Working my way toward the end of my sixth month as general manager at KOPN community radio, I thought it might be fun to make a list of some of the things I love about working there and in that world. I love my job, so I think it will be pretty easy. I think it will also be easy to make a list of things I hate, but we will save that for another day. 1. At it's best, community radio really is about the whole community. 2. We seek to provide a voice for those who might not otherwise have it. 3. The music really is just so freaking cool. I have heard a wider variety of music in the last six months than in the previous six years. 4. Working here means learning something new pretty much every day. 5. My favorite thing is probably the volunteers. So many are so incredibly generous with their time, knowledge, and talent. 6. Perhaps this is a backhanded compliment, but there are always problems to solve and pretty much always a small or large crisis. As general manager, I
This was kind of a tough week. Not only did the station go off-air, it happened twice, for two totally different reasons (and this is not something that happens frequently). This story starts at 3:45 AM, when my phone first rang. Honestly, I mostly ignored it and fully intended to go back to sleep, but I am kind of an insomniac, so I found myself getting out of bed. Once in my living room, I checked to see who had called and soon found myself talking to one of our long time show hosts, Lee, who told me, "Sean, the station is off the air." Lee explained that the station had stopped broadcasting a few minutes earlier, he had tried a few things to reset it, those things had not worked, and now we had to get serious about figuring it out. Roughly 30 minutes from the time the phone first rang, I was at the station, doing my best to make the situation better, rather than worse (did I mention I am not a tech guy?). My first call was to Jay, our technology and facilities mana