This week's guest is Steve Jones, author of the books, Brand like a Rockstar and Start You Up: Rock Star Secrets to Unleash your Personal Brand and Set your Career on Fire. Steve has had an impressive career ranging from Boston to the Cayman Islands, down to the most competitive markets in Canada from Halifax to Edmonton, where he has worked with brands like Q104 and K97; he currently serves as the VP of Branding & Content at Newcap Radio. Steve tells us all about the great promotions, professional imaging, and stellar talent that come into play when building a strong radio brand. Steve has been behind some impressive campaigns, like the "Male is in the Cheque" promo, which delivered a fresh take on stereotypes about mail-order brides, and the "Win a Baby Contest" that not only literally created life, but also pulled attention to widespread challenges with conception. In his current role, he continues to stand behind the talent that brings such stellar content to life. He explains that the big secret to managing "Challenging" Talent (spoiler alert!) is moving beyond the reputation and actually getting to know them. Go figure! In this episode, Steve also reflects on some controversial moments in his career -- top of mind was the Quick Hitz debacle on Amp 90.3 in 2014. You know the one. It's the kind of controversy that caught the eyes and ears (and tweets) of pretty much everyone in the industry, from radio talent, to listeners, to musicians, to producers, right down to the mainstream press and back again. The crux of the controversy -- which I'll repeat, has now long since past, given that the format only lasted about three weeks -- was a radio format that edited songs down to half their original length, which resulted in more exposure to individual songs (or parts of them), ads half the length, and royalties to a greater number of musicians. While the goal may have been to keep listeners, especially those with short attention spans, engaged; the result was a host of musicians threatening legal action against the station and a whirlwind of mixed reviews. In the end, Steve stands behind the spirit of innovation that inspired the format and in reality, it's this kind of risky experimentation that makes for a great story and for better or worse, real, measurable innovation in a sometimes not-so-innovative industry. I should note that we also spend some time in this episode talking about Smart Speakers, and whether or not the industry will regret consolidating so many unique brands under unified same-sounding umbrellas that probably make instructions that begin with "Alexa" and "Okay Google" all the more confusing! Anyway, we get into it, have some laughs, and even gain a bit of insight into where we're headed. We have to give a shout-out to Justin Dove of Core Image Studios in this episode, as he gets honourable mention from Steve, as "one of the rare producers who creates great music with his productions, without any musical to speak of". What a great episode!

Brooklyn Driediger is the midday and weekend host at Virgin 94.5 in Vancouver. She first caught my attention on social media... her feeds look so clean and the Reels so real. Her show is the same by the way. We spent a Sunday afternoon talking about her radio journey from the British Columbia Institute of Technology to Kelowna where she worked the cruiser, and then back to Vancouver where she worked her way to Virgin radio. In this episode, you'll find out how she wound up taking Radio and Broadcast at BCIT, her reservations about moving away, and what she learned from programming stalwarts like Bob Mills and Curtis Strange. We also got into discussions about the use of social media and why it's becoming more and more a mystery. Brooklyn also evaluated our instagram page which you should be following here. We also talked at the outset about the Nirvana poster hanging in back of Brooklyn while we were recording the show. Many will be horrified to grasp that the poster is older than Brooklyn. Brooklyn said she grew up on a family farm and check out these wonderful berries from Driediger Farms! We also talked about thrift shopping and second hand purchases. I might have mentioned a consignment store in Winnipeg and Vancouver called So Over It. If you are looking at unloading your high end purses, clothing or accessories, check this out.

Evan Degenhardt is the general manager and content director at 106.1 The Goat in Lloydminster. To be honest, we are not sure if it's Alberta, or Saskatchewan or both, but we do know that over the last twenty years the station has seen a lot of high end radio talent pass through its hallways and fill the airwaves with awesome radio. For a list of just the people we know, check out our episode page. In this episode, you'll hear how Vista Radio is handling the anniversary in the face of the pandemic, and some stories on the radio station's history. There is also some bonus material on the episode page, including some thoughts from the station's first program director, Ryan Zimmerman. To watch the full stream on Youtube, click here. If you worked at 106.1 The Goat at any time - feel free to send Evan some audio about your time there. 30 seconds will do. edegenhardt@vistaradio.ca 106.1 The Goat has seen such talent walk through its doors - but where are they now? Here is a brief update on some alumni from 106.1: Rena Jae: This dynamic host started on 106.1, then moved to Winnipeg to host POWER 97.5. She now hosts Mornings with Rena, TJ & Turnbull on 92.1 CITI in Winnipeg. Grant Biebrick: Grant was the Creative Director, then Program Director, serving 106.1 the GOAT for 10 years. He now is the Court Announcer for the Saskatchewan Rattlers, a CEBL basketball team based in Saskatoon. "Fearless" Fred Kennedy: Fearless Fred got his start with 100.3 The Bear, but it was on POWER 97 that he finally started to get some on-air breaks - earning moments of morning show airtime for executing stunts like slapping the Premier in the face with a flyswatter, drinking over 20 Slurpees in four hours, and urinating in his sweatpants while auditioning for Canadian Idol. He now works at Toronto's Q107, Toronto's Rock Station as the afternoon drive host. Poncho Parker: Starting as a DJ on 106.1, Poncho describes himself as someone who took stints as a banker, crop sprayer, pipe-liner, truck driver, welder, brake press and metal sheer operator, then decided radio was the next logical step. He currently hosts shows on 105.3 ROCK in Medicine Hat, 92.1 CITI in Winnipeg, and 106.7 ROCK in Lethbridge. Ryan Zimmerman: 106.1's first Program Director, Ryan Zimmerman, helped build the legacy of The GOAT. He now lends his talents as the Vice President/General Manager of Rock 102 in Saskatoon. Lena Schulman: Lena has been a morning co-host on the radio for almost a decade. She started at Corus Entertainment as a content and technical producer in 2013-2014, worked at The GOAT from 2014-2015, and now works at co-hosts with Drex on Jack 96.9 in Vancouver. Check out this epic broadcast story from Lena's time at the Goat. Dave Wheeler: Wheeler was hired at Power 97 and became the morning host in 2003 - he went on to 92 CITI in 2012, and now works at Energy 106, in Winnipeg. He got his start at The GOAT and had great success at both Power 97 and 92 CITI-FM, the latter ending with a very public exit. Dave is back on air at Energy 106 in Winnipeg. As mentioned in the episode, here is where Matt displays his copy of Devon Zelmer's funeral program.

Kris Bawden is a morning radio show host at, 101.1 Big FM. He took radio broadcasting in college and has been in the industry for almost 20 years. He hosted country and rock radio shows. He has worked all over Southern Ontario in places like Hamilton, Kingston, and currently in Barrie where he hosts the Morning 101.1 Big FM show. Melanie Martin is Kris' co-host on the Big Morning radio show. In this episode, you will learn about how Kris balances comedy, voiceover, podcasting and radio. You will learn Kris' past radio history.Kris worked for the K-ROCK 105.7 radio station. Kris talks about interesting news stories he reported on. Kris discusses how the COVID pandemic changed how he budgets his time and preps for the shows. Kris shares his set-up. Take a look below. Screen 1: Main taskbar - Used for internet browsing and bringing up audio and video clips during live streaming. Uses Zoom to share clips. Screen 2: Used for Zoom sessions. Screen 3: Used so remote guests on Zoo, can interact with guests on sofa. Main Camera - iPhone 10 Secondary/Sofa Camera - iPad 3.0 Zoom Monitor - 2x Creative Live! Two 1080 webcams on desk and on top of Screen 3 Gear List: Rode NT1A mic Behringer Rack Tube Preamp and Compressor Yamaha MG-XU mixer with USB interface Sennheiser Stage mic /Guest mic 2010 Mac Pro workstation upgraded with modern graphics card (AMD Rx580 3HDMI 1dvi output) and modern day solid state storage. You can visit the 101.1 Big FM Radio Station on Facebook and YouTube. Connect with Kris through his Twitter. Here is a funny clip from one of Kris' and Melanie's radio shows from the 101.1 Big FM Facebook Page.

It's been a long year. Humanity has spent nine months in a pandemic and six of them without Drex on the radio. He left his position at Corus last June where he did a late night talk show across the country. He is now the morning host at Jack 96.9 in Vancouver along with Lena Schulman and No Fun Bob. In this episode, we spend 45 minutes on a livestream on our Youtube page. (Please subscribe) Drex talks about the challenges of the pandemic, including keeping his mental health on the level and going through a break up while pivoting from evening to morning radio, and AM talk to FM music. Drex is one of the good ones in radio and it is great to have him back on the radio. The show goes 5-9am Pacific and to listen, just ask Alexa to play "Jack 96.9 Vancouver" - worked for me this morning. Drex and I also spoke about some of his times doing talk radio, including the moment he kept a Winnipeg woman who was clearly in distress, on the air long enough to for her to get the help she needed. We loved taking questions from both the Sound Off Podcast audience and Drex Live audience on Facebook. Although I will be the first to admit that 99 percent of the questions came from Drex's facebook page. Like our pages by the way if you can. We will feel better about ourselves.

Susie Erjavec Parker knows lots about social media, blogs, communication strategy and working from home. At one point she had 3 children under 5 years old in the house while juggling clients, and appointments and everything else that comes with running a business. With so many people working from home for the first time in radio, I though it would be a good time to bring Susie on to talk about working from home now - and planning a marketing strategy as it pertains to your recovery strategy. Her company, Sparker Strategy Group has does media and marketing planning, and she says there is no better time for radio than right now. In this episode, we also talked about a lot of the social media changes that have occurred over the last week. There are more people going live on Facebook and Instagram than ever before. For example at 3pm Eastern, Noon Pacific, my Instagram lit up with 5 live conversations from Bachelor and Bachelorette cast-offs that suddenly had a lot of free time on their hands. Susie has also been tracking social media behaviour and the whole internet appears to be going full throttle at 9pm Eastern. Susie also made mention of a post on her Winnipeg Mom Blog about scheduling recess using "Zoom" that her kids loved, along with their classmates. That blog post is here. Also totally useful are her full tips for working from home in the COVID-19 era in case you failed to take notes during this podcast.

Drake Donovan's path to becoming the voice of great radio stations across North America went from the on air studio, to the production studio, and then to his home studio where he manages Drake Donovan Creative Services. The thing with Drake is that it is not just the voice; it's also the writing, creative concepts and the swag. Yes, the swag. Drake is making the radio Tee great again. Drake Donovan has been imaging voice for great radio stations across the USA like Y108 in Pittsburgh, Hot 101-7 in Sonoma County, Cleveland's Star 102 and KJ97 in San Antonio. In Canada he's on Q107 Toronto and Rock 101 in Vancouver, and a station we spoke about during last week's episode with Chris Scheetz, the power house 840 CFCW in Central Alberta. This episode is about more than voiceover, it's about imaging. Drake writes, produces, and will work with a station to come up with contest ideas that capture the imagination and energy of listeners; and the best part, his contest ideas have nothing to do with winning tickets by being caller number ten. I reached Drake Donovan at his company's world headquarters in Youngstown Ohio. If you are headed to CRS or Conclave, be sure to say hello to him and that you heard him on the podcast. This is a great episode to listen to if you are thinking about freelancing your creatives services. Drake Donovan is an award-winning producer on brand imaging with experience in Hot AC, Country, CHR, Rock, and Alternative formats. He works to craft a message that will paint a picture in the listener's mind using words, music & sound. My goal is to create production that will help strengthen the medium of radio and solidify its future in the mulit-media world.. This episode is brought to you by Lens for Radio and by Promosuite. As promised during the episode, a sample of some of the creative work Drake is doing, bringing back the Radio Tee! #voiceover #voicetalent #q107 #rock101

I loved my chat with Jesse Tieman from Kingston's Country 93.5. He does the morning show with Leane Cater, "The Boss Lady and Jesse". I assumed that I would be talking with someone who grew up in Montreal. You see, his dad was the legendary sportscaster Randy Tieman from CFCF, but I didn't know that his late father commuted daily from Lancaster, Ontario. It was also exciting to discover we had a mutual admiration for the poutine in the area, and the joys of growing up at the local hockey rink. In this episode, you'll hear what it is like to grow up in a broadcast household, what he learned from his dad and his adventures moving from eastern Ontario, to Alberta; including his stint at the legendary Goat in Lloydminster. In a completely unrelated note - if you are alumni of that station, please contact Evan them about their 20th anniversary. edegenhardt@vistaradio.ca Also I made mention of the podcast episode featuring Meghan Patrick, you can connect to it here. Also feel free to use any clips on your radio show! Finally, here is a tribute to Jesse's dad, Randy Tieman. If you didn't know him or have a chance to watch him, you will know him at the end of this tribute.

This show was streamed on Facebook and YouTube and Twitter on December 31,2020. To see the original stream of the show on Youtube. Please subscribe for free down below. We also put the show on Facebook and Twitter. For more you can see the video and all the stats on the Episode page.

For the last five years, Matt and Terry Dimonte have gotten together for a podcast chat around Christmas time. Terry loves Christmas and its a chance to talk about radio and a whole lot more. This year we ask Terry about some of his long time friendships he has had over the years. This partially dovetails from our previous episode featuring Vanessa Newman, whose father was one of Terry's best friends. He tells the story of how they became friends. I also ask Terry about his years in the restaurant business and what he learned. In this episode, you'll hear our conversation about the 2020 from where he sits - which has largely been at the dining room table where he has been conducting the CHOM Morning show during the pandemic. On a personal level, Terry got married in March just days before everything shut down. Much of this episode focuses on gratitude, friends and family. I did promise that I would be a bunch of links and videos into the show notes of the episode - if you did not find what you came here for, just email me. Here is the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau in conversation with his pal Terry Dimonte on December 16. Terry made mention of the year end Medium post from the Prime Minister's official photographer Adam Scotti, showing what kind of year it was for Canada's PM. Within 2 hours of the show's release, I was thrilled to get this message from Elie Khouri, Terry's former Calgary producer and someone I worked with in 1993 at CHOM/CKGM. The episode I did about DAZN was about the poor quality product Canadians had to endure during the 2017 NFL season. I believe this episode was a turning point in how the rights were distributed, and too their credit, the product is much better and I am a subscriber, as is Terry. You can linked to the full episode from November 2017 below.