One of the reasons this thing is sub-titled ... “Excerpts from the long awaited book that Chuck Blore has almost finished writing.”... is that, I often take detours.  This is going to be one of those left turns.  It has little to do with the book.  It’s a quick journey that radio people might find interesting, and it may even awaken a few things which need  waking, or shaking up.

It begins with a memo, a copy of which was sent to me by a very close friend.  Her name is Sandra Woodruff, herself a graduate of the KFWB school of broadcasting.  Sandra now owns a brand new radio station in Seattle. Here’s what she wrote to the on-air people.

Okay Super team...

Thank you for your support of the whole NEW SUPER CFL idea.

BUT...

Enough with the station promos. Some of us are going overboard with the CFL promotion, at the expense of being entertaining.

Quick quiz.  How often do YOU tune into a radio station hoping to hear a station promotion?

Yeah, me too.

So let's get back to what we're here for;  to provide fascinating information and entertainment to a radio audience that isn't getting much of it anywhere else.

I keep hearing promotional stuff in segments where you could be doing the fascinating ‘personality breaks,’ that are the whole idea of Super CFL.

PLEASE! By doing that, we're slowly circling into the black pit of what most commercial radio has become, and I don't like the smell of that. I know you have interesting things to share with your listeners, because I was hearing a lot of it a couple weeks ago.  Somehow it seems like we're getting lazy. Maybe because it's summer, I dunno. But we have to keep that edge or we just turn into mush.

Keep it interesting and we will have a great radio station.

We ARE good enough to be a major player in our coverage area, which just happens to be Seattle and Bellevue. I can't think of a better place to have a  radio station! And we have one. So keep it interesting.

And while I'm ranting, I want to hear more one-on-one.  This is going to sound like Radio 101 stuff, but I'm doing it because I've heard every one, including ME, talking to the MILLIONS, instead of one-on-one.  And, calling them "folks" isn't making it one-on-one.  It's more like a homey version of talking to the millions.  So come on, make an effort to talk to one person.

Imagine you're talking directly to someone you like a lot.  Say what you have to say, the way you'd say it to somebody you respect. Visualize yourself in the front seat of the car alone with that listener, which you actually are.  Tell that person stuff that’s interesting.  Tell it to them , one-on-one, like you’re talking to your best friend.  But, whatever you say, mean it!  Never feign interest in something you don’t really care about.

Remember, this is one of the few times nobody is going to interrupt you. So go ahead, knock 'em dead.