[Kzyxtalk] Open Letter to the Board of Directors of Mendocino County Public Radio

Wed Apr 2 11:42:11 PDT 2014

Paul, Paul, Paul. Take the personalities out of it. And the insults. And the tendencies to censure. Having our signal down for a week is a game changer. Once upon a time, our Board considered eliminating the GM position to save money, and to reinvest those savings in equipment and technology. There's only so much money. What do you want to spend it on? 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Lambert" <paul.lambert55 at yahoo.com> 
To: kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org, tbray at wildblue.net 
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 11:34:03 AM 
Subject: Re: [Kzyxtalk] Open Letter to the Board of Directors of Mendocino County Public Radio 

Tim: 

Kudos for your direct statement to sako who promised at the last Board meeting to reduce and moderate his statements, but has not done so. 

All I can figure is that there's a very bruised ego wanting to get back at John Coate but unwilling to admit its personal and using the station as a stand-in. 

Paul 

On Wednesday, April 2, 2014 11:26 AM, "sako4 at comcast.net" <sako4 at comcast.net> wrote: 

Hi Tim, 

Dead air for the better part of a week is unacceptable. Our station needs equipment that works more than it needs a GM. 

The issue has nothing to do with John Coate personally. Really and truly. In speaking with a few Board members who served long before Coate or I arrived at the station, I learned that it was a matter of discussion years ago as to whether it was advisable to eliminate the GM position, and to take the money that was saved and reinvest it in infrastructure. 

In retrospect, I would say that would have been the right call. 

Let me put it another way: From where we sit now, do you think paying Belinda Rawlins $50,000 a year for several years, only to have Ms. Rawlins nearly bankrupt the station, was a good deal? Or would it have been a a better deal to take all that money and invest it in the equipment you are now replacing? 

Again, my position is clear: Given the precious few dollars with which we have to work, I vote we spend that money on keeping our signal up over spending it on top-heavy management at the station. A Program Director, Mary Aigner or someone like her, is all we really need in the way of management. A GM is a luxury. A signal is a necessity. 

Our budget is $675,000. How are we going to spend it? I say spend the dough on equipment and technology, and spend it on a few salaried staff who, as their primary job function, keep the equipment working and upgraded, and help our hundred volunteer programmers with technology. 

Keeping the signal up is job one. Growing the station's audience and membership through technology, podcasts, audio archives, RSS feeds, social media, marketing, and promotion, is job two. Grow or die. 

Best always to you, Tim, 

John 

From: "Tim Bray" <tbray at wildblue.net> 
To: kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org 
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 11:14:03 AM 
Subject: Re: [Kzyxtalk] Open Letter to the Board of Directors of Mendocino County Public Radio 

Dear John: 

I presume you are volunteering to do the work currently being done by the GM, including going up to the transmitters on snowy winter nights/mornings when the signal goes bad. Please reinforce your case by letting us know exactly what you have been doing to help with the current difficulty. 

I agree that we should have more of our programs archived, podcasted, and extended to social media. Where I am confused is your apparent proposal to have staff do this, after eliminating a full-time staff position. Two questions come to mind: 
1. Are you proposing to add staff to do this work? With a hundred volunteers producing 85 hours of programming per week, this is a massive job. 
2. If this is so important, why aren't you already doing it for your own show, instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you? 

Oak & Thorn has its own Website and its own Facebook page, and I didn't require any staff time to get it done. I'd have podcasts and archives too, if there were no legal issues with copyrighted music. It's not that hard, and I'd be happy to help you or any other programmer learn how to do it yourself. 

As for an interactive Web page - we already have one, as you surely know, since you post on it frequently. Of course it could be extended, if someone has the time and expertise. Again, are you volunteering? Or is this just another thing "someone else" should be doing? 

We have no shortage of good ideas for improving the station. We do have a shortage of resources to get them implemented. We need people who have the expertise, and the commitment, to do the work; and yes, it takes money, too. I get frustrated by people who come up with great ideas without offering to do the work themselves. Are you offering to do any of the things required to make your ideas happen? 

Cheers, 
Tim 

On 4/2/2014 9:30 AM, sako4 at comcast.net wrote: 

2 April 2014 

Dear Board: 

It's unacceptable that KZYX remains off the air. It's been three whole days now with no end in sight. <snip> 

As I have been telling everyone who will listen during these last few days. KZYX needs equipment that works more than we need top-heavy management. Period. End of story. We need a signal. We don't need a General Manager -- GM John Coate. We don't need an Executive Director -- GM Coate's additional title per his insistence in his contract. 

With no disrespect to Coate who seems to have convinced the KZYX Board of Directors that he walks on water and turns water into wine, the Board should eliminate the GM position, and use that money to make necessary investments in infrastructure. 

<snip> 

I see a day when KZYX's one hundred or so volunteer programmers have their shows archived by staff. People ask me all the time, "Where can I listen to a rebroadcast of your show?" My show airs on Friday mornings when most people work. I, and other programmers, have been shown how to archive my shows, but it's a technical process that requires a fair amount of computer literacy. Hence, only a handful of our hundred programmers have archived their shows. Audio archives are so important in growing an audience and our station. 

I see a day when our hundred volunteer programmers each have their respective show's own Facebook and Twitter accounts. LinkedIn is also important. And PinInterest, Google Plus+, Tumblr, Instagram, VK, Flickr, Tagged, and Ask.fm. Again, marketing and promotion is so important in growing an audience and our station, and staff should be dedicated to helping programmers use social media. 

I see a day when our hundred programmers have podcasts. It's so obvious. Podcasts. Podcasts allow the individual to be content creators. Our one hundred volunteer programmers are nothing, if not content creators. Many media production tools for podcasts that were once only available to a few are now free and easy to use. Podcasts can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved by our station's one hundred volunteer programmers, all on on their laptops or even smartphones. 

I see a day when our hundred volunteer programmers have RSS feeds —which stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS could easily be a really convenient way to get audio, video, and text content from KZYX. An RSS feed may contain audio and video files, headlines, summaries, and links to full articles. These feeds are viewed through an RSS feed reader (also called an RSS aggregator). Most modern web browsers can serve as rudimentary feed readers. Another popular, free choice is Google Reader. 

I see when we have an interactive webpage for KZYX, where listeners can submit program ideas and other other content. The new webpage would also have sections for KZYX e-newsletter, events/community outreach, membership benefits program, pledge challenge grants, sponsorship help, and new sponsorship opportunities. A section for breaking news would be really cool, too. 

<snip> 

-- 
Oak & Thorn 
Facebook: Oak and Thorn 
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