RE: College radio talent

["Aaron [Bishop] Read" <aread@speakeasy.net>]

I believe it was Sid who mentioned that it's not too hard to pick up the 
basics of the technical aspect of radio.   My experience runs directly 
counter to this....I can't even begin to tell you the number of people at 
A-Bfree, WZBC, WBRS, WTBU and WMFO who just "didn't get it" when it came to 
anything technical.   Age, race, color, creed or sex didn't seem to matter, 
actually.  It was just that some people are naturally intimidated by 
technology...and when the slightest deviation happened in the technical 
setup they all had panic attacks.

By the same token, some folks just aren't intimidated by technology at 
all.  I would say that I fall into this category, and I'd wager Sid (and 
many others on this list) do as well.    As frustrated as the "intimidated" 
folks find the technology, we get frustrated by the folks who get 
intimidated.  "IT'S NOT THAT HARD!!!" we're usually screaming...hopefully 
only in our minds.  :-)

To be fair, the thought of accounting/finances gives me the 
heebie-jeebies...so the phenomena is not limited to technical stuff by any 
stretch.

A college experience can give a good basis in technical skill that is 
required to do good radio.   However, you will rarely get this at anything 
but a "radio" college (Emerson and Curry are the only two around eastern 
Mass that come to mind, but feel free to correct me if I've missed one).  A 
"communications" college (like Boston Univ) won't cut it....there has to be 
a strong radio program specifically.   Either that, or go work/intern at an 
NPR station.  Most NPR affiliates have a lot of technical gear far beyond 
your average commercial radio station.

Speaking of which, this touches on a huge pet peeve of mine....why is it 
that liberal arts colleges (Tufts & Wellesley come to mind as two of the 
worst - but definitely not the only - offenders here) that have radio 
stations insist that all focus be on the content and that since they are a 
liberal arts college - NOT an engineering school, they add haughtily - they 
refuse to teach their students anything about how to make that 
content.  ARRRRRGGH!!!  You can't possibly do good radio without 
understanding the tools to do it.   That's like saying we expect you to 
play in a symphony tomorrow even though you've never played an 
instrument...nor will we give you any training at all.

And then they whine when nobody listens to their station...well duh, it 
sounds bad.  Grrrrrr....

____________________________________________
Aaron "Bishop" Read     aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels.com Technical Consulting
www.friedbagels.com   AOL-IM: ReadAaron