The Sound Off Podcast

It's been nearly 20 years since radio has had to shift into crisis mode. The Corona Virus or COVID-19 has arrived and broadcasters find themselves having to write rules, redo formats, get more information sourced, while dealing with staffs that have children coming home and everyone faced with the challenge of working from home. In this episode, I spoke about the importance of working from home, and get down to the nitty gritty of what it means to be a broadcaster during a pandemic.<a href="https://www.allaccess.com/the-letter/archive/31308/too-much-misinformation">Here’s the article from Perry Michael Simon I was talking about.</a>I also made made mention of the Jacobs Media one which is coming up on March 26, always an important survey because it really serves as radio's report card.The Infinite Dial Study was released March 19th by Edison Research. <a href="http://www.edisonresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Infinite-Dial-2020-from-Edison-Research-and-Triton-Digital.pdf">You can get a copy here.</a>Also Coleman Insights has <a href="https://colemaninsights.com/coleman-insights-blog/how-to-connect-with-your-audience-in-a-crisis">this very handy list of tips. </a>========There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2QtyAn4">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Josie Dye is the morning host at Indie 88 in Toronto. The longtime 102.1 The Edge personality who also did hosting duties for Cosmo TV, and W Network took a chance on jumping to Indie 88. It has paid off well. You can hear it in Josie's voice. She is having more fun than ever at a station that has all the sounds and feels of any successful alternative radio station.In this episode, we spoke about her early days studying at Ryerson while working at Mix 99.9, which was at its peak with an 8 share. Rather than head out to a smaller market, Josie found her way to the Edge where she eventually found her way to middays; working for great programmers like Ross Winters and Dave Farough. We reminisce about those old knock 'em down and drag 'em out music meetings over adding a song to the playlist.We also spoke at great length about life at home, that time she fucked up the national anthem, and why she is so heavily involved in public speaking. <a href="http://bit.ly/3cIr6X1">There's additional stuff on the Episode Page Here. </a>There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/3cIr6X1">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Dave Jackson is the Owner/Headmaster at the <a href="https://schoolofpodcasting.com/">School of Podcasting </a>and also a support specialist at Libsyn. He was there back in the early days of podcast and has helped thousands launch their podcasts with his talks, online tips and podcasts. Dave is a Hall of Famer and a regular contributor to <a href="https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/category/editorial-board/dave-jackson/">Podcast Business Journal</a>. In this episode we discussed some of the many stages of podcasting's evolution including its early days, the advent of iTunes, Serial, radio's entry into the podcast space, the gradual rise of listenership and the recent announcement on the creation of the Podcast Academy and the feathers that were ruffled in the process. We also dug into monetization and the value of video to podcasters.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2TkgPsy">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Radio is a lot like the mob: "Just when you thought I was out, they pull me back in." Okay, that's an exaggeration but for Carlos Benevides, leaving 91.5 The Beat in Kitchener and transitioning to Conestaga College to teach radio just made sense. So does his new lunchtime show for the Jack radio stations <a href="https://broadcastdialogue.com/carlos-benevides-new-voice-of-jack-up-the-80s/">"Jack Up the 80's"</a>. which can be heard in Halifax, Calgary, Smith Falls, London and Victoria. As we recorded this episode, Carlos had been a dad for one week and was settling in to life post morning radio.In this episode we riffed on working the overnight shifts in large markets, making the jump away from Toronto to Kitchener, and eventually pivoting from radio to teaching. Be sure to check <a href="http://bit.ly/2Tfs1oK">the blog page</a> for some great podcast recommendations that Carlos made.Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Zenga McCurdy called me back in May of 2018 and asked for some feedback on his morning radio show. Since then I have made a point of listening to the show every once and a while to hear the progress. I meant to grab a beer with him in Toronto last year but we only had enough time for a "Hi, How are you?" and then we were off to whatever we were off to. I am very pleased that I got to have this conversation with him about his Kitchener/Waterloo upbringing where he confesses he wasn't always on the right side of an issue. He explains why he chose radio and how in his first job in rural B.C., he faced down racist slurs and marched onward with the support of his parents who have always been there for him.Today, Zenga is the morning host on Kiss 100.5 along with Casey. Sault St. Marie may be one of those Great Lakes towns where the hockey players will always be a little more famous than the media personalities. I totally blanked that Wayne Gretzky played his junior hockey there for one season before he went to the Indianapolis Racers and then the Oilers.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/3bGb53r">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Jon Gay has a radio story that is probably not unlike yours if you have worked on the programming side of radio. It involves a little bit of the WKRP theme song, "Town to Town. Up and Down the dial...". Jon's radio career started with an internship at Kiss 108 in his hometown Boston. His stint at Syracuse University got him even closer to his dream on being a top radio personality. His tenure in Vermont, Detroit, and New Orleans all ended with radio cutbacks - which later became known as "restructuring and what is now affectionately known today as "dislocation".In this episode, we talked about those struggles and how Jon rebounded by starting <a href="https://jagindetroit.com/">Jag In Detroit Podcasting</a> which creates branded podcasts for companies. Admittedly, we spent a fair amount of time on Vermont radio because I am very familiar with that radio market and travel through the area often. (I first heard Jon on WXXX (95 Triple X) all those years ago.I promised you a few links in the show notes including:Jon's attempt <a href="https://jagindetroit.com/the-struggle-to-unplug-is-real/">at a phone detox while on a cruise. </a>Jon's powerful social media piece he circulates <a href="https://jagindetroit.com/drunk-driving-killed-bill-leaf/?fbclid=IwAR0jWWspCwFmchL8EenltTCKCGuYek1PyYghNMRGtKzoO4iaEMOFLNkropo">annually about losing his best friend Bill Leaf to a drunk driver. </a>There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2tLOmBL">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

David Phillips from NLogic is an admitted nerd when it comes to data. He really loves it. Something he is very good at is deciphering how data should be applied to your brand, your radio stations, your strategies, and your ad sales. However, one thing you should <a href="https://inspiration.nlogic.ca/en/data-strategy">definitely not have is a data strategy</a>. He speaks about numbers having blind spots and becoming too attached to the data we love and not challenging it enough. A couple of times a year, I'll get together with David and we will catch up on anything and everything as it relates to the numbers broadcasters come into contact with.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBZMeHV1sds">Here is our YouTube discussion from last year. And by the way, please subscribe to the channel when you are there.</a>NLogic has been a supporter of the show since 2016 and many Canadian listeners to the show will know NLogic as the distributor of their radio sales software. Even if you are listening to this from outside of Canada, David will give you a perspective on how too much data could be overload for what you are trying to accomplish as a brand. The accent by the way is English - and David appeared on the podcast <a href="http://bit.ly/2q0z1sy">back in 2017 where we talked about... wait for it. Data. </a>There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/385GUR1">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

We invited Seth Resler back to the podcast after he penned a blog called, <a href="https://jacobsmedia.com/is-there-life-after-radio/">"Is There Life After Radio?"</a> Many of the episodes in this series feature a moment when someone was fired and tell the story of their radio afterlife. The podcast itself was born out of my firing in 2014, the subsequent quest for work in 2015, before landing on podcast in early 2016 and never looking back. Today I have a <a href="http://www.mattcundill.ca">voiceover business</a> and a <a href="http://www.soundoffpodcast.com/getapodcast">podcast company</a> that helps people, businesses and brands build through podcast. The path to it resembles a lot about what Seth wrote about in his blog, including many attempts to swing for the fences, having a resume chalk full of call letters, undervaluing myself and playing "on tilt" as Seth describes it.In this episode, Seth and I share a few of the things we learned about being in between jobs as radio program directors. For the last few weeks, Seth has been putting together a directory that displaced radio people can use to reconnect to the industry. <a href="https://jacobsmedia.com/submit/">You can enter your listing here for free</a>.We also have more episodes you might enjoy about this topic, listed on our episode page.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/36zCrEm">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Lori Lewis is back on our show for the third time? Why so often? Because the world of social media moves that quickly. The last time we had Lori on the show, Instagram Stories was just starting to become a thing and Tik Tok wasn't even a thing. In fact - you might have still been involved with your SnapChat account and over-posting by today's standards on Facebook. Lori is now out on her own working with radio groups and teaching them all about the ways to engage their listeners on social media, and get the sales team selling their digital assets. <a href="https://lorilewismedia.com/">Lori Lewis Media </a> launched recently, but that doesn't mean she will stop doing some of the other things you might know her for, including being the Chair of the Conclave Summer Radio Learning Conference (which you should go to), and her column in <a href="https://www.allaccess.com/merge/archive">AllAccess.com, Merge.</a>In this episode, Lori and I talked about how many in radio are Introverted Extroverts, and <a href="https://introvertdear.com/news/extroverted-introvert-signs/">cited an article from 2018; I believe this is it. </a>We also talked about the importance of keeping your passport up-to-date and about how the Internet minute Graphic became so popular. You can see a copy of that graphic on our blog page.Please use social media to SHARE this episode far and wide.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/36eNAdJ">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

There's a reason why Christian Hall thinks differently. He has to. He is the National Program Director for Harvard Broadcasting which is a radio company first. He oversees multiple alternative stations; a format which doesn't even exist a number of top ten markets in Canada, and he believes that talent development is about airchecks, and feedback. <a href="http://bit.ly/2s1MmS4">(We went into large detail in our first episode with him which you can find here) </a>This time around we spoke about the rise of alternative radio in both Edmonton and Calgary, he also summarized the legal case involving Corus v. Harvard revolving around the use of the name Power 107. (The station has since relaunched as Play 107 in Edmonton) We also discussed the new continuous measurement system for diary markets, and what is on the line if the CRTC moves ahead on a review of the radio regs.We also talked about X929's new marketing campaign, which I found out has been adopted across the company. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Ax5IQAioU">Have a look at the video and see it for yourself.</a> It's clear that the radio is not the only way to enjoy the station. Christian recalls James Cridland's presentation at Canadian Music Week last year, that spurned more than one good idea he took home to Calgary.By the way - <a href="http://bit.ly/2BT9zNh">our discussion with James Cridland is right here and it's a good one. </a>There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/3a6MPqm">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

It's been 2 years since we have caught up with Perry Michael Simon from <a href="http://www.allaccess.com">AllAccess.com</a> on this podcast. He has a pretty good idea of what is going on in the radio and podcast business given that <a href="https://www.allaccess.com/the-letter">he writes about it weekly</a>, provides talk topics on a twitter account, and attends a dozen radio and radio-related conferences annually. If you get a chance,<a href="http://www.twitter.com/pmsimon"> follow his twitter account</a> just for the joy in hearing about all the goings on at these conferences.He is also the host on the <a href="http://eveningbulletin.libsyn.com/website">Evening Bulletin podcast</a>; a two minute pieces of news and subject commentary - named after the long departed Philadelphia newspaper. (RIP 1847-1982)In this episode, we talk about how little has changed about radio, while everything around radio has changed. We also wonder what the next breakout hit is going to be for both radio and podcast. After all, it has been 18 years since classic hits appeared on the scene, and 4 since Serial become a podcast phenomenon. What's next? We aren't sure - but Perry has some ideas of what needs to happen.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/37LGYVv">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Happy New Year from Matt at the Soundoff Podcast.If you want to have a chat with Matt -<a href="http://meetme.so/mattcundill"> just click here and set up a time.</a>Top 5 Podcast Episodes this year:<a href="http://bit.ly/2TwRDQh">Tom Leykis</a><a href="http://bit.ly/2ZVG6cT">Terry O'Reilly</a><a href="http://bit.ly/2EXIVkD">Corey Dylan</a><a href="http://bit.ly/2tEPeod">Dean Blundell</a><a href="http://bit.ly/2YCasFj">Lisa Keys</a>Bring on 2020!See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Terry Dimonte loves Christmas, and I love doing a podcast with him to discuss... whatever. Sometimes we talk about radio, and other times it's just life. This year it was a lot of the latter. So many of the things we spoke about can be found on the blog page which is located at Sound Off Podcast dot com.We talked about Terry's move to Griffintown in Montreal which was a big mistake. This led to conversations about the poor designs of all cities including Montreal and Winnipeg. And we shifted our attention to politics and talked about the recent Canadian election and then it all devolved into how i believe people are troubled. Special thanks to my son Andrew who came on the show for a few minutes. We used the audio without his permission but this will ensure that his college fund stays afloat.At this point, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, including our producer Evan Surminski who puts these thing together every week. Also to Rick Clement who has been interning on the show for the last 5 weeks.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2MtOmfN">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

I'm reminded every time I travel through Tampa on my way to Sarasota, how busy the radio market is. Equally busy is the number of sports teams that compete for media attention. By my count there are the NFL Buccaneers, NHL Lightning, Major League Baseball Rays, and plenty of college football needing attention from the Gators, Seminoles and University of South Florida Bulls. That's a lot to program and keep track of. John Mamola is the program director of Sports Radio 95.7 WDAE in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, and shared his thoughts on the audience and how he can best disperse the overload of sports in the area.Add to that, many in the audience and in the stands are displaced northerners, (like himself) who come with pre-determined team allegiances that aren't local. In this episode, you'll find out why the NHL Lightning do so much better than that other team in Florida, the Panthers, what his thoughts are on the futures of Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Rays. We also chatted about working within the confines of carrying National radio shows like The Herd with Colin Cowherd and The Dan Patrick Radio Show,<a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMamola">John is a great Twitter Follow ... so follow him. </a>There's more about this<a href="http://bit.ly/2M8qUVj"> episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

In this episode Laura discusses the changing face of radio, building a youthful audience, using social media and the importance of being on the ground in your market.Laura was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia where she attended Georgia State. In college she started out in computer science before moving to a degree in journalism. Laura got her start in radio working the graveyard shift at the campus radio station Album88.“It was a really cool thing being someone who got to introduce people to new music. The radio station used to compete with <a href="http://www.99x.com/">99x</a> in Atlanta. <a href="http://wras.org/">Album 88</a> to this day is still known for that. It’s definitely still on the forefront of introducing people to non-traditional artists and genres,” says Laura.Laura remembers her time working the 2-5 a.m. shift fondly. Saying it was as close as she got to working alternative radio. The station and the time slot gave her the freedom to play bands like The Rubens and Lime Cordial. She interned with <a href="http://www.adambombshow.com/">Adam Bomb</a>. When Adam was working on the on air portion of the show, Laura would attend local events in his place. “I would go out basically interact, take pictures get audio, do stuff for social and kinda, you know, getting an understanding and a taste of street activation for a radio station. It’s important to keep up that face to face interaction and showing people we are more than people that play music. We interact, we attend local events and support community,” says Laura.After graduation and before moving north Laura worked in promotions and as a board op at the Cumulus stations: Rock 100.5, 99x ,and Kicks 101.5 and O.G. 97.9 in Atlanta. Today she in on evenings in Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania. Working at CHR/WBHT which has two transmitters 97.1 Wilkes Barre and 95.7 Scranton (Home of Dunder Mifflin’s top branch).Laura works a time slot that was previously not held by local talent. She says it has been nice to connect with her audience and retrain them to expect a live body in the station on evenings. She notes it is fun to stay involved with all things Gen-Z using Instagram and Facebook live to interact with her audience, but says social media can be very time consuming and that she prefers to schedule it in rather than letting it run her show. Twitter is the platform she uses least and that like it or not, you’re gonna have to use TikTok if you want to capture a youthful audience.Every Tuesday CHR/WBHT does a High School takeover. A bunch of high school students come in and take over programming at the radio station. The station has a pizza party and gets imaging, social and word of mouth out of the deal. “We just hang out get to know them and they really appreciate that,” says Laura. She knows this is helping to build the next generation of listeners and talent."Radio is changing but not going away. It is in changing the way we interact with our listeners that we will keep radio alive." Her message to anyone who dreams of a career in radio: “keep pushing through.”Laura hopes to one day be a program director at an alternative station.Laura and Matt go to the Conclave in Minneapolis every year, along with several others who have been on this podcast. It's an event she calls exciting and inspiring for all things radio. Laura gives a shout out to some of her favorite people that she has met there: (All have appeared on our podcast) <a href="http://bit.ly/36eNAdJ">Lori Lewis</a>, <a href="https://bit.ly/3cPaFH3">Jillene Khan</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/2GbEIMm">Alyssa from 107.7 The End</a> who was on the podcast.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2YwCn6d">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

If you want to get pointed in the right direction to break into voice acting listen to this episode. Matt Fogarty is a name you may not be familiar with, but if you listen to the radio in western Canada you have probably heard his voiceFogarty is currently the creative director for Island Radio a group of 6 stations located on Vancouver Island. Fogarty says he loves going to work and the creative interaction that happens at his day job in radio.Beyond radio Fogarty says he spends what feels like every other waking moment doing voice over work. Matt Fogarty made the jump from radio voice work a few years ago. In this episode of Sound Off he discusses what it takes to make it in the voiceover industry. Shares a list of tips for those aspiring to break into voice acting and talks about the importance of developing a close network.“It starts with an idea, then you’ve gotta execute on that idea by having an awesome script, Then you’ve gotta have the talent interpret and understand that script, deliver and perform that script. And then you need an amazing producer to put it all together,” says FogartyFogarty markets heavily to radio stations and much of his work comes from imaging where he works closely with <a href="https://hossmgmt.com/">Hoss Management</a>. ( <a href="https://hossmgmt.com/">https://hossmgmt.com/</a>) “He’s a brilliant marketer himself,” says Fogarty. He also shows love for Eric Romanowski for demos, and some of his favorite voice coaches Nancy Wolfson, Mary Lynn Wisner and Dave Walsh.Fogarty has worked for big name national brands including Subway and Kleenex. In this episode he also explains that clients are looking for talent that comes off as “real” and “natural”.“You’re an actor there’s no doubt about it. You’re not a radio DJ coming down to voice a mattress blowout sales spot black Friday in between breaks. You are conveying a brand message and that brand has probably spent a whole lot of money figuring out their targeting and their demographics and they want to make sure when they hire somebody they’re gonna be able to deliver on all those brand pillars.” He says this can be as simple as adlibbing once in a while or altering the pace of your speech to avoid sounding sing-songy.At this point in the episode Matt Cundill tries to sell Fogarty a mattress.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2OGYeEw">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Shannon Burns is a familiar voice across Canadian radio. Her show iHeartRadio Nights with Shannon Burns airs nationally on <a href="https://www.iheartradio.ca/virginradio/toronto/shows/iheartradio-nights-with-shannon-burns-1.2565886">14 iHeartRadio stations</a>, and she does evenings on the legendary radio station she grew up listening to, CHUM 104.5FM.On the podcast she talks about her career arc, how to plan a nationally syndicated show and suggests a name for the former Power 107 in Edmonton (Unicorn 107?).Shannon grew up in Burlington Ontario. She says that she has always been mildly obsessed with pop culture and so when it came time to apply for college, radio was the natural choice.A career in media was a choice her mother supported and helped her to achieve. “She is a firm believer in not chasing the dollar and going after what you’re interested in,” says Burns.After her time in college Shannon went out west to hone her radio skills. In 2014 she landed a job in Medicine Hat on Rock 105.3 (Rogers) where she worked as a morning show host and news anchor. In 2015, Shannonn moved to Virgin 104.9 in Edmonton where she worked her way up the ladder from 2015-2018 eventually becoming a midday announcer and assistant music director.Shannon loved her time out west, but she says the goal was always to work her way back to the Toronto market. Today she gets to interview some of the biggest names in music from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yvlPpsrVG4">Shawn Mendes</a> to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_mPFz9SgoI">Katy Perry</a>. “My goal is to make them my friends,” says Burns with a laugh.On the future of radio Shannon is very upbeat. She came into radio at a time when it was fusing with social media, and that the medium of radio allowed producers to become early adopters of social media and digital marketing strategies. The story is ongoing with the content produced in radio being about so much more than what goes out over the airwaves.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2OokOBT">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Darrin Harvey and I met in late 1989 when he was going to fill in on some Christmas shifts on Magic 97 in Kentville, Nova Scotia. From the get go, I knew we would be friends. And while we never lived in the same time zone after I left in 1992, I never lost touch with Darrin. He ascended to mornings, was later fired in the early 2000's, only to return the when region got a new FM in 89.3 K-Rock. Once again, he ascended to mornings and he is the quintessential morning man for the region. Darrin has the playbook for connecting with listeners and yes it involves being involved. In this day and age when the practices are "Move all the small stuff to Facebook and promote it there so we can get another record in", Darrin not only puts it to air but then hosts the event outright.Sometimes the best marketing is just getting really involved.What is success in radio? After speaking to Darrin in this episode, I realized that it's about the number of people you touch, and the number of smiles you leave behind.Darrin made mention of my blog post from a few years ago called<a href="http://j.mp/2KJ535Y"> "The History of the Death of Radio" </a>which you can feel free to read.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2QMQWkh">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

I met Ross Davies briefly on two occasions. Once in Montreal in the 90's and a second time in the 2000's again in Montreal. It was little more than a "Hi! How Are You?' but there was work to be done and the radio stories were going to have to come later. Fast forward to 2018 and we finally got to have that chat. Ross spent a good chunk of his career working for CHUM in the programming, operations and senior management positions. We went back to the beginning where he started his career with Moffatt Communications. He moved to Toronto in 1979 has worked with Standard Radio, Canadian Satellite Radio, Astral Media Radio and (as mentioned) CHUM Ltd. More recently, Ross served as Director of Member Engagement/Radio for Numeris, the leading provider ratings to broadcasters and advertisers. Ross was also part of the executive team at XM Satellite radio that launched Canada’s first satellite radio service in 2005. (The merger with Sirius came much later) We also dug into him co-creating the original Jack/Bob variety hits format with the launch of Bob-FM in Winnipeg in the spring of 2002.Ross is putting together some of the radio panels at Canadian Music Week this year and provided some intel into what we can expect May 20-22 when it all takes place. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-davies-68955516">He also welcomes your feedback so shoot him an e-mail </a>- but only after you listen to what he has shared. (It's towards the end of the podcast by the way)There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2O4Waot">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Justin Dove is really good at radio imaging. (He also admits he is an audio nerd) He started in his home province of Newfoundland and worked his way across Canada for companies both big and small. Then he started his own company, Core Image Studios. We may have used the term "radio imaging" to describe his work, but it goes a lot further than that; as Justin calls it Sound design. In this episode I asked him to define it and share some of his secrets in imaging that have landed him some top notch imaging contracts at radio stations like WEEI in Boston and Sirius XM. (We may have provided some examples too)Core Image Studios has been a supporter of the show for the last few years and we had the chance to meet for the first time at Canadian Music Week last May. Justin will be making a few appearances over the next few months including at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters this month, and the Barrett Sports Media summit in New York in February.There's more about this<a href="http://bit.ly/36EMaKU"> episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Every year since 2013, I have loaded up the car for a football trip to see the Green Bay Packers. The team has a special relationship with the town that is unlike any other in sports. That extends to its local radio partner which clearly doesn’t behave like other radio stations in a medium or small market. WIXX 101.1 is staffed 24/7 with live personalities. The program director is Corey Carter who also pulls the 1-3pm shift on air. He spoke to me about his employer, Midwest Communications, the relationships developed with team members, the team, and the formula that has kept the station at number one since 1977.in this episode, we spoke about the difficulty in getting a decent hotel on game days. We solved that problem this year by staying with <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/20255259?locale=en&amp;source_impression_id=p3_1572184200_g7YUUQYU4QRrNNKE">Kirsten and Gary. </a>There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2Nn7gVh">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Todd Cochrane can speak to it because he was there in the early days. In 2004, he jumped into podcasting; long before Apple became involved. As time went on he began to find ways to make money at it, including an early sponsorship deal with GoDaddy, and creating the podcast hosting company that we know as Blubrry.We try to address two very large questions in this episode: Where is podcasting headed, and what will radio's role in it be? We tackle a number of the podcast news stories, asking if the RSS Feed is in jeopardy, what radio can do to best invest in podcast, and is iHeart really number one in podcasting? (Depends how you want to count) We also ask to explain the importance of IAB Certification and if Soundcloud is a legitimate podcast host. (Again, it depends how you want to count)Todd is the host of the New Media Show with <a href="http://bit.ly/2vDdARZ">Rob Greenlee (who appeared on our podcast back in August of 2017)</a>, it airs live roughly every Saturday at Noon Eastern - but feel free to catch the podcast version or the video version on your own time.If you are looking for a podcast host with IAB certified metrics and web integration (and Todd explains why that's important in this episode) <a href="http://www.geeknewscentral.com">contact him here</a>.There's more about this <a href="https://www.soundoffpodcast.com/todd-cochrane">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Don Kollins is kind of an ideal guest for this podcast. He is a Canadian living in California. He has worked in radio on both sides of the border. And he is innovative enough to use his experience to see a path to the future for radio. When he was the program director of Toronto's pre-eminent sports radio leader, the Fan 590, he found himself having to juggle a radio show on TV - which later became a TV show on radio, in the Bob McCown show. He sees an opportunity for every radio personality to have a digital relationship with Twitch. Once solely a gamers medium, radio personalities like Bubba the Love Sponge, Humble &amp; Fred and The Milkman John Mielke have embraced the platform and build out their brands using Twitch.During the show, mention was made about the blog Fred Jacobs wrote about President Donald Trump using Twitch. You can read that here.We spoke to Don about his early days at Rawlco and Rogers, his move to Sports Radio and later to The Game 95.7 in San Francisco. I got to ask all about sports radio from the program director who succeeded Jason Barrett at that station. (Yes we will be having on a few more Sports Radio PD's over the next few months as the format is at the forefront of digital integration with radio)If you would like to get in touch with Don and know more about using Twitch for your radio station, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/donkollins/">please contact him here via LinkedIN. </a>There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/32f1P0U">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Jim Harold began podcasting on the paranormal in 2005 and is among a handful of pioneers of podcasting. His programs have stood the test of time and <a href="https://pod.link/78459818">The Paranormal Podcast</a> and <a href="https://pod.link/310656913">Campfire</a> remain among the most popular in the genre. He also developed a premium tier and much to his surprise... worked! He started out in radio sales after originally considering television. When he was let go from CBS, he pushed all-in on Podcasting and he is now the host of a number of podcasts beyond the two aforementioned ones.As a result, he has also become a published author with his Campfire series. The first book was originally published by traditional publisher New Page Books, and since then Jim has taken the books independent. All five books are available in eBook and paperback at <a href="http://jimharoldbooks.com/">JimHaroldBooks.com</a> and via Amazon.com.Jim lives in Ohio with his fantastic wife and two daughters and I had the pleasure of meeting him at Podcast Movement last August.We did the show using <a href="https://squadcast.fm/">Squadcast</a> instead of Skype. If you liked the sound quality, let me know. I might actually open my pockets and spring for it.There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/33rNYEL">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Sean Ross really knows music and radio. He's had a front row seat to how music has been consumed by radio listeners over the years. It's easy to see how Sean became so knowledgeable on the subjects of radio formats and music genres; his speaks of his affinity for CKLW, and also of a cross country bus ride which took him to Toronto in the summer of 1981. It's one thing to know formats in one country - but Sean understands the Canadian intricacies of music radio, and continues to schedule music in a few markets.In this episode, you'll hear about Top 40's highs and lows through the decades, the early days of Alternative when it was going mainstream, Rock radio's fragmentation and Sean also provides some tips on some of the planet's great radio stations you can listen to right now!(I've put a full list of all the stations on the episode show page <a href="http://j.mp/2OwMgh5">which you can connect to here.</a>And <a href="https://twitter.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=908909951efbd6c235deaefb1&amp;id=679b187753">definitely sign up for Sean's Newsletter "Ross on Radio". </a>There's more about this <a href="http://bit.ly/2OwMgh5">episode on our show page!</a>Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:<a href="http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff">Promosuite</a><a href="https://www.mattfogartyvo.com/">Matt Fogarty Voiceovers</a><a href="http://www.coreimagestudio.com/">Justin Dove at Core Image Studios</a><a href="http://www.megatrax.com/">Megatrax</a><a href="https://hubs.ly/H0mQLpl0">NLogic</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.