February 12, 2021
What have you learned the most from the challenges of 2020 that empower you to feel like you can handle just about anything going forward?
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Jonathan Shuford, WRVW: I think we’ve all had to be more flexible than we have ever been. For a job that relies on a lot of structure and organization, we had to thrive on not having any structure or predictability. I feel that I am better equipped to be predicably unpredictable than I ever have been. Mike “OD” O’Donnell, WKRZ: I learned that you have to embrace and be willing to make the most of change even if it’s not for the better, because if you don’t, you’re going to fail. Change is something that’s always happening, but this was a different kind of change. It was a change in way of life and in how we do business, and you have to embrace it and search for the opportunities that you can in it to continue to transact business and lead a staff of people. Josh Wolff, WAEB: Patience and a positive attitude. Joey Brooks, WKSS: Leaning to think more out-of-the-box and figuring things out on the fly. Flexibility and the need to pivot quickly to adapt to the situation.
Jon Zellner, iHeartMedia: Audio conference calls are never as effective as video calls. Great talent can sound live and local regardless of their physical location. Wearing pants can be optional unless you have to be in an office. Buster Satterfield, Q102: How to do more with less! Java Joel, Javajoelmurphy@gmail.com: Everyone keeps telling me “They were crazy for letting you go! You were such a hard-worker! You were so passionate! You’re such a pro”. Nice words like that empower me for a few minutes. Then I come back down to reality. I’d be lying if I said I felt empowered right now. I feel the opposite of empowered right now. |
Valentine, WBHT: Responding to drastic changes across all areas of life made me more resourceful in how I approach programming. We had to be that same reliable and relevant radio station our listeners expected us to be even though we didn’t have the basic incentives like concert tickets and theme park tickets. You also had to adjust the work/life balance and work within a framework where you and your staff weren’t all-work and no-play.
Lee Abrams mediavisions: Simply surviving that historically crazy year builds confidence. Jana Sutter, WXXL: I’m really good at adapting and pivoting, and great at working in sweatpants!
Mike McVay, McVay Media: We don’t need to be in an office or a studio to perform our jobs. We don’t need to travel as much as we once did. We’re all learning how to be video meeting stars. Chris Michaels, FM100: We can take personalities in different rooms, and through technology keep the chemistry going, and get everything done remotely as if we were right there in the studio. We can literally run the whole radio station from home at any time, whereas before we could voice-track remotely, but we’ve found a way to get pretty much everything done remotely now.
Max Volume, KOZZ: Working from home requires discipline. You can either wallow in misery or move the ball down field… Kevin Kash, WWEG/WIYY: I’ve learned how precious life is. Diagnosed with needing a kidney transplant last March, I am more grateful for this life than I ever have been. I’m very grateful for the lives around me, too! Family, friends, co-workers, listeners. Mikey V, Kiss 108: Be grateful for every moment in doing what you love. |
Rick Vaughn, KENZ: I learned that while we’re surprisingly able to execute well through this period, I think we have lois the “family vibe” of the most important hallway in the building. Just passing and seeing each other leads to better promotions, more of a family feel on the air with the crossovers. It’s allowed me to develop an even greater appreciation for what’s missing these days. It’s reinforced my belief that the most important part of the station is the hallways. We need to be together.
Fish, WKRZ: First and foremost, flexibility. You have to think outside the box, and at times way outside the box, and find new ways all the time. |
Alex Tear, SiriusXM: Clear communication with your team. It was essential to keep everyone on the same page. Do wellness check-in’s, just talk with people, and creating more unity with the staff via virtual happy hours, etc. It’s not all about more, more, more growth with performance. It’s also the human factor that played into our success. It was also important to communicate the work/life balance aspect of their jobs. They were compelled to work more when in isolation, and you need to know when to turn it off and step away.
Jeff Hurley, iHeartMedia: The simple fact that we persisted through 2020’s challenges and emerged on the other side should be encouraging. We were faced with an unheard set of challenges that lasted nearly the entire year and found a way through each of the hurdles.
Jimmy Steal, WTMX: I think it may be a reminder more than a new lesson, that kindness and culture are more important than ever. Always do the right things at the right time for the right reason and success will follow.
Jammer, WEZB: Stay focused. Stay on brand. Be positive.
R Dub! Z90: I’m blessed and fortunate that I got through 2020 without any major damages – so many weren’t so lucky. If 2020 taught me anything, it’s a renewed and stronger than ever sense of gratitude!
Guy Zapoleon, Zapoleon Consulting: In 2020 with America and the world fighting Covid-19, and with the need for social distancing a great many of us (but sadly not all of us) found new ways to overcome this major hardship and to do our work and remain close to friends and loved ones. Most of us found different ways to see friends safely and those lucky enough were able to work from home. We found more ways to stay connected than we ever believed was possible, as we started a “new work routine.” In many ways we were able to do more than we thought we could, and really more than we did in our old routine. If we worked mostly from home, we did this due to no travel time, and we had less time for social interaction but we could still get some of that important social interaction, that important facetime through Zoom, Microsoft Team and Go To Meetings. I’d been blessed by Tom Poleman, Brad Hardin, Marc Chase and Jon Zellner with iHeart to have been able to work from home for most of the past nine years.
Toby Knapp, WASH: Life is not guaranteed. I wasn’t living enough of it. Sure, I was working, but thanks to this pandemic, I learned how to boat. Started kayaking. Traveled to retreat and change the scenery to places which turn off technology and turn on the life we should be living without a screen in front of our faces. I’ve learned we don’t need likes or follows, and I’ve certainly learned that the phrase “we have to be this connected for our jobs” is a fallacy. In living ‘life’ for the first time, being able to handle ‘life’ – from work life to romantic life to parenting life to my own life – is precious. Requires attention. Balance. And yes, you can handle it all if you just keep moving.
Next Week’s Question Of The Week:
How do you find ways to spark the creative juices for ideas and promotions in this kind of environment with most people working at home and not seeing or meeting much inside of buildings?
e-Mail your responses to: jodorisio@deanemediasolutions.com or bburke@deanemediasolutions.com
