Success Stories

My second day at KHTS was great. I spent my morning sitting in on a talk show with local police officers. I really enjoyed this because Justin let me sit next to him and he showed me a little how the board works. I’m slowly feeling a little bit more comfortable and I’m very grateful how helpful everyone at the station has been. I then got to sit in with Chuck and practice more with the logs and he even showed me how to produce and imput a spot. My favorite part of the day is when the afternoon show starts. Tori the new host has been so great. She lets me do a ton of live reads and I even helped her interview Swoop Brown whos an artist tat will be performing at the strawberry festival in Oxnard at the end of May.

Next week I get to be on air with George who does the morning show.

This day was really eventful. I ran the board for the Sherriff talk show as I do every other Thursday. My mentor was super awesome and let me record a spot for the station. He also let me mix it down and put it in the log. Chuck is really awesome when it comes to help me with my future.

“I’m already having a blast! My mentor is a really nice guy and he’s doing a great job of showing me the ropes!”

“It was fascinating to watch and I learned so much in the process!”

“Thank you so much for giving me this tool that’s a stepping stone to my future!”

“This past week I helped edit and produce a segment for the night show on Mix 93.3. I learned the tricks of editing and making the sound equal. I also learned about leaving a second at the end of the segment to allow for smoother transitions. I consider myself to be pretty adept at editing. I also did a lot of research for segments on the show because they were taking a trip to Houston for the KC Chiefs playoffs game and I researched fun facts and different fun tourist stops along the way that they used on the radio. All in all it was a fun week and I am getting more comfortable speaking/recording and editing. I love doing fun little research projects and learning about the production process of the radio shows.”

“Hello Radio Connection Community. I must say, I am EXTREMELY excited for this opportunity. Music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember, and now I have the opportunity to contribute to it. The only other time in my life I have been so excited to start a new chapter in my life was when I got married to the love of my life, and best friend, Nicole.

I had my initial interview with my mentor on Jan. 6th. I was so nervous, because I was going to a station that plays country music. I, admittedly, am not a huge fan of country music, so I thought that was going to be a deal breaker, but everyone has been very supportive. I have come in every weekday since then. Everyone here has been so amazing. Jenny, my mentor, has had me contributing to the station’s blog, and sitting in with Crier Dillon while he was doing his live show. Today I get to record a commercial spot. I am so happy that I get the opportunity to contribute in so many ways.

I can’t wait to see how everyone else’s experience is going.”

“I had been a regular listener of my mentor Tommy G when he was the “leader of the late night” on one of New Jersey’s biggest stations a few years ago. You could only imagine how thrilled I was to hear that he was going to be my new mentor. He wasn’t just a talk show host that I heard of or listened to here and there. This was the guy that I listened to night after night driving home. I knew the type of show he did, I knew his personality, I knew the regular callers that called in. So it was a little strange talking to him on the phone the first time because the guy I listened to every night on my drive home on the radio was now talking to me. After talking to him the first time I knew this was going to be the best place I could have ever hoped to be. From the very first day, Tommy G put me on the air. Now he didn’t just put me on the air to fill air time, he put me on the air to see if (A) I would crack under the pressure of being on live radio and (B) to introduce me to the audience as a new voice to the show. I don’t just sit there quiet in a corner and watch him do his thing, I am a regular part of the show and am on the air every time I am there. The show can be heard live Mon-Fri from 3-6 on 1450AM WCTC in the central NJ area or always playing on TommyGShow.com and also on the tunein app.”

“I am having a blast and look forward to getting my name out there.”

I had a great first day with my new mentor Jay Dixon. We reviewed the early experimentations of radio back in the 19th century with innovators like Hertz and Marconi at the forefront and groundbreaking moments such as the very first commercial (lasted just over ten minutes at a Queens, NY law firm) the very first commercial jingle (barbershop quartet singing a cappella for Wheaties cereal in 1926), and a 1920 broadcast from what’s considered to be the first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA. Jay gave me the opportunity to listen to some of these recordings and it was fascinating to hear the tremendous difference in sound quality compared to a modern day commercial or radio broadcast; there is a lot of crackling static in the background and the announcer in the KDKA recording frequently clears his throat.

I also got to listen in to a conference call between Jay and the team behind a San Francisco morning radio show starring comedian Mark Curry. Jay was consulting the team on recurring ideas that could be used for this new program premiering next week. One of the ideas, Community Events, tied in to a conversation me and Jay had about the importance of serving a local community through radio. I was also able to contribute questions to some of the ideas that Jay thought would be great to ask to the team (ie: for a segment titled “Mark’s Inspirational Moments”, who are the moments coming from? Mark? The audience? Both?). Overall, a key lesson I learned from that conference call is Jay’s skepticism about a morning show team wanting to “create the benchmark organically”. In other words, most morning shows aim to create natural, fun conversation among the on-air team with the assumption that the audience knows what they’re talking about. According to Jay, the audience usually never knows. This leads to a popular complaint of morning shows: “The DJ’s talk too much! I just want to hear my favorite song”. Jay notes that the problem isn’t the talking, it’s the fact that morning shows don’t “spoon feed” the listeners enough when it comes to on-air banter. Listeners need to feel like they apart of the conversation as opposed to feeling like an awkward eavesdropper.

Finally, Jay invited me to sit in and observe Hot 97’s music scheduling on a 24 hour basis. I learned that the most popular songs have to be played a certain amount throughout the day and night to sustain listenership, but the key thing is to not drive listeners away with overkill. Next time, we will go over FCC rules and regulations. Looking forward to it!

“So far Brendan has me helping him a lot with his MOS or man on the street segment. This is where we go around downtown Chicago and ask people our daily question. After that we begin to splice and edit the answers for their show. When he goes and does his podcast he has me type up a quick sports news page along with some cool articles from TMZ or E!”

“Not only would I be able to nab another star athlete and one of my close friends on the PLNU camps, I raised the bar for this interview. My interviews with Parker and Wiggins were both done via phone conversations that were pre-recorded, edited and posted hours after on my Mixcloud page. The demand on pre-recording, along with doing production work were the last things I wanted to do over the weekend, so I raised the bar for this interview. The interview was LIVE STREAMED on both my personal YouTube channel along with a simulcast stream right here on the website. Live streaming the interview was important to me, not just because of the demand of pre-recording and editing everything, but I chose to live stream it for not just my school staff up at RRF in Los Angeles, but also for both the families and friends of Jess and myself and it was also shown live to show once more show my gratitude and appreciation to Jess and her family for what happened back in Pt. II of the story.”

“I chose the music, hosted the show, produced it, (all under supervision of course) It’s getting easier and the more I put my hands on it, the more I understand and can picture my own show easier. Also, the program’s newspaper people are doing an interview with me, so I guess I’m doing okay!”

“Tonight we went through start to – as close to finish as we could get – creating, recording and producing the radio show! We went through and picked the music, made sure it flowed nicely, got the show outline ready and then recorded the talking points (including MY introduction to the show) and then produced the show and put it together. It sounds so good and even though it’s not my show technically! I’m freaking proud of it. Next week, I’ll likely be taking the reins and trying it on my own. This is good!”

“Yesterday was the first day of the NFL year which means free agency and trades could begin. It was INSANE!!! Trades for players you never thought would be traded happened and deals were being signed with big target free agents switching teams. Let’s just say it was a lot of fun to listen and read about. So today at the radio show my mentor got to break down the aftermath of what had occurred yesterday afternoon. There was so much content to cover which my mentor says is never a bad thing. It makes your show more enjoyable and it goes by a lot quicker.”

“The interview was over the phone but it was none the less incredible. He was so funny, and knowledgeable about sports. It was a thrill to hear one of my favorite actors on the phone on the same radio station I was at. I can’t wait to do these kinds of interviews, crossing my favorite pop culture icons with the sports world. I bet the listeners got a big thrill out of it as well.”

Hello fellow mentees! I wanted to let all of you know that my Day 1 was awesome! Being in the same room and the excitement of being on the air live with Joe Grande was an experience that I am constantly thinking of all week. Can’t wait for Week 2! I also got to meet the guy at the station that prepares the announcer’s clips on the games. I helped him edit the clips from 40-60 seconds down to 15-20 seconds. It’s just another one of those jobs that somebody has to do. Seems to be these types of jobs at each station. I also assisted Joe with some stats that I was following prior to our meeting. He used them on the air!”

Jacob Daniels is having a blast at KFBK 1530 AM in Sacramento with mentor Pat Walsch! Pat stated that Jacob has been a very hardworker, enthusiastic from day one, and always eager to get in the studio and learn more! Jacob has even been helping out other externs at the studio whenever he can. Currently, Jacob is learning how to edit on adobe and works with Pat on his weekly show!

“His delivery has gotten better each day and he’s a great kid to work with!”

— Pat Walsch

In 2002-2004 David worked as an intern 101KLOL before attending Radio Connection.

“My mentor is absolutely phenomenal. I love working with him. I’ve been listening to him for the last four years on the radio here in Austin and it’s been great being able to learn from a legend. I’m truly excited about this opportunity and know that if I do the job that I’m capable of doing that I will succeed beyond my wildest dreams.”

Brian always dreamed of being on the air now has the opportunity to work a weekly radio show with Melody Allen in Whittier, CA. After several attempts at finding a home for his talent, Brian finally found his golden opportunity through Radio Connection.

“Since I was in high school i wanted to be in radio. During high school I interned at my local tv station, but once high school ended, it finished. I went to college and majored in communications, but school became too expensive… That’s when I found Radio Connection.”

Since enrolling in the program, Maryam Shapardson has had a variety of different types of radio opportunities to add to her experience artillery! Maryam has had the chance to intern and extern at three different radio stations in Southern California. Maryam has such a passion for working in radio that she was ready and willing to travelling 2 hours to make professional commitments even currently with her mentor in Whittier, CA. Maryam has had the opportunity to work a radio show weekly and develop her skills – eventually sees herself going into the corporate world whether it be here in LA, working for a company like Ustream in San Francisco, or anywhere!

“I had an internship in college with a radio station, I always knew from the first day this was what I wanted to do. I had on air time about a month ago with my mentor and another one on CBS live radio after I returned from the World Cup in Brazil! I’m all about sports radio, that’s what I like to talk about, it’s what I love. College football is a lot of fun. I have the travel bug. In the next month or so Jim Daniels wants to get us together for a podcast.”

Before attending classes through Radio Connection, Jack Esko did a program with sports mentoring group for 6 months. After graduating the radio program with KKVV Christian Radio with Fred Hodges, Jack Esko has successfully started up his own podcast and YouTube channel!

Jack’s YouTube Channel

Podcast

In recent months, Sundance had his own radio show at FFC Free Radio where he externd under John Miller. His desire to work hands on in a real radio station led him to the Radio Connection; his goals are to do Voice Overs and eventually become a Radio DJ. John Miller stated that Sundance’s show is called GeekLine where he talks about everything from Star Wars to RPG games every Tuesday from 8-10pm!

Here Sundance’s podcast. The future of radio!

“Everything is FANTASTIC!! We’re chugging into the Sports Broadcasting unit of the course and I also have some good news!! Through the station, I am now doing ACTUAL SPORTS PLAY BY PLAY BROADCASTING!!”