What Mona Brought Home from AMPPR (Part 1 of 2)

by

This guest post was written by Mona Seghatoleslami, a classical announcer, producer and blogger at West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

I’ve just had my first day of work since I got back from this year’s Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio conference in Fort Worth, Texas. I want to do everything at once; I’m really inspired to try a bunch of new things, and even the mundane tasks at work seem more exciting. That’s probably pretty typical after a conference. The true test will be how I’m doing after a few weeks or months.

I have a whole lot of notes from all the sessions, which I can share with anyone who’s interested. I’d also like to hear from what other people learned and plan to do. For now, here are two things I’m inspired to do.

Continue Reading

Budget woes persist; Ohio station simulcasts classical

by

Apologies to our readers for the, uh, radio silence here at Scanning the Dial as of late — your scribes have been buried under deadlines and other pressing concerns and haven’t had as much time for blogging as we’d like. But we have more reflections on last week’s Music Personnel Conference coming your way, including posts from guest blogger Mona Seghatoleslami of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

In the meantime, a few recent news items worth noting:

:: Budget difficulties continue at stations across the country. The Berkshire Eagle reports that WMHT in Troy, N.Y., faces a deficit of $235,000. With an annual budget of $8.5 million, that’s not as severe as some stations are dealing with, but WMHT has frozen hiring and cut a monthly magazine. A proposed budget for the state of New York would also drastically reduce WMHT’s state support.

Continue Reading

Notes From the Music Personnel Conference in Fort Worth

by

I’m at the national conference of the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio, being held in a newly remodeled Fort Worth Sheraton.  I’m sorry for those of you who couldn’t make it, because the sessions have been very good, and the food is outstanding.

Mona has taken detailed notes, and I think we’ll ask her to write up the great advice we got on announcing from a morning session by John Dodge, Program Director at KBPS in Portland OR.  John had a very lively, engaging list of do’s and don’t’s for classical announcers, based on long experience, a keen ear, and his own personable style.

Continue Reading

AMPPR conference underway; more belt-tightening at stations

by

The 47th annual Music Personnel Conference, staged by the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio (AMPPR), is now underway in Fort Worth, Texas. My intrepid co-blogger Marty is there (I’m envious!), so look for posts soon from her about the goings-on. Not only that, but tomorrow morning she’s participating in a panel about blogging. If you’re attending, drop by and check it out.

Continue Reading