Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Post-drive bliss, or something...
So WORT finished up its Winter 2006 fundraiser on Saturday at midnight, and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. I know I wrote about the benefits of grassroots fundraising (scroll down a bit to read it...), but honestly, pledge drives are kind of a pain in the neck.
Speaking of pains in the neck, I had to visit the doctor yesterday to have a little cyst removed. This perhaps veers into the category of Too Much Information, but I only share it with you to highlight my continuing love of WORT. As one of the very few paid staff members, I get full health benefits. No copay on office visits. No deductible. No monthly payment. It's really quite wonderful, and it reflects WORT's desire to live out its socially and economically responsible principles. We have our health care covered, as it should be for everyone. I have to visit several doctors this week (optometrist, dentist, ear-nose-throatist), and it's wonderful to know that it's paid for. It's a small window of what could be in this country if we were able to mobilize a movement toward a more socially minded health care system. Health care for all! Just imagine. It's like communism or something...
Speaking of communism, Saturday jazz host John Kraniak dredged up this old book of "Vintage Cocktails and Forgotten Recipes" a couple weeks ago. Included in the list was a libation called "The Communist." Kraniak photocopied the recipe page for us. And at our post-pledge drive soiree on Sunday at the station, he set up a little wet bar in the basement to shake these drinks up. They were enjoyed by all, though perhaps a little tart. In case you're curious, the recipe calls for a jigger of gin, a jigger of lime juice, an ounce of cherry brandy, and a half-ounce of orange juice. If memory serves...
So now with the drive over, I've taken a couple days off to recharge the ol' batteries. Then back to the station, and I'm already getting pretty excited about some projects I am or will be working on. Like our website - that circa-1996 looking piece of HTML you clicked from to get to this blog. Yeah, it needs updating. Look for a new, redesigned site sometime in the summer, that will eventually include 30-day archives of all of our news and public affairs programs, available for your download or stream.
I'm also excited about the Grassroots Radio Conference. WORT will be hosting the 11th conference in Madison this July 28-30. The conference is a yearly gathering of the "member" stations of the Grassroots Radio Coalition - a loose coalition of likeminded community radio stations and producers, born in 1996, as a reaction against increasing commercialization of public radio and lack of support for volunteer-based stations. It encompasses all sorts of stations, from WORT and the Pacifica stations to various LPFMers to a guy webstreaming out of his basement. Look for more in this space as we get closer to it.
I'm also psyched to just work on the news department. Getting new volunteers trained up and skilled in in-depth reporting. Helping to meet the needs of our veteran volunteers. Finding new folks (like you?) who want to make great community radio news reporting happen.
To close things out, a final plug... WORT's new Board Secretary Jane Richard has set up a blog to post the WORT Board minutes, committee reports, and staff reports. You can visit that blog at http://wortboard.blogspot.com/
That's all for now (as if it wasn't enough...)
~N
Speaking of pains in the neck, I had to visit the doctor yesterday to have a little cyst removed. This perhaps veers into the category of Too Much Information, but I only share it with you to highlight my continuing love of WORT. As one of the very few paid staff members, I get full health benefits. No copay on office visits. No deductible. No monthly payment. It's really quite wonderful, and it reflects WORT's desire to live out its socially and economically responsible principles. We have our health care covered, as it should be for everyone. I have to visit several doctors this week (optometrist, dentist, ear-nose-throatist), and it's wonderful to know that it's paid for. It's a small window of what could be in this country if we were able to mobilize a movement toward a more socially minded health care system. Health care for all! Just imagine. It's like communism or something...
Speaking of communism, Saturday jazz host John Kraniak dredged up this old book of "Vintage Cocktails and Forgotten Recipes" a couple weeks ago. Included in the list was a libation called "The Communist." Kraniak photocopied the recipe page for us. And at our post-pledge drive soiree on Sunday at the station, he set up a little wet bar in the basement to shake these drinks up. They were enjoyed by all, though perhaps a little tart. In case you're curious, the recipe calls for a jigger of gin, a jigger of lime juice, an ounce of cherry brandy, and a half-ounce of orange juice. If memory serves...
So now with the drive over, I've taken a couple days off to recharge the ol' batteries. Then back to the station, and I'm already getting pretty excited about some projects I am or will be working on. Like our website - that circa-1996 looking piece of HTML you clicked from to get to this blog. Yeah, it needs updating. Look for a new, redesigned site sometime in the summer, that will eventually include 30-day archives of all of our news and public affairs programs, available for your download or stream.
I'm also excited about the Grassroots Radio Conference. WORT will be hosting the 11th conference in Madison this July 28-30. The conference is a yearly gathering of the "member" stations of the Grassroots Radio Coalition - a loose coalition of likeminded community radio stations and producers, born in 1996, as a reaction against increasing commercialization of public radio and lack of support for volunteer-based stations. It encompasses all sorts of stations, from WORT and the Pacifica stations to various LPFMers to a guy webstreaming out of his basement. Look for more in this space as we get closer to it.
I'm also psyched to just work on the news department. Getting new volunteers trained up and skilled in in-depth reporting. Helping to meet the needs of our veteran volunteers. Finding new folks (like you?) who want to make great community radio news reporting happen.
To close things out, a final plug... WORT's new Board Secretary Jane Richard has set up a blog to post the WORT Board minutes, committee reports, and staff reports. You can visit that blog at http://wortboard.blogspot.com/
That's all for now (as if it wasn't enough...)
~N
