The Most Important Thing....

Day to day business clouds the mind somewhat and keeps me from keeping my eye on the big picture, but the last couple of days with all of the phone calls during the Big Show and watching the daily web hits grow, and an increase in e-mails, it has reminded me to remind you that if you live in the Indian Wells Valley, this is YOUR radio station. We take several calls a day from people with ideas and suggestions and a whole lot of them have been institued on the air. We're proud of that. For those of you taking a more passive role in all of this, jump in the water's fine! As a matter of fact, it's great! We're all having a blast! Wanna stick your head in the door and get a quick tour? No problem. Ever wondered how a radio station works? We'll be glad to show you. This truly has been, and is currently a labor of love and community commitment.

Everybody has made me so proud to call the IWV home.

-Eric

We're Interactive!

So this morning we're trying to take listener calls. Our question of the day? What is your favorite Crime Forensics show? We're slowly but surely getting calls. This has been my goal the whole time and we most certainly will be taking on more heady issues, but today, we'll just get the bugs out. Fritz is the call taker and he is editing the calls down for airplay. But our bottom line and what has always been radios strong point has been the ability to be interactive, before interactive was cool. On top of that we are totally internet friendly too, with this blog, our new message board, the ability to e-mail requests and contest entries as well as calendar submissions and now our online poll. We are hoping that everyone who listens every day will not only "feel" a part of this station, but BE a part of this station.

Stay tuned.

-Eric

Another AM Update

Well, the trials and tribulations continute, but we are getting so close to getting this done. Also, there have been some changes to the lineup. I will keep it a secret for now, but most of the names remain intact (inclusing Rush-you ditto heads) but we have a pretty dynamic guy opening for him in the mornings. It's all coming down just like I thought. All at the last minute. We are expecting our new transmitter this week, as well as a new remote control untit, a new STL, a new pole to mount the anntena on and all of our Angels gear. No sweat right? It's all supposed to be here before the end of the week, and we HAVE to get it on next week. Sheesh. It's going to be great when it's done and we're already receiving a ton of calls asking about it, even though we haven't really put much word out on the street about the Talk station.

We finally have our message board setup. It's a good one too. So, I am looking forward to getting feedback for the station and we'll post some topics for your consideration about community issues.

Speaking of community issues....we are looking for 8-10 folks to be on our Community Issues Committee. You would be responsible for helping us keep the most important topics front and center in front of the community. If you are interested you can e-mail me at eric@kziq.com .

Have a great week!!!

-Eric

The Coyote's Name is........

Ziq, pronounced Zeke! Brian M. came up with this name first so he dinner for two at the IWV Lodge! If you'll notice Ziq is the last three letters of our call sign. Plus you can't get anymore country than Ziq! Congratulations Brian, and thanks to all the entries we received. There were so many great ones submitted! We plan to announce some of the entries we got over the next week so you can hear just how hard it was to decide!

We have several Coyote road stops planned in the next few weeks. Stay tuned to hear where we are each weekend. If you stop by you might even win a prize and I guarantee you'll have a great time.

~Sara

Time for an update!

If you've noticed a lack of updates here and on the website it's a sign of just how busy we have been. We are hard at work on the AM station and every day get just a little farther with it. I am really excited by the programming we have scheduled. Just hang in there a bit longer and I promise we will blow you away.

How do you like the morning show? I am so excited that it's been extended an hour. This means more time for interviews, David Letterman's Top 10 and anything else we can cram in an extra hour!

Tomorrow is the day we "Name the Coyote." It was so hard to pick just one name. There were a ton of entries and everyone was so great! So make sure to listen tomorrow at 9:15am. I will post it here on the blog soon after.

It's Follies Week!

Mixed emotions this week. It's the final week of preparations for the Ridgecrest Chamber's Star Follies. 65 of us, usually have a blast on show night. I'm not sure if eveyrone realizes it, but we spend many hours over about a month and a half, preparing our "numbers". No matter how much we doubt ourselves, the show always comes together on show night and we have a blast. The concept of the show was for people who don't normally work together to get a chance to know each other and work together and in fact it does work that way. The one major way we're validated is for the seats to be full and to see the audience have a good time. We haven't been let down yet. Neither has the audience. We're hoping we get even more people than we have ever had. Tickets are available at Hallmark (General admission) and the Chamber office (reserved). Please come out and be a part of the fun and what is now a Ridgecrest institution. This year will also feature a bite to eat from the Habitat for Humanity barbecue team so come hungry!

Myself and Ron K. will be working out at Mesquite Hall this week, doing our chores. Draping the stage and putting the finishing touches on. Thursday night we show Don our songs, put up the lights and sound and we'll be going over the video shoot and camera angeles. Betcha didn't know about all that stuff huh? As a matter of fact, every year our video has gotten better and for the last few years, the video is available on DVD. Instead of telling your friends about a certain number that was shocking or extremely funny (can you say Full Monty?) buy the DVD and show them.

Now, on to the AM. We're plugging along. There has been a little drama and we are running a little behind, but The Madman got the ball rolling and by the end of the week we'll probably have some programming on. This is a heads up ONLY here on the BLOG. We're planning on getting Tony Snow and Rush on the air by weeks end. We won't be seriously promoting FoxTalk 1360 until we're all done, but we will definately be up and running for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

It never rains in Southern California

Rain finally has made it's way into our valley. Thank goodness because I don't know about you but this dry winter is killing me! Sitting here at my desk I can hear the cars drive through the puddles and out of the corner of my eye I can see the headlights of cars. A much different scene than where we previously worked. It's a warm rain too. It's not the cold rain that leaves you shivering all afternoon. Blend that together with my chai drink and it makes for a cozy afternoon.

We had a remote on Saturday at the new Ashley Furniture Homestore. It went great and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We gave away goodies and had a great time. We got tons of great feedback from everyone who was there. I look forward to more remotes.

Sunday afternoon found us with a computer glich. Our automation program hiccuped and shut down. I came up to the station and with the help of Eric on the phone got it back up and running. We also had another glich today at 3:45pm. It's one we have been having regularly and keep trying to fix. We have requests into tech support and hope to resolve it very soon.

Eric's show extended this morning by one more hour. He is now on from 6am to 10am (PST). We have added more features and ways to win. It's never dull around here and we make sure of that. ;)

I think that wraps up things around here. Today I did billing and using my program only, I got it done in half the time of my previous runs. Even the legal stuff went smoother this time. Yes, that sums it up for me. Keep listening and keep giving us your thoughts. Oh and name the Coyote....it ends tomorrow. Get your name in!!!

-Sara

Rambling Thoughts....

Had a somewhat successful day at the transmitter site yesterday. I will say the AM is progressing and now we look set for a mid-March startup. Sorry for the delay, but we will NOT cut any corners with this project. I plan to get some info on the AM website soon. There's just a splash page there now at http://www.foxtalk1360.com .

On the FM side, we picked up s station vehicle yesterday. It's funny. It's a Volvo station wagon. Looks a little like a European hearse. Ralph has put some logo work on it. It will work just fine for hauling our stuff around and except for the partially smashed windshield is ready for public display. We have so much community info now, we have had to go to two differenet 90 second recorded Coyote Calendars (they run throughout the day) to just cover the week ahead. This, as you will read below, is key to our success and it was one of my concerns. People already know this is a place they can drop off thier announcements, have them heard on-air AND not be charged for them.

Back on the AM for a second, don't forget to tell your friends, if you like sports, we will be filling the talk show blanks with Fox Sports, plus we'll have the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (LOL) and the San Diego Chargers.

More latah!

-Eric

I'm Back...I think

I have to say I am surprised at the number of people who are reading this. I only know this because of all of the comments about a previous post, and the fact that I haven't posted much lately. As we get further into the day to day here of running a radio station some of the luster has worn off. Or at least that "new radio smell". Regardless, this has still been a daily joy and I hope it shows in what we do on-air. Business is looking up and community involvement, a real key to our success, has been picking up as well. I want to take a bit of space here to talk about the radio industry in general and what it's up against these days. Over the past 20 years, radio stations have been striving to bring you what are now being matched by CD players and the new satellite companies are doing. Playing lots of music. Now, don't get me wrong, playing music is still important, but what has been lost over the last 20 years has been the connection to community. Bigger companies know this, but it's hard for them to make their shareholders happy when you have to spend so much money in pure man hours to get that particular job done. So, you sponsor big events. You get stadiums named after your company. You do big radiothons raising money for national charities. At the end of the day it still falls considerably short of what the original concept of local radio was.

So now what? Well radio's very survival is directly tied to what it does for and IN a community. We have to provide information that is pertinent to citizens of our community. Satellite can't do that, in fact they know this now and are trying to make that happen. Oh but wait, then the FCC says they can have control over them. Well I guess that's not cool. This localism is what separates us from the other stations AND most certainly from the satellite companies. To that end, in our informal questioning of folks around here I am surprised to learn that we have given them reason to keep their satellite receivers off in their cars, when they are in their hometown. It certainly gives me hope that this formula works.

When you get a chance, try to find some material on HD Radio. It's coming. We were in L.A. this weekend and there are already some stations making a go of it there. It is going to be amazing and will rejuvenate this business like nothing has in the last 50 years.

If you are reading this from another place and you happen across someone that works in radio, ask them about their local commitment. If you live here, don't hesitate to call me out on something. We are absolutely committed to this. It's radio's last lifeline.

Great to be back!

Hi everyone,

It's Fritz here. I just wanted to stop in and throw in my two cents worth on being a part of KZIQ. First off, it's been very cool for me to be working with Eric again! When Pony and I left Ridgecrest to do Radio in other towns my biggest regret was not only leaving a town I really love but not working with Eric anymore. To not only be working with Eric again but helping to build a station for our community from the scratch is very exciting. It's a chance that very few DJs ever get to do. Eric, Kim and Sara are a great crew and I'm looking foreward to plenty of fun times ahead for all of us. I'll try to fill you all in on my side of starting a new station and it's great to be in Ridgecrest. Thanks again for bringing me back Eric.

Much to Young to feel this damn old!

I am a morning person. I'm up on the weekends by 6 or 7am and during the week I'm up at 5am. Late nights kill me. Last night the station was invited to the VIP night at the new nightclub in town, "Club U" or "Club Unicorn". The festivities began at 8pm and we got home just after midnight. What made it so exhausting is that we decided to spend the day in Lancaster/Palmdale first. My husband, sister and I went and we sat with some of the other young proffesionals. Having 2 little ones at home as well as a husband who works odd hours and switches shifts at a moments notice; he and I relish these opportunities to get out, get dressed up and have a good time. We had a fabulous time! First we where in good company, and second it was a nice place to go. We shaked our tail feathers, enjoyed adult beverages and relaxed in the atmosphere of a place usually found in the bigger cities. I am looking forward to "Club U's" contribution to our community!

Our tower climber came up yesterday and Eric had a long rough day. It went well but I'll let him blog about everything that happened.

This week had it's challenges like every week does. We just want to do what we do, the best we can. We saw a niche in the community that wasn't being filled and we sought to fill it. It's ruffled a few feathers and we expected that. As we have said time after time on this blog, it's the love, support and faith we receive each day that keeps us going. From the e-mails, to the sweet treats dropped by the station or the positive re-enforcement from a friend. The honking of you, the listeners, as you drive by the station, the calls for our contests and promotions to our Advertisers. March 9th marks our 90 days in business. It is you, Ridgecrest, that makes it possible for us to continue our success. We are happy to be here and can't wait to see what the next 90 days bring!


-Sara

Just A Couple Of Things...

We just got home from Follies rehearsal. We'll talk plenty about that coming up. A couple of things though. First, I am posting with my PSP. This little device allows me to go online, check my e-mail, play Madden Football, and listen to tunes. Cool huh? Next, I just want to thank the HUNDREDS of people who write e-mails, call in, or stop by. This has been the single most rewarding job I have ever had. We have already far surpassed all of my expectations! That would be on every level.

About The Worm

It is unfortunate that there are people in this world so jealous of someone's entrepreneurial spirit that they must do what they can to quash that.

Eric, continue to expect this to happen. Sad little people will try what they can to not allow your success. Just be happy that these people are in a very very small minority. The majority of the Indian Wells Valley supports your station!

Ray

Well The Worm Turns....

If you are a regular visitor to the blog, you know a couple of things already. First of all, after a pretty emotional ending where we used to work, and getting everything together here, it's been very nice to just worry about OUR business and not so much what's going on down the street. Until now. This blog was for listeners and family who wanted a little insight as to what was up around here. There certainly have been no real trade secrets here and we have been quick to edit out anything that may have crossed the line.

Until now....

All I have to say to the little man printing these items to fire up our former boss is, you are a sad pathetic individual. How your life took this road is beyond me. But you should certainly be ashamed to have become the bitter, troublemaking person you have become.

Pitiful.

Scary...Scary

Ok, so Kim and I are leaving town today. Part business, part pleasure. We're leaving our baby in the hands of the very capable Sara. This is a huge step because if something happens I won't be within blocks to fix it. Not that I can fix everything.

We now have a very viable (and affordable) plan to get the AM up before baseball season. There's your heads up Ditto Heads.

Fritz has been by this week. Eventually he will be my fill-in when I'm gone. He LOVES this town and he has been a driving force with some great imaging ideas. (Get a rope!)

More latah! Oh and before I forget, for posterity's sake, I would like to wish my beautiful bride a very happy anniversary. You made my dreams come true!

It's alive!

One month ago if someone had asked me if I would know our traffic and billing software as well as I do now, I would have laughed for a good five minutes. I've got it down. We have been using it faithfully for the past week and even sent out bills from it. Our weekend shows ran pretty smooth and everyday we find something that may need to be edited a little differently. It's all part of the learning process. Now it takes me two seconds to enter an account and schedule it where as before it was more like 10-15 minutes. Friday was a bit of a mess as we tried to figure out how to enter in our shows like Bob Kingsley and Inspirational Country. We got it down though and I got more practice editing and making log templates. Next I need to do a template for when Eric isn't able to do "The Big Show."

Some of the neat things about working in Radio are media previews and media access. We were invited to the VIP night at Ashley Furniture and I can tell you we are in for a treat Ridgecrest. You can not believe that the building used to be the old DART Thrift Store! It's amazing the change. We also have media access to cover tomorrows Economic Outlook Conference. Listen for Ray Watters Coyote Report Friday for information on how it went.

As I typed this I've finished my cup of coffee and it's time to get the day started. Carpe Diem!

-Sara

Streaming Server Update

The streaming server was updated this past monday, it was operating at 40kbps, the upgrade brought the stream up to 56kbps which allows users on dial-up to still recieve the stream with little or no buffering, plans for a possible broadband server is in the works. Which will operate at 192kbps giving listeners CD quality audio. Details will be posted when the service becomes availiable.
For now the current server will stay as is, any disruption in service is not planned but it is possible that sometimes the stream gets disrupted due to operator error or a fault in our DSL provider.

Another Week!

So much to do this week. As a matter of fact, it is becoming mind boggling. I have Microsoft Outlook and other tools to keep myself organized, but there are so many BIG projects to do, I feel like I'm chasing my tail every day. We have an engineer coming by this week to get a snapshot of the various projects he needs to oversee and I think Kim and I are going to try to head out of town for a day or two, to get our bearings back.

The remote this weekend ended up going well. Not very well attended, but it was a flex weekend, so there weren't many people in town. However, they sold 4 cars so that was very good. The crew there was great and Brad, who runs the place, is really helping us get the town pumped up. He is a one man PR machine for us. We have several others who are out and about every day and this word of mouth is invaluable.

The web site is doing steady business. I have an update to post but for some reason our ftp service is down today. Could make things interesting later in the week.

I am going to try to post at least another time this week!

Yeah sure...maybe Outlook will remind me.

Notes from a rambling mind....

Several things to cover this morning...

First, I left a couple of thank yous out and they were pretty big. Thanks to Sam and Trudy. They were such a big help in the first scary days. Sam was funny asking the girls to step aside, while he single handedly painted the front office. We have some furniture too. Trudy is and has always been a huge supporter with her kickass talks and of course all of the High Desert Cares stuff. She's even out beating the streets helping us drum up business.

Also a big thank you to Bill Folden who helped us get our back room sheet rocked and made Kim a special birthday dinner. He IS the man. The beautiful thing about Bill is he wants nothing in return and usually is uncomfortable with even a thank you.

The AM is coming together and the lineup is starting to come together too! Here's an early look:

Tony Snow 6-9A
Rush Limbaugh 9-12p
Ed Shultz 12p-3p
John Gibson 3p-5p
Michael Savage 5p-8p

More is coming and for those of you wondering why all the conservative hosts? Not neccisarily the reflection of management here, but the common thread that runs through our little valley. Plus, we'll also be carrying the L.A. Angels, the San Diego Chargers and a ton of local sports. The Champion Burros will be heard on the FM though. Those kids and their coaches have worked hard the last few years. We're going to try to put together a nice broadcast too. Also on the way at least one LOCAL talk show on the weekends. Also, if you live in Ridgecrest, drop me a line and let me know what else you might like to hear, especially on the weekends. The only weekend show lineup is on Sunday night....the Drudge Report.

Wrap up for the week

Wow! What a great week. Eric had several guests this week in regards to the Larkspur Apartment Complex, Mr. IWV, Operation High Desert Cares and more! Senator Ray Ashburn stopped by yesterday morning and we broke into our regular program to bring our listeners answers about BRAC. We really are bringing back local radio to Ridgecrest.

On Tuesday we hosted our Ribbon Cutting for the Chamber of Commerce. If you weren't there you can stop by the station to see our photograph of the event. The photo was taken by Gary Nordvall and is already framed and hung on our wall. Thank you to our Chamber Ambassadors!

My trials and tribulations with our traffic and billing software are almost at the end. I had some problems on Thursday when I tried to send the logs to the computer that plays our music (the automation computer). After some calls to support and some more fine tuning we got it fixed and now the computer can read the logs. I will do some final editing Monday and we should have it going by Tuesday! The best thing about the software we are using is that it really is user friendly. I had only seen Eric import the log a few times and when I went to do it myself it was very simple!

It really was a great week. Eric will be working over the weekend as well as strutting his stuff in the Mr. IWV pageant tonight. If you get a chance you should go. If you don't....hopefully I can post pictures next week.



Thought for the Week: If it didn't belong to you; no one can steal it from you.