Behind the Scenes on a 'Snow Day'
Rarely is there a better day to be on the radio than on a Snow Day.
Schools report their delay and closure information, updates come in from transportation officials, the phone rings off the hook with parents and kids asking the same question:
"Do you have any school closure information?"
Radio people always want to ask, "Do you have a radio? We're repeating the list every ten minutes."
Instead, we politely provide the information they are requesting and get on to the next update.
When a big news story breaks - or the snow starts falling - people in radio get a big adrenaline rush.
Days like these are why all of us love radio.
But Snow Days are special.
Sometimes when big news hits its because something bad has happened to someone else.
There isn't any bad news downside to snow.
We remember what it is like, listening anxiously by the radio for your school to be mentioned on the laundry list of closures and delays.
On the other side of the radio, every time you hear a feature on KQEN or a song on Best Country 103, rest assured the on air staff is rushing around, getting the latest information.
And how about this one.
Have you noticed where we go to find out what other people are doing on Black Friday or to find out where the deepest snow has fallen?
Coffee Stands.
Those baristas talk to a wide (and fairly random) sampling of people every morning.
This morning, Kyle was able to judge the roads between the station and his favorite coffee stand (the Garden Valley Shopping Center Dutch Bros) when he made his run.
The barista there told him that people in Umpqua were hit with about five inches of snow.
The day after Thanksging, Bob interviewed another coffee stand employee to discover how early the people started heading out to their favorite shopping haunts.
It says two things: coffee baristas are turning into a kind of local bartender or priest - the kind of person who finds out alot of stuff about alot of people every day.
Second, someone should figure out how to make money on that fact.
Happy Snow Day!
Schools report their delay and closure information, updates come in from transportation officials, the phone rings off the hook with parents and kids asking the same question:
"Do you have any school closure information?"
Radio people always want to ask, "Do you have a radio? We're repeating the list every ten minutes."
Instead, we politely provide the information they are requesting and get on to the next update.
When a big news story breaks - or the snow starts falling - people in radio get a big adrenaline rush.
Days like these are why all of us love radio.
But Snow Days are special.
Sometimes when big news hits its because something bad has happened to someone else.
There isn't any bad news downside to snow.
We remember what it is like, listening anxiously by the radio for your school to be mentioned on the laundry list of closures and delays.
On the other side of the radio, every time you hear a feature on KQEN or a song on Best Country 103, rest assured the on air staff is rushing around, getting the latest information.
And how about this one.
Have you noticed where we go to find out what other people are doing on Black Friday or to find out where the deepest snow has fallen?
Coffee Stands.
Those baristas talk to a wide (and fairly random) sampling of people every morning.
This morning, Kyle was able to judge the roads between the station and his favorite coffee stand (the Garden Valley Shopping Center Dutch Bros) when he made his run.
The barista there told him that people in Umpqua were hit with about five inches of snow.
The day after Thanksging, Bob interviewed another coffee stand employee to discover how early the people started heading out to their favorite shopping haunts.
It says two things: coffee baristas are turning into a kind of local bartender or priest - the kind of person who finds out alot of stuff about alot of people every day.
Second, someone should figure out how to make money on that fact.
Happy Snow Day!
posted by Brian at 12:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home