Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

October 17, 2017

Radio 101: Best Experiences in My First 6 Months.

      Happy six month anniversary... to me and radio!! Six months ago today, I began my job here in Vermont, working as a full-time on-air radio personality in Market #146, Burlington/Plattsburgh. (Talking about media market sizes and ranks is a Radio 101 post for another day! 😉) In some ways, it feels like I was truly born to do this job, and like I've been doing it forever. In other ways, I'm consistently reminded how new I am in the industry, and I feel like I learn new things about radio, sales, and techniques for my voice every single day! So you can say that the first six months of working full time have been quite the journey... both figuratively, and literally since of course I moved to Vermont! 





      I'm hoping for November or December's Radio 101 post to do a "Day in the Life" type post, where I'll walk you through one of my average work days at the studio. That is what the majority of my work days look like- I come into the studio, prep for my show at my desk for a couple hours, eat a snack and check blog emails/social media during my "lunch" break, and then head to the studio to do my main work- doing my radio show from 2-7! However, one of the reasons that I wanted to work in radio is because it's a fun type of career field, and brings work experiences that happen outside of the office/studio. Live on-sight broadcasts, endorsement projects, remotes (radio term for events), concerts... these are just a few of the things that I've gotten my feet wet in during my first six months of work! Of course- like with any job, some off-site event opportunities haven't been fun. There are some that truly are just work, and a couple that have been pretty terrible experiences. But hey- I suppose that happens to everyone in this industry at some point or another! The good news is that there have been plenty more fun and exciting work events that I've gotten to be apart of, things that I'll definitely treasure memories from as my career advances someday! I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back at a few of the more fun work opportunities that I've had since starting my job:


    Fun out-of-studio experiences really began for me during Memorial Day Weekend. I was given last minute concert tickets in Montreal to Chance the Rapper, and my friend Mercedes came up from Washington D.C. to attend the show with me. Jokes on us- although I'm a big rap fan, both of us were actually pretty unfamiliar with Chance's music, but we still had a great time in the big city for the evening! The same weekend, I also had my first parade experience for work! Working in a smaller radio market means that we participate in a ton of local events, like walking in town holiday parades. 






   July was my busiest month of work yet, but also had the most fun events. The month started off strong with Burlington's annual July 3rd festival! In Burlington, they celebrate the 4th of July on July 3rd, and all the stations at my company broadcast live from the Burlington waterfront all day long! This was my first company-wide live broadcast and it was quite an event! 
    I also had my first digital endorsement in July! I worked with our local Edible Arrangements franchise to promote their new menu items. A digital endorsement for a radio personality is super similar to a sponsored blog campaign- I took photos of the products, and then promoted them on our station's social media and website! 
      Lastly, I spent a day tagging along with Mary (who does mornings on Star 92.9), on an adventure to Canada to visit Parc Safari, an animal adventure park! Mary had a digital endorsement with them, and I did her Facebook lives and photography. It was so fun to say I got to go to another country for work for the day, and I loved meeting the animals! 









      August was even busier than July! I spent two weeks in a row filling in on Star 92.9, which is 96.7's sister station, and where I work on Saturdays each week. I spent a week filling in on Mike and Mary in the Morning, which I LOVED!! Morning radio is something that I would eventually like to do. This was an incredible learning experience (although it was painful to wake up at 3:30 again everyday for a week!). And the following week, I filled in for Chantal, who has the 3-7 Afternoon Drive shift on Star. This was great preparation for me as we were just a couple weeks out from me switching to the Drive shift on 96.7 I learned a lot from both of these experiences- although I will say I was very tired because in addition to doing these shows, I still had to do my own show and normal work each day on 96.7, so it was like doing two jobs for two weeks! 
      Events-wise, I also had two really fun digital endorsements! The first was with a local boutique in Burlington. It ended up being such a fun afternoon- I first had my makeup done at a local makeup artistry studio, and then spent the afternoon modeling clothes for the boutique. This was the first fashion project I've ever done that was completely separate from Southern Belle in Training, so it was a really unique experience! My other endorsement was test driving a BMW for a local car dealer. My dad was visiting Vermont when that happened, so we went driving for an afternoon- I think he was jealous I got to drive and not him! ðŸ˜‰
      Lastly and most importantly, 96.7 rebranded and relaunched on August 15th! We went from being a Top 40, Planet 967, to be a Rhythmic Leaning Top 40, The New Hot 96.7! (The main difference between Top 40 and Rhythmic leaning is that Top 40 stations really just focus on the "top hits," and rhythmic leaning stations play the top hits, a few of the top urban hits, and also some urban golds. I explain more about this in this Radio 101 blog post!) The launch date selected was also the first day that my company began live broadcasts from The Champlain Valley Fair, which is this region of Vermont's largest annual fair. The fair was a great place to launch the new station- so many people were excited about it! And that night, the celebration continued when I received concert tickets to attend that night's show at the fair, the I Love The 90s: The Party Continues tour, which ended up being really great! The headliners, my favorite 90s girl band TLC, were absolutely fantastic!!









      September held my biggest event yet! I got to RAPPEL off one of the tallest buildings in Vermont!! This is a local charity event that happens annually in Burlington to benefit the Flynn Center for the Arts, which is a local performing arts facility. The Flynn reached out to our station about having a radio personality participate, and one of our sales people thought I would be the perfect fit! I was delighted to get the chance to do something as cool as rappelling- truly a once in a lifetime experience! My mom was also in town visiting that weekend so she got to see it happen.






      Coming into October- I haven't had any fun events yet this month, but I do have one coming up this weekend, and another during Halloween weekend which should be cool! 



     And there you have it: first six months down! Like I said earlier, sometimes the really awesome events can easily be forgotten about with the day to day stuff that goes on at the radio station, as well as the normal stress of work. But honestly, how cool is some of this stuff?! I never want to take for granted this industry that I get to be apart of. I hope even better events and opportunities are in my career's future! 



      I try not to give too much shameless self promotion for my radio shows here on the blog, but I know some of you are curious about it, and the hours of my shows have changed since the last time I updated. Anyone can listen to both radio stations that I work for!! Both stream online from computers, and have free iPhone apps as well. All times are in EST.


      *The New Hot 96.7 (Top 40/Hip Hop): M-F: 2-7 pm, Sat: 9-2 pm, Sun: 2-7 pm


      *Star 92.9 (90s to Now): Sat: Midnight-6 AM, other shifts fill-in



     Thanks so much for reading!! Feel free as always to send your questions about radio for future Radio 101 posts!



      God Bless,



      xoxo Annaliese 





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13 comments

  1. Ummm can I have your job? It sounds like you're having the time of your life at your radio station! Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

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  2. This is awesome! I used to work in Radio sales and loved it except you sound a LOT better then the DJs I used to work with on events and such lol

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  3. girl shamelessly self promote that ish!! You look like you're having so much fun! I bet with the holidays you are going to get to do so many more cool things!!

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  4. What a fun job!! Looks like you are very happy. PS love the lilly leggings!

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  5. I'm so happy that you like your new job in Vermont! Such a fun job!

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  6. This job sounds awesome! I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself with your job :)

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  7. This was a fun read and glimpse into a whole different world for me! I love that you are able to enjoy opportunities in different settings to keep things fun and exciting. Thanks so much for sharing the highlights of your last 6 months!
    p.s. I loved the beautiful pic of you in that purple dress!

    xxx,
    Mary

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  8. You have participated in so many cool events for your job! I also think the endorsements would be a lot of fun, modeling clothes for the boutique is perfect for you and so much fun!

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  9. I am so jealous of the giraffe experience! That is so awesome :)

    xoxo, Paige
    www.midwesterncharmblog.com

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  10. Omg this is SO interesting and seems so much fun - you are living the life!!!

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  11. I cannot believe you rappelled off that building! It scares me just thinking about it! I've loved listening to you on the radio each day.
    -Nicholle
    www.nichollesophia.com

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  12. I absolutely loved reading this post!! It's so nice to see someone enjoying these moments even at their job - incredible! Also, you're super brave rappelling off that building!!! Congrats on your 6 month workaversary. :)

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  13. It looks like you're having such a blast!

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