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The January 2017 edition of the 3BBR FM newsletter, Radio News, is now available.
You can read the newsletter in PDF format by clicking here. Rod Wellard’s A Word from the President is included below.
It’s the first newsletter for 2017 so let me take the opportunity to wish all our listeners, presenters and volunteers a very happy new year, with a special wish that it’s been so far so good for everybody.
Over the festive season I’ve been able to listen a lot more 3BBRFM than I am usually able to and I have to say it’s been a pleasant experience. It’s given me a richer understanding of what listeners mean when they say how much they enjoy the music, the local news and items of interest and the different presenters. The passion and commitment of our presenters really shines through.
Our presenters are all volunteers who are motivated to do it for the personal pleasure and satisfaction of sharing their music and making a worthwhile contribution to the community through radio. Each presenter has a unique style which is evident from the music they select and their interest in talking about their music. Our presenters put a great deal of time and thought into preparing their playlists. Our presenters are not highly trained and slick as may be the case on many stations. Rather, they convey a natural and authentic good humour and sincerity which is readily apparent when announcing and discussing the music and communicating with our listeners. This is what makes community radio such an interesting place in which to be involved.
One thing which I know gives presenters a bit of a buzz is when they receive a call from a listener saying how much they are enjoying the show. We keep a book of calls received and a scan of entries in the book over any given month, shows that those listeners who take the time to phone in are generally very positive about the listening experiences they get from 3BBRM. It comes to mind that not counting talkback radio, most people when listening to radio are content to do so and rarely phone in to talk to announcers. So when they do it’s because they are especially moved to do so and for presenters it is a real pleasure when a listener ring ups to let you know they are enjoying the program.
Our Board for 2016-2017 consists of some familiar faces (some of whom, me included, have great faces for radio!) and a couple of new faces.
The familiar faces include:
Me President
Rob Stewart – Vice President
Les Matkovich – Treasurer
Lynn Wells – Secretary
David Piggin – Ordinary member
Stuart Camp – Ordinary member
The new faces include:
Angela Lia – Ordinary member
Ingrid Perri – Ordinary member
A very exciting announcement out of the Australia Day Awards for 2017 was that our own Les Matkovich has received the Baw Baw Shire Citizen of the Year Award in recognition of his enormous contribution to the establishment and operation of 3BBRFM since 1993 and his contribution to many other community groups. On behalf of the Board I extend to Les my heartiest congratulations.
We are faced with a busy year in 2017 with a number of important priorities to address and most importantly the task of preparing the submission for renewal of our broadcast licence. Early in the year we need to get on with the re-development of the website to increase its user-friendliness and ease of use. We also need to undertake a community survey to obtain data on our listeners’ preferences and likes and dislikes. Having this data will provide a basis for a completely fresh look at our strategic plan and priorities, which in turn will form the basis for the submission we have to make by the end of August.
This will be an opportunity for our presenters, volunteers and listeners to become involved so if you have something to say or something you would like to happen then don’t hold back!
Rod Wellard