Local Hero

67° - drizzle at 7:09am

Good Morning from Michigan.

This is simply a great promotion - from WPYX in Albany. Has localism, heart, community and listener participation. And can be done with any similar jobs in your community.

With the anniversary of 9/11 coming up, this is very timely. But it really can be done anytime of the year.

Check out WPYX's web execution here.

A great job WPYX!

Classic Rock: Thinking Green

54° - clear at 7:42am

Welcome to Earth Day.

In the past year or so that I've been actively perusing the websites of classic rock stations throughout the country, its become more apparent that more are thinking "green"; and providing green resources and suggestions for listeners.

Most are simply generic good-sense tips about conservation and recycling. Easy to do and environmentally-friendly.

KZOK/Seattle has had a "green" section on their website for some time now. See here.

For several years, we've been hearing "green" promos on air at Chicago's WDRV (97.1/The Drive).

Although a little hard to find (requires the use of a pesky keyword), the station has a great resource page on its website for listeners and consumers. Lots of the basics. Here.

Speaking of WDRV. Today the station is holding their 7th annual "Earth Day Guitar Auction" to benefit the Save The Earth Foundation.

Up for the online auction is a Fender Squier Guitar autographed by Keith Richards. Very cool. View here.

New York's WAXQ (Q104.3) has a "green page" on their website. Again, access is through a "keyword", but as part of Earth Day they have the keyword displayed on the main page. Here.

WCSX/Detroit has probably one of the best station "green" resource sites I've seen yet. One that goes beyond tips and suggestions and offers lists of green companies, local events and area recycling centers. No sign as to whether this will be a 365-day effort, but it should be! See here.

Entercom - and their stations in Portland, Seattle and Sacramento have had a "1 Thing" green resource on their websites for quite some time. A great effort; and it appears to have generated some NTR dollars too. Here.

WPYX/Albany is contesting around the environment. And thats fantastic if its drawing attention to the issues that matter. See their contest page here.

I'm certain there's many other "green" examples on the web. No reason this can't/shouldn't be a 24/7/365 effort with today's environmentally aware world. Web resources like this are easy to pull off. And there's likely some local environmental/recycling organizations that would love to help.

Have a great day.

MId-Book Promo Check

Well almost mid-book. Today begins week #5 of the spring Arbitron.

I was really expecting to see a lot of "Harley Days Of May" promotions as I surfed through the stations. Did find a few: WGRF/Buffalo; KMOD/Tulsa; KSEG/Sacramento; WPYX/Albany; KRKX/Billings; WBXQ/Altoona; WGBF/Evansville; There's got to be others I missed.

Dude, You're Getting A Dell: "A Dell A Day In May" - WAOR/South Bend with a Dell laptop and 3-months of Comcast internet when the cue plays. Here.

No Repeat Work Week. WCSX/Detroit with this 9 to 5 contest featuring a song of the week worth $1000. Sometimes it plays twice for another chance to win.

Hi-Lo Jackpot. WMGK/Philadelphia brings back a promotion thats been around since (at least) the 1960s. Great graphics here.

Another Classic: "The Secret Sound" giveway. KJFX/Fresno brings back another one. Link. I'm waiting for a station to do a new twist on "radio bingo".

Ultimate Garage. Its a definite guy thing. WSKZ/Chattanooga has the goods. Here. Also saw one station doing a kitchen makeover...not quite a guy thing...but....

Best wishes for a great spring book!