Wednesday, August 24, 2016

WHO NEEDS DANA & CARL? The Return Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO's Money-Grubbin' Guest Programmer Gimmick



As part of Spark Syracuse's fundraising efforts, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl will be reviving our most popular fundraising pitch:  WHO NEEDS DANA & CARL? This Guest Programmer gimmick allows folks who donate $100 or more the opportunity to program the music for one three-hour slot on Westcott Radio and/or Spark Syracuse/WSPJ-FM. The money raised will help fund Spark's efforts to begin (and continue!) broadcasting as WSPJ 93.5 and 103.3 FM in Syracuse. This is the near-future terrestrial radio home of Westcott Radio programming; the webcast will continue at the same time.  

PLEASE NOTE!! Yep, that's "note" with TWO exclamation points! As always, SIGNIFICANT RESTRICTIONS WILL APPLY. We're still in the process of fine-tuning the details, but it should wind up pretty similar to how we've done this in the past. We reserve the right to reject, in whole or in part, any programming that we deem inappropriate for any reason. Yes, even imaginary reasons. This is especially true after we've taken your money--no refunds! Bwa-ha-ha-haaaaa! Our previous Guest Programmers have been pretty happy with the deal, and we expect that you will be, too. 

This fresh (and how!) edition of WHO NEEDS DANA & CARL? kicks off officially with our September 4th edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, which we're billing as "Radio Worth Paying For." Consider this the soft opening; if you wanna get your Guest Programming slot in now, operators are standing by. We encourage them to have a seat, and to turn up the music. 

Got questions? Contact me! And here's a look back at our first big WHO NEEDS DANA & CARL? pitch in 2012. I've edited a few things here and there, but it's still worth reiterating that this is the old pitch from 2012, so therefore some details have changed, fercryinoutloud. QUESTIONS? CONTACT ME!
Meanwhile, here's a blast from our money-grubbin' past:

FROM 2012: 

Once again, Syracuse Community Radio finds itself in a tight budget crunch, and is in need of a cash influx, stat.  Although Westcott Radio and This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio remain independent of Syracuse Community Radio, we still support SCR's goal of establishing and maintaining a community FM radio station that can be heard throughout the Syracuse area; in fact, we hope to someday provide content for that station.  Toward that end, Dana & Carl are sponsoring a fundraiser for Syracuse Community Radio, and at least two lucky donors will each win a chance to program a future episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.

From now until the end of February 2012, for every $10 donated to SCR, the donor will get one entry into our Who Needs Dana & Carl? contest.  You donate $10, you get one entry; you donate $30, you get three entries.  On or about March 1st, 2012, we will draw the names of two winners, and each of those folks will choose all of the songs to be played on a future TIRnRR. [2016 NOTE: currently, we are NOT planning a similar drawing; we will only be offering the $100 Guest Programmer option. We encourage you to donate whatever amount works for your budget, but only donations totaling at least $100 will qualify for Guest Programming.]

In addition to the sweepstakes, anyone who donates $100 or more will bypass the contest, and will AUTOMATICALLY be awarded the opportunity to program a future TIRnRR.  These spots will be awarded separately from and in addition to the two winners of the drawing, and there is no preset limit to how many automatic winners will be named.  The same February 29, 2012 deadline applies to both categories. To qualify, you must make a donation to Syracuse Community Radio, which is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization.

DETAILS:  Each winner will be able to program all of the songs for a future installment of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO with Dana & Carl.  If you will be in the Syracuse area and would like to join us and physically co-host your show in person, we'd love to have ya!  Otherwise, you can send us the list of songs you want us to play, and we'll play 'em for you. 

THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS THAT APPLY.  We presume anyone interested in winning this thing would also want to stay within TIRnRR's vague, broadly-defined power pop format, but this is not a requirement; if you win and you wanna play polka, disco, prog or opera, we'll think you've got the wrong show, but we'll gladly take your money and play your songs anyway.

REQUIREMENTS FOR WINNERS:  Current Westcott Radio personnel are not eligible for the drawing.  All song selections must be FCC-friendly, so no cussing or hate speech.  In order to play a song, we have to actually have it; you are responsible for either bringing your selections to our studio in person, or for supplying your tracks to Dana & Carl in advance.  Your show MUST include at least TWO different artists, and cannot include any albums in their entirety.  NO BOB SEGER SONGS!  TIRnRR's format calls for sets consisting of six songs each, usually with a longer set at the end of the show, followed by a closing instrumental.  You are welcome to choose specific sequencing, or you can leave that up to us, whichever you prefer.   Your show must fit within our approximate three-hour time slot, including between-set banter; that's usually about 50 pop songs, give or take, plus the instrumental.  Choose wisely!

There may be other common-sense or outta-left-field conditions to be named later, but that oughtta cover it for now.  Got a question?  Don't be shy!  We did something like this a few years back, and it was a lot of fun for us and for our lucky winner.  This time out, we've already had one listener step up as an Automatic Winner; we hope others will join her, and that still others will opt for smaller donations to get in the drawing.

As always, we only want to talk to those who want to hear from us, so let us know if you need to be deleted from future greetings.    And now it's YOUR turn to determine what rock 'n' roll radio will sound like on a future Sunday night in Syracuse.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl streams live every Sunday night from 9 to Midnight Eastern, exclusively at www.westcottradio.org.

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