Week 13 The Overall Experience

Over the past thirteen weeks at my internship at WCRN News and talk Radio I can honestly say that I will miss working there and seeing everyone on a daily basis.  I have learned so much that I will definitely take with me and I have also learned a lot about myself and what I want in the type of atmosphere I will be looking for in the future when I start looking for employment.  I will be looking for a workplace that has an extended family type feel.  This is what I have experienced a WCRN. 

I am happy to say that I have enjoyed rising up to the challenges of meeting all of the goals that my mentors and I have set for me in week three.  I have worked extremely hard at achieving these goals and strived to do my best at whatever task I was required to complete.  This has certainly added to my confidence in entering the professional working world. 

This internship has influenced my career goals.  During my internship, I was told that I have the kind of personality that would be good in sales and when I get closer to graduation, I was asked to come back to WCRN and work in sales.  In the last four months at WCRN I have had a lot of hands on experiences that have helped me and the people that I worked with during my internship.

 I would recommend this internship to anyone who is looking for a great learning environment and great atmosphere to be in on a daily basis.  You will learn a lot while there.  I want to thank everyone at WCRN for allowing me this opportunity to achieve my goals I set for myself.  The friends and memories I have made at WCRN have been some of the best decisions I have made towards my professional future and I will always look back on this experience fondly wherever I my go in my professional future endeavors.   

  

Week 11 Codes of Conduct

WCRN news and talk Radio has no formal code of conduct.  The station is a laid back and a very enjoyable place to work.  All of the guys that work here have at some point or another in there carriers in Radio have worked together at some point.  This has created a great work environment because they all enjoy working with each other.  There is no formal written form of conduct that is followed however, they do follow the regulations that the FCC while on the airwaves.  For example, there can be no foul language or bashing of people while on the air.  Everyone At WCRN maintains a professional work ethic and seem to really care about each other even an a personal level.  This professional work ethic is carried out when guests are at the station and when out on location.  Everyone knows what is expected and they all have their own specific jobs at the station that they must perform.  However I have seen where maybe someone might have forgotten to do something and someone else just took responsibility to make sure that it was dune anyway.  They all know what it takes a team effort sometimes to get the things done right. 

As far a bad behavior goes, I have never seen anyone act in a unprofessional manner.  The dress code is semi casual.  No one wears a suit and tie everyday however; they do wear nice dress shirt and pants to the station.  The small staff here conducts themselves in a lighthearted manner but they still manage to be professional when guests come in to the station.  

Week 9

During my internship at WCRN I have been given many tasks to do.  First thing every day when I come in the morning it is my job to look through the news for the day to see what is vital for the morning and afternoon news reports for Hank Stolzs.  After that I go into the editing room to do Hank Stolzs voice over’s and edit them for the afternoon show.  Then when that is finished, I go into the studio to run the board for the afternoon show.  It is my job figure out in that first hour how many (spot blocks) commercials will be used in that first hour and tell Hank Stolz when to go to break.  I also answer the calls during the show, it is my job to ask the caller there name where they are calling from and what they want to talk about.  I write all this on a monitor so that whoever is in the studio at that time they can see the caller’s information.  I am also am in charge of posting all the social media for the week on Hoot sweet and special things happening for the summer. An example of what is being posted this summer is the “Out to lunch” concerts that Hank and Sherman are hosting this summer every Friday for July and August. 

My Social Media and video classes that I had last semester at Worcester State have helped me a great deal.  From learning how to edit audio clips to posting social media on Hoot sweet these classes have certainly have made it possible for me to be successful in my internship here at WCRN.    

week 7

Week 7 - 

During the seven weeks, that I have spent on my internship at 830 AM WCRN, I have learned many things that will surely help me when I graduate and start looking for a job after graduation.  The goals I have accomplished for myself and my mentors at WCRN have been as follows posting the social media, editing audio, assisting of constructing of  the AM news reports , Reporting affidavits, running the board and voicing commercials.   My mentors at the station believe that with my experience especially with social media this will surly help me find work not only in Radio it will help in wherever position I chose to find work in the future.     

          Every morning I do the AM news repot with Sherman Whittman and go over what news will be run for the day and what will be discarded.  When I have decided what the news will be for the day I give Hank Stolz and Bob Hokkanson copies of the news for the day so they know what to report for the  day.  During the afternoons, I have been posting the social media for the following day and assisting working the board.  These are a few of the things that I do every day and I feel that I make an impact helping the station with these tasks on a daily basis.   With my help with these tasks my colleges can pursue other pressing assignments they might need to do for the day.  I enjoy learning new things and skills and working at WCRN has made me feel confident in my choice in perusing my communications degree.     

week 5

Week 5

This is the team at WCRN that helps to make the station successful.  Listed below is a structure of the organization hierarchy. 

Chris Thompson	General Manager/Director of Sales
Hank Stolz	Program Director
Tony Chavez	Operations Manager
Sherman Whitman	News-Talk Host
Bob Hokamson	Part-time Board Operator
Derik Drown	Remote Engineer
Guy Farantia	Salesman
John Weston	Salesman
Steve Jones-Dagostino	Electronic Media Director

Being a part of WCRN”S team from the last five weeks I feel the best way to try to describe their management and structure of the organization would be semi formal semi informal professionally.  I would say management structure is right in the middle of the road environment.  Working for a talk radio station you meet several different kinds of people who have business within Worcester County WCRN tries to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome when they visit the station.  Although the studio’s structure is semi structured there are times when they do have fun joking and laughing amongst themselves and with guests.  Although things work well at the station for the most part there have been problems with miss communication.  One particular example of this I saw would be when someone in management gave the wrong date for a benefit to be posted on the social media sights of the station.  Then they read the original memo that they had given to be post and then apologized for their mistake because they had given the wrong date.  A second example is when someone in the station forgot about an interview that was scheduled in the morning.  One of the other radio personalities gave the interview instead even though it was not there job they had no problem helping.  These two examples show how important good communication between fellow employees really is.  In addition, how you should always check your appointment book and make sure what you write is correct. 

The guys that work here have all worked together at other radio stations in the past and have a enlightened self interest in covering each other’s buts they realize that it takes a team to make things work in this business. 

Seeing the way things are run here at WCRN has made me realize what I want to look for when I go looking for a job in the future.  Interning at the radio station has shown me that a good communication and a team-working environment are very important things to look for in future employment.   

week 3

The goals for my internship at WCRN are as follows:

·         Learning how to operate the sound board for midday shows

·         Learning how to edit previously recorded audio that will be used later on for a show

·         Answering the phone when callers want to give their input on the topic being covered on the live in studio shows

·         Working as an AM News assistant with Serman Whitmen in the mornings constructing the news reports

·         Voicing commercials

·         Working on site events when the station does remote broadcasts

·         Working with the promotions staff helping with their social media

·         Doing the acquisitions

The goals listed above been established for me by my supervisors at WCRN and myself.  In the few weeks I have been an intern at the radio station, I have been learning firsthand what it takes to run a successful radio station.  One day in the studio one of the radio personalities had forgotten an appointment to do an interview.   I witnessed one of the other radio personalities say do not worry about it, they had done the interview for them.  Not only am I working on mastering new technical skills I need to fulfill the goals I have as an intern at WCRN.  I am learning that it takes a great team effort to run a successful radio station. 

week 1

                                    82 Franklin Street, Worcester, MA 01603

For the spring and summer, I am an intern at WCRN 830 AM a radio station located in downtown Worcester on 82 Franklin Street.  The Telephone No# (508)792-5803, Fax No# is (508) 770-0659 and Email address is http://www.wcrnradio.com/on-air.htm .  My mentors throughout my internship are Chris Thompson who is the General Sales Manager for the station and Hank Stolz who does the morning news weekdays 5-9 am.  

Carter broadcasting owns the station.  Previously when the station started in 1994 the station carried religious programming.  Then later on in 200, this was abandoned, and replaced by Big Band music.  When the station upgraded their power from 5,000 watts to 50,000 watts, the structure of the station changed to the True Oldies channel in Aug 2004.  Then in May 2006, the station went to the current talk format.

WCRN’S mission is to make a profit by selling airtime.  The people who host shows are on WCRN educate the public on topics like, money matters, financial decisions, and community events.  The station is a conservative talk radio station that covers many different topics and tries to get there listeners thinking.