One Month of Radio: Is this Right for me?

July 7, 2007
Alison TePoel, Three Eagles Communications in Lincoln, NE

Well, as of know I've spent an entire month working at Three Eagles Communications and I think I'm starting to get the feel of how the radio industry works. Let me tell you a little about the jobs and tasks I've done this past month. I've been helping out a lot with promotions from making certificates to calling radio winners. I had the opportunity to go out to Eagle Raceway and help the radio personalities of 95 Rock give away a motorcycle and jet ski. I was responsible for contacting all of the qualifiers and getting as many of them to come out to the track for the giveaway. The prize was huge so people really got into the contest. A reverse lottery was used to select the winner and at the end of the night a man went home with both the motorcycle and jet ski. I bet he was glad he picked up the phone when I called to let him know he qualified!

In the sales department of Three Eagles, the employees are constantly trying to sell air time and hit that big account. In this department, I've been busy creating sales packages, binding advertising presentations, and making follow-up calls to possible vendors for the KFRX Bridal Fair. After doing these tasks I've realized that being a sales person might not be right for me. Although the tasks were fairly easy, they were mostly done by sitting in a cubicle by a computer and phone and I think I need more interaction in my career. However, I did enjoy sitting in with the operations manager one day, while he did air checks for a few radio personalities. In these sessions he listened to clips recorded from the radio and critiqued their voice, language, and overall persentation. One thing I learned is that it is important to make a personal relationship with the listener. So for all you hoping to be an on air personality, here is a little tip. Wemus (we, me, us), don't use these words, try to word everything with the word "you." For example, "You could be the next big winner!" or "Which radio station made you the winner of Fergie concert tickets?"

The radio industry is an exciting and fast paced enviroment. The people working all have fun and quirky personalities, so there is never a dull moment. When listening to the radio, you don't realize all of the things that go on behind the scenes. Radio, just isn't someone talking on the air; it involves people making sales, creating advertisements, promoting events, inputing the day's radio schedule into a computer (traffic), someone managing all the departments, and even a receptionist taking calls and giving prizes to radio winners. There are so many unique jobs available in radio, it is definitely an industry to check out if you are interested in that sort of thing.

As for me, I've had a real wake-up call career wise. I'm not sure if advertising and broadcasting is right for me. Don't get me wrong, I love my internship, but I think I might want to help people more in my future career. But only the next month will tell, after I've learned more and experience unique opportunities at Three Eagles. Rock On!

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My name is Alison TePoel and I am from Malmo, NE. In the fall, I will be a junior majoring in advertising and broadcasting with concentrations in history, english, and psychology. This summer I have an internship at Three Eagles Communications in Lincoln, which I got through the John Bayliss Broadcast Foundation. This is the first internship I will be part of and I am excited to see what this summer will bring. Email Me, View All Alison's Entries