RDR Assistant Manager

WELCOME TO RAINY DAWG!!

I hope you’re excited about becoming our next AM. Personally, my favorite part of this position is the opportunity to meet and work with so many diverse and interesting people (in the form of volunteers and event collaborators). My biggest recommendation is to speak up! I remember that I had so many ideas for the station at the beginning of the school year, but was too shy to voice my ideas. AM is such a flexible position that you can really make it your own, you are the one who is most in touch with the DJs and other volunteers so make sure that their voices are heard as well!

This position is such a rewarding experience and you really get out of it what you put in. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and pitch new and different ideas because creativity and diversity is what Rainy Dawg is all about. Also, if you ever have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the former AM (they’ll be working right next to you)!

UW Net ID – asuwrdam/nupass2017

TUMBLR – (Editor) blogmaster@rainydawg.org/bigdawgstatus – (Blogger) blogteam@rainydawg.org/topblawg!

Slack – asuwrdam@uw.edu/ nupass2017

• Add your hours for the week at http://hours.asuw.org/ (before Monday morning)
• Check Spinitron playlists – make sure DJs do all their announcements, played top 50. Also, be sure that you are keeping an ongoing list of DJs who miss their shows every week (make sure to indicate if it was an excused or unexcused absence!)
• Respond to emails right away.
• Make sure DJs are emailing you if they plan to miss a show, make sure they find someone to cover for them. Send warnings to those who do not do announcements, top 50, miss show without warning, etc. To me, warnings generally consist of checking in with the DJ, seeing what’s going in in their lives that may have led them to miss a show, etc. Then, remind them that they signed the DJ contract and that they are not adhering to the policies that they agreed to at the end of the quarter (this generally results in the most positive and effective interactions!)
• Work on any other individual projects or other team projects that come up
• Weekly staff meeting (will be scheduled/organized by the GM)
• Disability Accommodations statement link: https://hr.uw.edu/dso/additional-resources/accommodation-event-notice/

Autumn quarter goals:

• Start a google doc with birthday fest band ideas (do this over the summer if possible)
• Create the autumn quarter schedule (make sure to give DJs priorities over their current time slots)
• When asking DJs for their preferred show for autumn quarter, also ask them if they would like their show to be exempt from the Top 50 (make sure to clear this with the Music Director)
• Create a list of people who are exempt from playing the Top 50.
• Get in contact with the Blawg editor and set up a blawg meeting in the studio.
• There will most likely be a lot of open slots in the schedule, so interview and get a bunch of new people involved.
• Help plan and organize our first show of the quarter with the GM.
• Share your ideas for events and promotional opportunities for the entire quarter with the GM and promotions coordinator.
• Start talking about possible acts for the Local Hip-Hop show!
• Start searching for more accessible venues for Birthday Fest and other Rainy Dawg events (with help of GM and a member of the Student Disability Commission).
• Plan and execute bonding events such as winter mixtape exchange!

Winter quarter goals:

• Continue to brainstorm ideas for birthday fest.
• Determine how much of the budget is going to go towards birthday fest with GM.
• Set a date and book a venue. (This is okay if it doesn’t get solidified till Spring Quarter).
• Start sending offers to bands/emailing bands and seeing if they’re interested.
• Solidify and book acts for Local Hip-Hop Show (bonus points if you found an accessible venue for the event).
• Continue working on personal promotional/ team building projects for the station.
• Plan at least one volunteer bonding event for the quarter.

Spring quarter goals:

• Birthday fest planning!!!!!!
• Email vendors/record labels/food trucks to see if they’d be interested in being a part of bday fest (if the location of the fest is able to handle this)
• Get poster designed and solidify the date and time
• Plan lots of end of year bonding events for DJs and blawgers!

Goals in general:

• Continue high quality and diverse programming on Radio Dawg Radio.
• Develop creative and consistent strategies for promotion directed at on-air and event audiences.
• Plan quarterly programming evaluations of all on-air staff in collaboration with the General Manager and Rainy Dawg management team.
• Maintain the Blawg with the Blawg Editor and hold quarterly bloggers meeting
• Continue to pitch new ideas in order to improve campus engagement in Rainy Dawg Radio.

When I came into this position, I spent the first little bit getting accustomed to everything and getting comfortable with the position. This obviously allowed me to be successful, but also meant I withheld some of my own ideas initially due to feeling like I needed to do what had been done in the past.

If you have ideas about some things to try for the station, you should definitely present them to the rest of the staff! Just keep in mind/understand why we have done certain things the same for a long time, so you can better present new ideas that can improve upon how our station currently operates.

Also, if you are ever wondering how to structure something even as simple as a document, you can always check the ones I made as you will have access to all of them.

• Rainy Dawg Advisor (Trevor): algernon@uw.edu
• General Manager: asuwrdgm@uw.edu
• Music Director: asuwrdmd@uw.edu
• Tech Manager: asuwrdtm@uw.edu
• Promo Coordinator: asuwrdpc@uw.edu
• Blawg Editor: (Liz) eja4500@gmail.com

• Add them to the Raing Dawg All Staff List: https://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/admin/rainydawg_allstaff/members/add
• Add them to the Facebook group
• Email them the Google Sheet link and have them pick a few spots they want to be scheduled in
• Add them to the Google Sheet Schedule
• Have them create a DJ and show profile on Spinitron (make sure they add a show on their Spinitron profile before their first show)
• Make sure they are in the show schedule on Spinitron
• Send them information about the quarterly DJ meeting as well as the orientation
• Orientation: I have done a mass orientation before or after the DJ meeting and individual ones if DJs have conflicts. You can decide with the staff if you want to continue this!
  • Personally, I prefer smaller/ individual orientations for new DJs, they tend to absorb the information better and feel more comfortable asking questions.
  • Also make sure that new DJs sign DJ contracts at the end of all orientations!

1. Email the Rainy Dawg All Staff (I usually do this a week or two before school starts/next quarter starts so that people can do their shows starting the first week)

Note: You can follow my past email format for this

2. Start Scheduling

Note: You can start scheduling the people right away or wait which is what I do. I personally recommend waiting and setting a deadline for when people can have priority over their current slot, and then start scheduling people once the deadline has passed.

My method was, using the email, I went through and put everyone who wants their currently slot back into the schedule, and then started working chronologically through the rest of the DJs starting with the first person to email me. Use a Google Sheet as the schedule (you can check the one I made for reference)

3. Once you are done, you can send out the Google Sheet under “view only” mode so the rest of the staff and the DJs can see when their shows are. This also allows you to send the schedule to new DJs you interviewed so they can see what slots are open.
4. Make sure DJs are updating their new show time on Spinitron (send them reminder emails).

1. Make sure that the station is posting and social media and announcing that we are accepting new volunteers!
2. During the first week begin selecting candidates with the help of the GM and Music Director based on open slots left after scheduling returning DJs. There will most likely be some applications from people that applied Spring Quarter after the deadline has passed, so you should take a look at those as well.
3. Email those to be interviewed and schedule them based on office hours of fellow staff members (I usually make an Google Sheet and share it with the staff)
4. Conduct interviews based on these questions and take notes (Definitely feel free to change the questions, I haven’t touched them from the years prior): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hScLoHS-EWfO4TGCUZpMT3KW-OGrAxgh9I4j1yRNJCk/edit
5. Follow up with those who were accepted and those who weren’t as well

Note: You are in charge of leading the interview process so your first quarter here you should have a discussion with fellow staff members to figure out the process that would work best for you guys and make sure they are clear on their responsibilities! Also, make sure to clarify exactly what all three of your find most important in new DJ applicants (diversity, knowledge of the station, etc).

You have to work with the Blawg Editor to make sure that the blog was running smoothly. Although the Blawg editor is responsible for most of these, your duties include:

• Hold a quarterly blogger meeting early in every quarter
• Hire new bloggers (We usually don’t interview new bloggers, just check their application and have them come to the blog meeting for that quarter)
• Make sure all bloggers are posting once a week

Note: You should meet with the blog editor at least once at the beginning of each quarter to touch base with them. There are also documents detailing how to use the blog from an editor’s and a blogger’s perspective if you ever need to reference something.