Will Johnston.
COMMENT:
As I sat in The Hits studio in Cameron Rd this week a guy rocked up outside and knocked on the window, gave me a wave, a thumbs-up then motioned for me to come closer to the window.
As approached, he crouched down and began writing something on a Post-it note. He got up, stuck it to the window, gave me another thumbs-up and a huge smile, and walked away...
The note left stuck to the window by this local read: "THANKS ESSENTIAL WORKERS xox".
It made me realise that we, as a region, have harked back to traditional forms of showing appreciation. A simple note on a window made my week.
And what a week it was!
The Hits BOP 95FM Day Show made the finals for the NZ Radio Awards this week! So, thank you! There is literally no show without the people who listen to it.
If you've never listened, shame on you. Haha!
But also, please listen! But not for me, listen for the future of small business and community spirit in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.
We are the only large-scale local day show on the radio in Tauranga and our whole point of existence is to Go Local! And promote locals supporting locals.
I'm assuming that's one of the reasons the show made it to the finals; because locals are continuing to realise that hearing other locals on the radio and playing a bit of music you can listen to in whatever situation you're in, is something that is really important.
Especially in the crazy times we currently live in, huh?
As frustrating as it is to have no active cases of coronavirus in the Bay of Plenty district health board region, yet still having to restrict our lives in such a heavy way, there has been a bit of a positive shift in the way people connect mentally, even while being physically distanced.
For the 16 years I've been doing this job, I've listened, almost monthly, to people saying that radio and traditional media are 'dying'.
To which I've always said the media that adapt are the media that survive. Just like, well, literally anything.
Only about 25 per cent of my job is playing music on the radio. The other 75 per cent comprises giving stuff away, having a laugh, talking honestly, giving correct and targeted information, MCing things (when events were a thing lol), pushing local business and local events, supporting charities/community organisations, posting on social media to connect with people in important and fun ways ... Oh, and being relevant in a crisis.
Which, until White Island, I had never really been tested on. What a six months it has been.
As far as an essential service, and contrary to all the naysayers, I believe radio has actually just hit its straps.
Especially because tradition has actually just had a resurgence. Over lockdown we've called people (on an actual phone), given prezzy cards and supermarket vouchers to deserving locals (thanks to awesome clients like Trustpower and Tremains Real Estate), taken song requests, done shout-outs for people who need a little lift, we even did birthday calls.
Remember those old things?
What are all these things? Firstly, they are connection in its truest media form. Secondly, they are free.
No one does free like radio does and something tells me, in the next few years, people will want more for free than they ever have in the past.
It's a one-in-100-year shock event that we are part of. So maybe what it's going is taking us back 100 years to when community and people who are in your bubble become your focus and the most important thing to your happiness.
Sounds great, doesn't it?
The only disappointing thing is that there is no boozy all-industry function in Auckland where we all get right up in each other's bubble and end up at Denny's at 3am ordering pancakes and a burger...
Somehow drinking tequila on a Zoom chat then cooking my own pancakes alone in my house at 3am doesn't have the same shine.
But we can't have it all...yet!
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
Details revealed about five men caught up in an underage prostitution ring.