CPR Promotional Check-Up - Jun 26, 2013

The Reaction Game

One of the things that has happened in Radio is that we've lost our speed. We over-think things.

Here is something I do when I do staff get-togethers. I call it The Reaction Game. Horrible name. But it does say it all. Very simple.

You break the room into four groups of equal numbers. Four or five people in a group.

You hand each group a card and on cue, they flip it over and read it. It's 10:13 am on a Wednesday and...

• The mayor just got busted in a motel with a Cub Scout in lederhosen
• Your market just got the professional sports franchise it's always wanted and worked for.
• A plane carrying the #1 artist on your station just crashed. That's all we know.
• The biggest bridge in town just dropped into the river.

What do you do? Because you have about five minutes MAX to get on the air. Each group puts their heads together and comes up with a plan and announces it to the room. Rules go out the window when this stuff occurs.

Did this at a station and the sports franchise was going to be a hockey team, so the idea was to get a hockey rink organ player to do all their music live. Which was great. No such thing as a bad idea. Except when one of the stations was acknowledging a bridge collapse with pulling all the music and spots and the Sales Manager got up and said "Unh uh. We have client obligations..." She was asked to leave the room.

Do this exercise. It's great for keeping the team on their toes.

Ramboing From The Sky

There are any number of ways to infiltrate and destroy a competitors concert. A station to remain nameless, for the 2nd straight year, has been not invited to one of the biggest music festivals in the region. Last year they owned the thing...stealth-style. This year there will be wireless mikes for making stage announcements. Also, if you've never released big bouquets of helium balloons, with weighted, vertical banners hanging under them from upwind of a festival, well, then you truly haven't lived.