On the Air!

I managed to prepare and deliver my first solo effort yesterday. I thought I'd have enough material, but I fell a little short. Lucky for the musical pauses! I'll have extra stuff ready for next week. I think it went ok, but I haven't had much feedback yet.

The mic is a powerful force, even in community radio. You go through training and preparation and hope to one day get an opportunity to create something of your own. I know commercial radio will be a very different environment, if I ever make it there. But I can't change the past or control the future - all I can do is work on the present.

When I was at radio school, several people ended up interning at some local commercial radio stations. I know they spent a lot of time at the stations, mostly doing behind-the-scenes stuff, but also made some on-air appearances. I didn't have an opportunity to intern on commercial radio while I was at school. And in all honesty, my work schedule was just so terrible... I couldn't have managed it if I had gotten the chance. I also felt it better to wait until I finished the six months before I took on anything else.

So I took an opportunity to volunteer at the community station I have already mentioned a million times on this blog. I was only able to manage one hour a week as a tech for the longest time, but eventually I was able to expand my duties at the station. The main point is that with every new opportunity came more of a chance to learn hands-on, and with every new opportunity to get on the air, the comfort zone would increase.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm a seasoned veteran by any stretch of the imagination. What I do believe is that the direction I took was the best one for me at the time, especially since leaving town was not much of an option. Someone else might be better off going in an entirely different route. It's great to be able to have nearly complete creative freedom on my show. Still, I would never have thought that a half hour show would require no less than 10 hours of preparation!