Really appreciated the great interview with you in your last issue. It's great to retrace the path to where you find yourself, and I don't think I'd change any of the great things that happened along the way.
One of the credits due that I feel is most deserving, but was slighted in the last issue, was to David Paul McNamee of Anchor Media in St. Petersburg who was the KIIS National PD. Dave hired me as his Program Director for KIIS, Los Angeles, and taught me more about the business than anyone I'd ever known.
The success of that format switch in the short time it took was so historically monumental that it would be unjust to not give Dave and his promotion and programming genius the proper credit!
Thanks for keeping the biz "up" on what makes it really tick! Production rules!
Don Elliot
Don Elliot Creative Services, Hollywood, CA
Regarding Dennis Daniel's January article on "Production Stress Anxiety," part of the stress Dennis was talking about can be simply avoided -- the part about your conscience accusing you of lying for a living. Don't do it! I have my own code of ethics that I try not to violate. In the past, it has caused me to have to say, "I really don't feel right about doing this commercial because... ...I'd be happy to take another spot if you'd give this one to someone else." There have been times when I should have said that, but didn't: A gun dealer that wanted to promote automatic weapons; a law firm that I thought was taking the "low road" to getting new clients.
Our industry, which primarily creates images, is suffering from a bad image! Advertising people are seen as slick, manipulative liars. We can change that, at least a little, by following our conscience and by "just saying NO." The salesperson who gave you the production order has goals to meet and a family to feed. He may be hearing that same small voice that you are, but ignoring it. Your integrity may cause his to rise to the surface.
The bottom line is that advertising has to be credible to work. The less credible we are, the harder we have to push to get a given result. We should always present "the product" in the best light, but the moment we exaggerate, we destroy our credibility. The consumer WILL find out the truth, resent it, and both the client and the advertising industry will be the losers.
Name withheld by request
I just wanted to let you know how great we think your publication is. It's a great tool. Thanks for making it available. By the way, could you touch on production guidelines sometime in the future? I would imagine they vary from station to station, but it seems like there would be some "universal" suggestions. We have guidelines now, but I would like to get as much feedback as I can to help make the product superior and to protect the talent.
Mike Michaels, Production Director
WOVV-FM, Fort Pierce, FL
Mike,
Thanks for the kind words and an excellent suggestion. We have considered for some time an article addressing production policies, but the article would have to be more than just a couple of pages to cover everything. Rather than write an article about what we think your production guidelines should be, we'd rather publish a series of articles about effective guidelines being used at other stations. If you have, in print, a set of production guidelines or policies for your station, send us a copy. We'll collect and compare what we receive and publish a series of articles sharing with you the most commonly used guidelines. Any further comments and suggestions with this are encouraged
jv
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