by Jeff Left
1. I will get my PD to include production as part of a jock's air check during air check sessions.
2. I will give my GM/GSM/PD a list of the true differences between our station and our competition with regards to production. I will draw up a realistic budget of what it would take to get us to that level (if the competition is better of than we are). I will showcase how it will benefit programming as well as sales and the bottom line.
3. I will learn more about the sales arena.
4. I will learn more about computers and the latest in production gear.
5. I will ask for a budget for RAP Awards, Addys, and other awards that showcase the production department.
6. I will remind my GM/GSM/PD that I need some fresh music in our production library.
7. How come a jock's production is so important when we hire them, but it's never factored in come contract renewal time? I will sell management on a jock's production being included as part of the reason for their raise.
8. I will sell management on starting the year off by getting the station engineer to fix everything in the production rooms completely by January 31st.
9. I will sell management on marketing the Production Department. Why is it a must to have station key chains, T-shirts, and bumper stickers looking so good, but we can't get custom cassette labels printed to use on cassettes that go out to clients and other people we should look good to.
10. I will sell management on the idea of hiring a production assistant instead of hiring an assistant to the music assistant.
11. I will sell management on spending a whopping $25 a month (pizza trade) on brainstorming sessions. Programming gets great promotional ideas and sales gets great ideas for clients.
12. I will make a list of every impression, dialect, and character voice I can do (as well as my staff) and create the voice bank I need.
13. I will spend two hundred dollars on letterhead and thirty-five dollars on a P.O. box, and test the waters on free-lancing out of the market. Can I make it doing my own thing? You'll never know until you try.
14. I will get copies of everything from the production orders to copy paper to live copy sheets from other stations and make the changes needed to improve my forms and make things run smoother at my station this year.
15. I will sell management on the importance of the client's perception of the station during visits, and make sure we have nice coffee cups, plates, and treats on hand for client recording sessions.
16. I will sell management on creating a small budget for paying non-station people to do reads so I can create a more realistic character spot for the client.
17. I will sell management on a budget for trade publications like RAP so I can take myself and others in production to another level.
18. I will suggest to my GM when he's doing budgets that maybe this is the year to bag the client party with the two free trips and the ice sculptured call letters and put that money into the production department. This year's return would be much greater!
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