy. Erin was a great kid and fun to play with and growing and learning all the time. We were close to family and I actually enjoyed the work with my brother.
Often during this period I would find myself listening to the radio. Critiquing, questioning, wondering and most of all wishing.
Even after the bad situation in Kentucky and the unfortunate turn of events in Oneonta my folks never once said anything about me choosing a different type of profession. They encouraged and helped us and I think that is pretty amazing. At least as I think back about it now.
I often recall those events when talking to young people who say they want to get into the business. I counsel
them about the importance of being ready to move and how important support from your family can be. I know many people in this business who did not have that kind of support from family and in many cases spouses. That's tough. I'm lucky, even with all the ups and downs Vicky has always treated each mishap and move as just another adventure and that is one of the reasons we are going on 33 years.
Character building. That's what I call these early years. Lasalle- Peru, Manchester, Oneonta. Tough, yes, but I wouldn't change them. They helped make me who I am. They helped shape my radio IQ and taught me that how you treat people really matters. People are the only resource radio has. Radio stations exist only on the air, in people's radio's. The building, transmitter and equipment are not really worth much without people to make it go.
The people who fired John and I in Oneonta, just a week before Thanksgiving gave no thought to our welfare. We had moved our families, worked incredible hours and taken a piece of crap radio station and set it on the right course. What did we get for it?
More than you think as it turns out. We got a lesson in character and doing the right thing. And both John and I got the opportunity to work with a guy who would become a mentor and friend.
Dave Weinfeld never forgot what happened to us. In early August of that year Dave called me and said. Hey, my PD just got a job in Trenton NJ, how would you like to come and program CQ 102 for me?
Once again I heard that little voice in my head. My mom saying "things have a way of working out for the best". The older I get the smarter my parents are. Isn't it the truth?
Of course I accepted and arrived in Geneva on Labor Day weekend to start. Dave showed me into my office and said, you have to share with the sales manager. I said, that's fine who is it?
I saw for myself as John Hogan stood up to shake my hand. No beer glasses this time he said and I can assure you we have plenty of cart machines, reel to reel machines and commercials.
No, Dave didn't forget what happened to us.
That day was the beginning of a four year run that would shape and influence the rest of my career.
Next time: How many people in the country actually do a Dave Weinfeld impression?
After the fiasco in Oneonta we moved back home again. Once again my mom and dad to the rescue. My grandmother had just died around the same time and she was living in a house in downtown Rushford that my folks still owned. So it was proposed that we stay with them thru the Holidays and then move into my gramma's house after the first of the year. One positive we have experienced in Oneonta, in the trailer, was that Erin had started walking. She was only about 11 months which is pretty early. But if you know Erin, not surprising.
What to do about a job? Clearly there were no radio opportunities in Rushford, or the surrounding area. Once again my brother lent a helping hand. He and my cousin had just started a new venture that involved a new technology. This new system helped large consumers of electricty lower their electric bills. Mostly designed for Restaurants and other businesses of that size. It was a computer unit that was installed and connected to all the cooling units and walk in freezers. This computer controlled how many of the units could switch on at any given time, there bye limiting the demand charges that businesses have to deal with.
They had sold the system to a chain of restaurants in Buffalo and they offered me the chance to work with the install crew to put these systems in. So we drove to Buffalo each day and spent time in the kitchen area of these fine eating establishments. What we all learned about what goes in kitchens has given us all pause ever since. One day while installing a thermostat inside a walk in freezer, we notice a stack of what looked like fluorescent lights stacked up. They were about 2 feet long and when we enquired about what they were doing in the freezer, one of the cooks explained. Synthetic eggs he said. What? Yeah we thaw them out and then slice them up for use in salads. So whenever you see one of those perfectly sliced hard boiled eggs don't assume it was the work of some contentious chicken.
This work continued throughout the winter and when the weather got better I started working with my brothers other business. I became a truck driver. Hauling sand and gravel for small construction projects. This appeared to be the direction my career was going for the time being. I had had little chance to prepare tapes and resumes from Oneonta and hadn't sent out any. I was continuing to look at the trade magazines for openings, but it seemed pretty bleak. That's the way it feels now, but again I don't remember feeling that way at the time. We were basically happy. Erin was a great kid and fun to play with and growing and learning all the time. We were close to family and I actually enjoyed the work with my brother.
Often during this period I would find myself listening to the radio. Critiquing, questioning, wondering and most of all wishing.
Even after the bad situation in Kentucky and the unfortunate turn of events in Oneonta my folks never once said anything about me choosing a different type of profession. They encouraged and helped us and I think that is pretty amazing. At least as I think back about it now.
I often recall those events when talking to young people who say they want to get into the business. I counsel
them about the importance of being ready to move and how important support from your family can be. I know many people in this business who did not have that kind of support from family and in many cases spouses. That's tough. I'm lucky, even with all the ups and downs Vicky has always treated each mishap and move as just another adventure and that is one of the reasons we are going on 33 years.
Character building. That's what I call these early years. Lasalle- Peru, Manchester, Oneonta. Tough, yes, but I wouldn't change them. They helped make me who I am. They helped shape my radio IQ and taught me that how you treat people really matters. People are the only resource radio has. Radio stations exist only on the air, in people's radio's. The building, transmitter and equipment are not really worth much without people to make it go.
The people who fired John and I in Oneonta, just a week before Thanksgiving gave no thought to our welfare. We had moved our families, worked incredible hours and taken a piece of crap radio station and set it on the right course. What did we get for it?
More than you think as it turns out. We got a lesson in character and doing the right thing. And both John and I got the opportunity to work with a guy who would become a mentor and friend.
Dave Weinfeld never forgot what happened to us. In early August of that year Dave called me and said. Hey, my PD just got a job in Trenton NJ, how would you like to come and program CQ 102 for me?
Once again I heard that little voice in my head. My mom saying "things have a way of working out for the best". The older I get the smarter my parents are. Isn't it the truth?
Of course I accepted and arrived in Geneva on Labor Day weekend to start. Dave showed me into my office and said, you have to share with the sales manager. I said, that's fine who is it?
I saw for myself as John Hogan stood up to shake my hand. No beer glasses this time he said and I can assure you we have plenty of cart machines, reel to reel machines and commercials.
No, Dave didn't forget what happened to us.
That day was the beginning of a four year run that would shape and influence the rest of my career.
Next time: How many people in the country actually do a Dave Weinfeld impression?
Monday, March 14, 2011
WE DIDN'T KNOW YOU GUYS WERE LIVING ON GREEN BEAN AND POTATO SOUP
After leaving Kentucky under a hail of gunfire, we returned to Rushford and moved in with my folks. Throughout my bumpy ride in radio my folks have always been there to help and support us. Plus they have always encourage me and reminded me many times that "things have a way of working out for the best:". Of course they are right, but it doesn't always feel that way when bad things happen.
Anyway we licked our wounds in Rushford for the summer, played with Erin, who was just a few months old, and waited for the phone to ring with another radio opportunity. I had spent the final month in Kentucky furiously sending out resumes and air check tapes hoping that the nightmare in Appalachia wouldn't be the end of my radio career.
I spent the summer working for my brother and his contracting business and I'll always be grateful for the job. It wouldn't be the last time he offered my work in between radio jobs.
In mid August I got a phone call from David Weinfeld. He said he got my package, liked my stuff and wanted to meet and talk about a potential Program Director job.
Vicky and I drove to Geneva NY a couple days later, on a Sunday, and meet with David at his radio station. WECQ was located in a Quonset hut building in Geneva. We listened to the station on the drive in and I was very impressed. It was a great sounding station for such a small market and I began to get a real good feeling about our meeting.
David greeted us and took us into the station and into his office. It was cluttered and small. Stacks of papers littered his desk. The walls were cork board and were covered with papers held in place by stick pins. We sat on a small love seat just inches from the front of his desk and he began telling us about a radio station he was planning to buy. WIEZ was in Oneonta NY, a small college town about midway between Binghampton and Albany. David said the station was in bad shape and the owners wanted him to recommend some people who could run the station while the sale was completed.
David told me he had already recommended a man named John Hogan to be the General manager and after a couple of hours of discussion he offered me the job, pending approval of the actual owners.
Vicky and I drove back to Rushford with the happy news and began preparing for another radio adventure. I left for Oneonta in the last week of September with a plan to get set up, find us a place to live and then get Vicky and Erin to join me as soon as possible.
What I found in Oneonta is hard to describe. WIEZ was a FM station at 103 and was truly in bad shape. The facility was located on the second floor of a building in downtown. There was a college bar on the first floor and apartments on the third floor. I met the new General Manger and he began the tour. There was an on air control room with a console and two turntables. No cart machines or reel to reel tape machines, no production room. How to we play commercials I asked John? We don't have any he said.
John then explained that the station had been a wedding present to the daughter of the family that owned the station. She and her new husband were going to move to Oneonta from NY City and run it. Quickly the daughter realized she didn't want to live in Oneonta, or be married to her new husband. His name was Oscar and he decided to station and run the station. He did. He ran it into the ground. Oscar new nothing about radio except that you could get pretty good money for a lot of the equipment in the station. So he began selling off equipment and letting employees go. Soon is was down to Oscar and three part time announcers and that was it. No commercial were sold, Oscar maintained by selling equipment off.
Oscar also discovered that college co eds were intrigued by the line "would you like to go upstairs and see my radio station". Delivered of course on the ground floor in the college hang out. We knew this because there were at least one hundred beer glasses from the bar sitting on every table, window sill and level surface in the station when we walked in.
Oscar had taken up residence in apartment directly above the station. The apartment was part of the station's lease. The power had been shut off, so Oscar had knocked a hole in the wall into the adjacent apartment and run extension cords into his room so he would have electricity. Thankfully the next door apartment was vacant. This apartment was of course the final desination for the radio station tour's Oscar was running.
At some point the family had caught on and booted Oscar. They were in the process of selling the station to David, but wanted to get the station back up and running in the interim.
So, John and I rode to the rescue. As we sat in his office trying to formulate a plan, one of the college students came into the office and notified us that he and his two co workers were starting class on Monday and would no longer be available to work. Our entire air staff gone, just like that. They had each been working 6 hour shifts seven days a week. 6am to Noon, Noon to 6pm and 6 to midnight.
This was on a Wednesday, which meant we needed to get something together by Monday or we would be off the air.
John and I had both come into town without our families and decided we would move into the apartment above the station, sleep on the floor and get to work.
Our initial plan went like this.
John would get up each morning and sign the station on at 5:30. He would work on air until 9. Then he would go upstairs, take a shower put on a shirt and tie and hit the streets to sell commercials. I would take over and work 9 to 4pm. John would then work 4 to 7 and I came back and worked 7pm to 2 am. We wanted to keep the station on until 2am because the other FM station in town stayed on as well.
The format was Top 40 and we immediately got some attention in town. Hey we were commercial free and playing a lot better music selection that Oscar had put together. John was getting some interest and began selling some commercials, which we had to do live of course since we had no way to record anything.
We worked this unbelievable schedule for the first month. Eventually we got some old equipment in and could record and play back commercials and as John began to put some money on the books we got permission to hire one more person. We hired a guy from the other FM station and added him to the on air line up. John still signed the station on, the new guy worked 9-3, I worked 3-8 and he came back to work 8 to 2am. We also added a receptionist slash sales person along the way. The four of us worked our butts off
to make this station happen.
At this point I had found a trailer to rent just outside of town and Vicky and Erin joined me. We moved our meager collection of furniture into the single wide and began to settle into life in Oneonta. It was nice to sleep in a real bed, rather than a sleeping bag on the floor above the station.
Johns was having some real success putting money on the station. Let's face it, it was generating zero dollars when we took over. Within about six weeks we were actually making a few thousand dollars and things began to look up.
I certainly wasn't making much money, but we got by. We met some nice folks in the trailer park who invited us to dinner often and that helped. It was a very lean time however and I remember digging through the car seats to find enough change to by milk for Erin a few times.
In October my folks came to visit and brought us some items out of the garden including fresh green beans and potatoes. After they left Vicky made a big batch of soup out of this stuff and we lived on it for a couple of weeks. Years later I told my mom and dad that story and my mom almost started crying. She said, we never knew things were that bad.
Despite the scrimping to get along I felt like John and I made a good team and that once the sale was done and David was in charge we were going to make a go of the station and perhaps be able to sell it in a few years for a lot of money.
By the time November rolled along we were actually selling a reasonable number of spots and it was beginning to feel like a real radio station. I was having a blast and things were improving almost daily.
I guess that was our fatal mistake.
Our quick turnaround of the station caused the owners to decide that maybe they would keep the station instead of selling. They further decided that John and I couldn't be trusted, since David had recommend us and one week before Thanksgiving they fired us both.
Welcome to the world of idiot radio station owners. High and dry again. At least no gunfire was involved this time.
Next time, The Job that changed my career forever, in a good way.
Anyway we licked our wounds in Rushford for the summer, played with Erin, who was just a few months old, and waited for the phone to ring with another radio opportunity. I had spent the final month in Kentucky furiously sending out resumes and air check tapes hoping that the nightmare in Appalachia wouldn't be the end of my radio career.
I spent the summer working for my brother and his contracting business and I'll always be grateful for the job. It wouldn't be the last time he offered my work in between radio jobs.
In mid August I got a phone call from David Weinfeld. He said he got my package, liked my stuff and wanted to meet and talk about a potential Program Director job.
Vicky and I drove to Geneva NY a couple days later, on a Sunday, and meet with David at his radio station. WECQ was located in a Quonset hut building in Geneva. We listened to the station on the drive in and I was very impressed. It was a great sounding station for such a small market and I began to get a real good feeling about our meeting.
David greeted us and took us into the station and into his office. It was cluttered and small. Stacks of papers littered his desk. The walls were cork board and were covered with papers held in place by stick pins. We sat on a small love seat just inches from the front of his desk and he began telling us about a radio station he was planning to buy. WIEZ was in Oneonta NY, a small college town about midway between Binghampton and Albany. David said the station was in bad shape and the owners wanted him to recommend some people who could run the station while the sale was completed.
David told me he had already recommended a man named John Hogan to be the General manager and after a couple of hours of discussion he offered me the job, pending approval of the actual owners.
Vicky and I drove back to Rushford with the happy news and began preparing for another radio adventure. I left for Oneonta in the last week of September with a plan to get set up, find us a place to live and then get Vicky and Erin to join me as soon as possible.
What I found in Oneonta is hard to describe. WIEZ was a FM station at 103 and was truly in bad shape. The facility was located on the second floor of a building in downtown. There was a college bar on the first floor and apartments on the third floor. I met the new General Manger and he began the tour. There was an on air control room with a console and two turntables. No cart machines or reel to reel tape machines, no production room. How to we play commercials I asked John? We don't have any he said.
John then explained that the station had been a wedding present to the daughter of the family that owned the station. She and her new husband were going to move to Oneonta from NY City and run it. Quickly the daughter realized she didn't want to live in Oneonta, or be married to her new husband. His name was Oscar and he decided to station and run the station. He did. He ran it into the ground. Oscar new nothing about radio except that you could get pretty good money for a lot of the equipment in the station. So he began selling off equipment and letting employees go. Soon is was down to Oscar and three part time announcers and that was it. No commercial were sold, Oscar maintained by selling equipment off.
Oscar also discovered that college co eds were intrigued by the line "would you like to go upstairs and see my radio station". Delivered of course on the ground floor in the college hang out. We knew this because there were at least one hundred beer glasses from the bar sitting on every table, window sill and level surface in the station when we walked in.
Oscar had taken up residence in apartment directly above the station. The apartment was part of the station's lease. The power had been shut off, so Oscar had knocked a hole in the wall into the adjacent apartment and run extension cords into his room so he would have electricity. Thankfully the next door apartment was vacant. This apartment was of course the final desination for the radio station tour's Oscar was running.
At some point the family had caught on and booted Oscar. They were in the process of selling the station to David, but wanted to get the station back up and running in the interim.
So, John and I rode to the rescue. As we sat in his office trying to formulate a plan, one of the college students came into the office and notified us that he and his two co workers were starting class on Monday and would no longer be available to work. Our entire air staff gone, just like that. They had each been working 6 hour shifts seven days a week. 6am to Noon, Noon to 6pm and 6 to midnight.
This was on a Wednesday, which meant we needed to get something together by Monday or we would be off the air.
John and I had both come into town without our families and decided we would move into the apartment above the station, sleep on the floor and get to work.
Our initial plan went like this.
John would get up each morning and sign the station on at 5:30. He would work on air until 9. Then he would go upstairs, take a shower put on a shirt and tie and hit the streets to sell commercials. I would take over and work 9 to 4pm. John would then work 4 to 7 and I came back and worked 7pm to 2 am. We wanted to keep the station on until 2am because the other FM station in town stayed on as well.
The format was Top 40 and we immediately got some attention in town. Hey we were commercial free and playing a lot better music selection that Oscar had put together. John was getting some interest and began selling some commercials, which we had to do live of course since we had no way to record anything.
We worked this unbelievable schedule for the first month. Eventually we got some old equipment in and could record and play back commercials and as John began to put some money on the books we got permission to hire one more person. We hired a guy from the other FM station and added him to the on air line up. John still signed the station on, the new guy worked 9-3, I worked 3-8 and he came back to work 8 to 2am. We also added a receptionist slash sales person along the way. The four of us worked our butts off
to make this station happen.
At this point I had found a trailer to rent just outside of town and Vicky and Erin joined me. We moved our meager collection of furniture into the single wide and began to settle into life in Oneonta. It was nice to sleep in a real bed, rather than a sleeping bag on the floor above the station.
Johns was having some real success putting money on the station. Let's face it, it was generating zero dollars when we took over. Within about six weeks we were actually making a few thousand dollars and things began to look up.
I certainly wasn't making much money, but we got by. We met some nice folks in the trailer park who invited us to dinner often and that helped. It was a very lean time however and I remember digging through the car seats to find enough change to by milk for Erin a few times.
In October my folks came to visit and brought us some items out of the garden including fresh green beans and potatoes. After they left Vicky made a big batch of soup out of this stuff and we lived on it for a couple of weeks. Years later I told my mom and dad that story and my mom almost started crying. She said, we never knew things were that bad.
Despite the scrimping to get along I felt like John and I made a good team and that once the sale was done and David was in charge we were going to make a go of the station and perhaps be able to sell it in a few years for a lot of money.
By the time November rolled along we were actually selling a reasonable number of spots and it was beginning to feel like a real radio station. I was having a blast and things were improving almost daily.
I guess that was our fatal mistake.
Our quick turnaround of the station caused the owners to decide that maybe they would keep the station instead of selling. They further decided that John and I couldn't be trusted, since David had recommend us and one week before Thanksgiving they fired us both.
Welcome to the world of idiot radio station owners. High and dry again. At least no gunfire was involved this time.
Next time, The Job that changed my career forever, in a good way.
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