CPR Promotional Check-Up - Jul 11, 2014

Mass Shootings

June was pretty horrible for mass shootings. Moncton, Vegas and Portland. One of the things we do when we do corp meetings is something called The Reaction Game. You break the room into 'stations' and everyone is handed a different scenario. Your market just got awarded a (pro sport) team. What're you going to do? One of you core artist's planes crashed 30 minutes ago. That's all we know. What're you going to do? The mayor got busted at a motel with a Cub Scout at midnight. What's the morning show going to do? And...there's a reported shooting in a suburban school. What're you going to do?

The point? You need to have something on the air in about ten minutes. In 2014 ten minutes is ten hours.

You should have a plan. An implementable everyone-knows-their-job plan in case something like this or the Boston marathon-like event occurs.

Music Quickly peruse the log. Pull anything (Foster The People?) that could be perceived as "wrong".

VT'ers & Syndicated Shows If you have a show that was recorded by a jock yesterday on the air....pull it. When Michael Jackson died I listened to every station in Minneapolis from Rock to Sports drop everything...except one station...where the afternoon show was in the can 24 hours in advance. Zoinks. If you can't drop a syndicated program, immediately reach out to your contact with the show and make sure they acknowledge what is happening in your market.

Social Media In 2014 people get news from Twitter and Facebook often before traditional media. Pull all the autoposts and when you have SOLID facts, deliver them. CBS in Boston had the biggest stats of 2013 with the marathon bombing.

Website Many of you have no control over your station site. How sad is that? If you're allowed blow it up and create a visual that can be hashtagged and shared.

Blood People want to feel like they can do something. Collect blood. The local hospitals always always need blood and it gives you something to do, a place to be and it allows the audience the feeling of "helping out".

Collecting Money Generally sucks. Look for something specific that you can help with? Victims kids? A scholarship fund in their name? That's better than just some vague "send a check to a bank" thing.

Doing Something That Has A Legacy Two cops who were associated through charitable work with Kiss in Charlotte were killed on the job so the morning show channeled their Inner Amish and with the help of the audience built a community center in their honor. HUGE.

Pull Contesting Arguably one of the most impactful things that has ever happened in Edmonton radio was when Newcap suspended and then cancelled The Fugitive when four RCMP were killed nearby. It just wasn't right to be doing a silly contest and then they donated the $25,000 'reward money' to a fund for the families. They got THOUSANDS of positive emails and calls and 9 complaints. CBS in SFO pulled contesting after Sandy Hook. Big nads. But sometimes not doing something is bigger than doing something.

Visual You need a visual. In a lot of markets after Sandy Hook it was teddy bears which was actually a Newcap/Edmonton thing. They collected hundreds of thousands of teddy bears and drove them to kids in shelters in Texas. Lots of stations have done those for local responders after stuff like Sandy Hook. Police and EMS carry them with for when they go to scenes or incidents where there are kids present. Bing. You can do something and it helps locally.

Vigils This is going to sound stupid but KDWB in Minneapolis went live to a moment of silence that occurred after the bridge collapse and it sounded...amazing. Coincidentally the promo asst. running the 'cast bowed her head in prayer and got snapped. Her photo in a KDWB shirt ended up going global.

The cluster in Ft. Wayne held a vigil after a local girl got killed in the collapse of the stage at the Indiana State Fair and released hundreds of bouquets of balloons with light sticks under them, kind of like in the movie "Tangled".

You need to be subtle when getting involved with local vigils. KLUC donated a sound system and cases and cases of chilled bottled water to the event in Vegas on Monday night. In Boise, they gave out stickered Dixie cups that were used as candleholders at a vigil they did.

Again, time is of the essence. From Chet at KLUC: "Don't wait for sales to help you set up a fundraiser. Think RIGHT NOW...Who would I call? Then call them...NOW. "

The Morning Show Journal in Knoxville has a plan in-place and one of Joey Tack's to-do's is to have a call list of mental health specialists and victims rights advocates. Also, because of Google, you can find pretty much anyone. As witnesses names scroll on TV, write them down and find them for the morning show. It will take 30 seconds.

Open The Phones Radio is an amazing forum. The most amazing Radio I've ever heard was when Power 106 in LA opened the phones and for hours let listeners vent during the riots. There are times when people need to talk. "It's a PPM killer!" For an hour or two you open the phones? You'll probably get more ears than you would if you didn't.