I miss Bob Cole

If hockey is about tradition, something is missing from the Stanley Cup finals this year. We have an original 6 team in the Chicago Black Hawks. We have a 1967 expansion team in the Philadelphia Flyers. We have everything but a legendary voice calling the play by play.

God bless Jim Hughson; he's good. But doesn't it feel like something is missing?

Think of Danny Gallivan. Dick Irvin. Dan Kelly. Anybody remember Ward Cornell? Jim Hughson just ain 't in the same league as those guys.

For all the times he might mix up a name, or call a shot a pass.....I miss Bob.

Famous hockey brothers

Opening night of the finals tonight. To salute the moment, the Flyers Scott Hartnell and his famous brother, Sideshow Bob

Relevance

Relevance.

• It's what the audience is interested in. Not us.
• It's what the audience is thinking about right now. Not us.
• It's what they will be talking about today. Not what we want to talk about.
• It's the information they want right now. Not the information that's convenient for us to deliver.

Relevance trumps almost everything. It cuts clutter. It jumps out. It makes people notice you.

Separated a birth

Scott Hartnell of the Flyers and Chewy from Star Wars. Intergalactic line-mates.

From the mouths of kids.....

Read something interesting in a news story about a fund raising event some kids where doing. The organizer said....

"They don't see the obstacles in the way like adults tend to see. They have a vision for what is possible instead of what looks too difficult."

Perspective and attitude are everything.

On a couple of recent conference calls we did a session called "30 Ideas in 30 Minutes". Here is a sampling......

1) Use an incentive program to get user generated content on your website. "Send us your story and photos and if we use it we'll give you (prize)"

2) Ten clients in ten weeks. Jocks make calls with sales people once a week for 10 weeks to meet clients and talk about how radio works for them.

3) Send the staff out to lose 50 or 60 golf balls at a local golf course. Over the course of the season golfers who recover the balls and bring them to the pro shop win a small item and get an invitation to a year end tournament where a big prize is given away.

4) A mentor program where senior announcers mentor and coach junior announcers.

5) Get the summer events staff to bring back a ton of news stories, photos and video.

6) Video golf tips.

7) Stop selling remotes and make them all live shows. Sell the sizzle.

8) Trade out a Vespa scooter for the summer and give it away in the fall. Have your summer events person drive it around to give it, and the sponsor, plenty of exposure.

9) Have your front line air talent tracked on weekends from 10a-3p.

10) Put all your community projects under a common station umbrella. Eg: "The Country Cares Campaign".

11) Create special positions in your clocks to play local/regional artists and highlight the material with breakers and jock content. Put these profiles online as pod-casts.


There we're a ton of other ideas. If you have any to add, hit comments below.....

Thanks!!
Barrie