The other CBAA Awards we entered for

Curious about the other categories that JOY has entered for CBAA Awards this year? Thought you might be. Here they are.

Most Innovative OB or Special Event Broadcast
We entered the Mardi Gras 30th Anniversary co-station outside broadcast between 3JOY and 2SER with live on the spot commentary of all the fun and festivities. See BNews article.

Excellence in Spoken Word
We entered the Out and About Forum summer series for its discussion a range of topical GLBTI community issues with innovative expert panel and audience participation.

Excellence in Sports Programming
We entered the The Sports Lounge for their coverage of the 1st Asia Pacific OUTgames, including live interviews, podcasts and daily updates.

Building Station Capacity
This was a last minute sub in, but we thought it was immensely important. We entered the "Unacceptable" open letter we published in The Age on August 3 which was written in collaboration with 12 other key gay and lesbian community organisations (ALSO Foundation, VGLRL, Out Black, Minus 18, CAN Victoria, Transgender Victoria, VAC, PLWHA, MQFF, Midsumma, Asia Pacific Outgames and JOY 94.9) condemning Jeff Kennett's homophobic comments. More here.

Even though the engagement was not financially motivated to build the capacity through income generating activities, we felt it was important because it was an example of the station pooling together resources, financial and human, with other community organisations to take on an advocacy role beyond our own licensed area plan and broadcast footprint abilities.

By leveraging the clout of many groups, a stronger and more visible campaign was be achieved and allowed the groups to take the concerns of our community of interest into the wider community to advocate for social justice.

Excellence in Digital Media
Finally, you already knew that we've entered the Bourke Street Blitz blog bourkestblitz.blogspot.com in this category.

There you have it. If I get some comments from people who want to know more about each of the categories, I will elaborate.

The other CBAA Awards we entered for

JOY 94.9 nominates Bourke Street Blitz for CBAA Awards

Last Friday, the finishing touches were put on JOY's entry into this year's CBAA Awards. In the category of Excellence in Digital Media, JOY nominated the Bourke Street Blitz blog. As the first blog started at JOY it will always hold significance at the station even after the relocation is complete and certainly more so if it wins. Fingers crossed. Wish us luck.

The first set of accompanying words I wrote for the entry was a rollicking narrative with my usual quirky punchlines and touch-the-heart positivity. I was told that it read too much "like a 24 year old wrote it", so I did a Charlie Brown / Arrested Development "good grief" sad walk back to my desk, put my serious cap on and hit delete. Below, is the second draft and what I actually included with the entry.

The Bourke Street Blitz blog was an initiative started by the station to generate community awareness and excitement about the relocation. Prior to the blog other station updates and press releases had been distributed via more traditional channels including word of mouth, on air promotion, volunteer meetings, member direct mail and email notifications.

The blog was launched in March 2008 with an online viral campaign. Volunteers let others know about the blog via social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter, by setting their status update to “I’m checking out bourkstreetblitz.blogspot.com”. BNews also published an post about the relocation accompanied with the blog address.

Initially intended to simply compliment existing channels of distribution, it quickly became evident that the blog was the more superior way to keep volunteers, members and the wider public informed about the rapid changes at the station. Particularly since it enabled readers to respond, contribute and easily share the content with friends. Newcomers could easily catch up by looking through the archive. The ability for the station to freely, quickly and easily upload text and images into an open source platform meant anyone, anywhere, in the world had the opportunity to see for themselves new developments.

The blog is, and continues to be, a rewarding test in the use of social networking media to communicate to our audience and the greater public. The blog will continue to be populated with content until the relocation is complete.

Aims of the Bourke Street Blitz blog:

• Share, promote and inform the audience, community and wider public about the station’s progress during its relocation
• Create awareness regarding the decisions made about architectural, building or design plans and layouts
• Create awareness about the station’s efforts towards creating a safe, environmentally sustainable work place for volunteers and staff
• Create awareness about the innovative solutions to challenging issues affecting the project
• Recognise volunteer and staff efforts and create public awareness of the level of expertise required to keep the project going
• Create awareness about the financial resources required to keep the project going
• Recognise station supporters and provide them with detailed information about how their donations are being acquitted and inspire more to contribute to the relocation fund

The Bourke Street Blitz blog has started a revolution at the station. Many presenters have since created their own program blogs in order to upload music logs, guest and artist interview information, podcast updates and generally stay in touch with their audience throughout the week. Currently one quarter of programs on air are blogging.

The use of blogs at the station is being encouraged as it is hoped that, along with podcasts and wikis, a three pronged approach to social network building will move the station’s website joy.org.au from being a mere website to a creative hub for community content.

The primary aim over the next year will be to increase participation of online audiences through blogs in a manner the reflects the level of discussion, debate and discourse that already happens with on air audiences. We aspire to complete the following:
• Provide training for blogging and podcast publishing
• Increase adoption of blogging by programs to 60%
• Develop community generated content that serves specific audience niches (eg. multicultural gay and lesbian groups)
• Develop news and current affairs blogs that encourage users to disseminate, debate and deliberate on current issues
• Support the blogs with on air promotion to increase online audience participation

Blogging, using freely available web templates, makes it ideal for stations with limited IT knowledge and resources who want to make a foray into an online environment. The customisable templates means stations can brand the blog if they wish and also allow for several users to post content. One person can look after photos, another events, another news, etc.

The benefits to a blog over a traditional web site, or as an adjunct, is that readers can subscribe and choose whether updates are notified to their email. It can, when used properly, replace the need to send emails and traditional printed station updates.

JOY 94.9 nominates Bourke Street Blitz for CBAA Awards

The JOY movie that makes my cry every time

Another day another technology adopted. You know, when I started with this organisation, I insisted to the Station Manager of the day, that I would not get involved with new technologies, ever.

I was asked to design a poster for the station and I said "with nothing more than pen, paper and a photocopier. None of this computer wizz bang digital rar rar rar". Fast forward (almost) 5 years I'm posting a Youtube video to my Blog via a Widget on my Dashboard. I wouldn't have understood that sentence when I first started here.

Just goes to show how much can change in such a small amount of time. I think it's quite fitting then, that my first video post is a history of JOY showing the changes over the last 15 years. This was shown at our CD launch for JOY classics in February 16, 2008. It really does bring me to tears every time.

Thanks to Longitude Multimedia for putting this one together.

The JOY movie that makes my cry every time

Introducing Dan 2.0 - Now Twice as Bright!

Another Dan started here at the station recently and it’s caused me all sorts of havoc. I feel like a better model has just superseded me. The Dan that has been rolled out is indeed newer, shinier and quieter. To make matters worse, my paranoia was confirmed today when I was called Dan 1.0 and the other, Dan 2.0.

Oh the irony, considering I’m part of the team that’s been working on the web 2.0 roll out of joy.org.au (which you must have noticed by now). In this particular case, I whole-heartedly advocate the new succeeding the previous and I hope you do too. I’m proud to present to you a brand new website and it’s many exciting features all put together by JOY’s talented in house volunteer development team. I hope you find your experience on our website 2.0 better and more enjoyable.

Yes, you can find all the information you could find previously, but information on its own is boring, so we had to give you some new things to play with too. If you have a poke around, you’ll come across the brand new program blogs and podcasts, giving you updates from your favourite presenters and occasionally also your favourite Marketing Manager (that’s me). For a lot of us it's all our first foray into this big bad world of digital convergence and all part of our great plan to create a dynamic and interactive environment for you to play in, and for the whole community to interact and engage with the station (all part of our greater plan for world domination).

You’ll also notice a cleaner design with a new menu. However, most of the changes are behind the scenes. The site is now internally managed from a secure content management system. Staff and volunteers can access, update and maintain their own content. That’s great because it takes the previous burden of web updates off the shoulders a few (and by that I mean 1 hardworking volunteer web master) and shares the responsibility.

Another reason why we revamped the website was because the last one was very advertising intensive as opposed to content intensive. As a community media maker our priority should always be the latter. So, the focus of the new website has been to open as many doors to new content delivery pathways as possible; eg. for content on demand, community engagement and listener interaction. And this current roll out is just the tip of the iceberg – in the future we will be seeing more involvement mechanisms as well as community resources. For us to be able to continue this work, we do need to provide some space for advertising and keep the revenue coming in. But, we do want to keep the advertising content minimal, so we need to balance supply and demand. With less advertising space we need to charge higher rates. To give our sponsors value for money, we need to make sure they're getting return on investment.

It’s very easy for you to help with this. Simply head to joy.org.au so we can generate more hits to our website. Bookmark us and keep coming back, even make us your homepage so we can great you with smiles and warmth every time you go online. Send your friends to us. Send your mother even. Ultimately, this will lead to a better ranking on Google and increase page impression numbers and this means I can promise to keep the advertising space used up to a minimum and keep the content, the stuff you're really interested in, flowing.

Anyway, our brilliant team of volunteer developers are still tinkering away in the background and more rollouts are due in the near future. At this stage it would be great to get your initial feedback, suggestions or even a virtual pat on the back. So experiment with the new site and let me know how you go.

Meanwhile, I think everyone at the station should continue to experiment with the nicknames for Dan (me) and Dan (other). That’s all I have to say about that (cue Miss Piggy "hmpf").

x Dan Vo

Introducing Dan 2.0 - Now Twice as Bright!

What to do if you’re a big kid who still likes crayons, Lego, glitter and JETsetting.

JETsetting? That sounds like a good idea. It’s winter and freezing. According to our news vollies the weather will get worse. Expect the second coming of the Ice Age and the sky to hurl hailstones the size of footballs upon our heads. Most of us will end up staying inside. And we all know that can get catastrophically boring, very quickly.

Most of us will get so desperate that we’ll end up doing odd things like sorting our wall-to-ceiling CD collections alphabetically by artist last name and then year of release, scrubbing the kitchen floor until we can eat a medium rare steak off it (or marinated silken tofu if you’re of that persuasion) and painting all the walls to watch them dry, very slowly.

So, here I offer some alternative wet day activities. Why don’t you make some giant postcards of world landmarks and colour them in with jumbo rainbow crayons, or try to break the world record for the biggest angel wings and decorate them with around 3 tonnes of glitter (better yet, try doing it and not end up looking like a 5 foot 7 Oscar) or challenge your friends to seeing who can build the best scale model of the new JOY station. In Lego.

So the last one is a dead giveaway and you’ve probably worked out where this is going. Yes, become a JOY 94.9 volunteer because they get to work on some very awesome, albeit wacky, jobs. The list I just described, besides being a heck of a lot of fun, were part of a series of low cost activities aimed at promoting the station in fresh and interesting ways, and to raise bucket loads of cash for important things. Like making community radio.

For those of you who are wondering what the activities were for, well they were for the postcards that made up the JOYland showcase at Midsumma Carnival where famous landmarks were gayified, the wings upon the Valkarie stage of the JOY and Vic Presence joint float at the 30th Anniversary of the Mardi Gras and the cover shot of the inaugural edition of Hear, Here.

So, if you find yourself reading this and you’re thinking, “Yes I am a bit cold and even possibly a little bit lonely, but the thought of working with sticks of brightly coloured wax, tiny plastic bricks and even tinier sparkly plastic bits has made me smile, I'm warming up and I think I’m even breaking out in a sweat made up of two parts creativity and one part innovation,” you need to become a volunteer. Right this instant.

In fact, I’ve got the perfect job for you, because we’re looking for people with flair, smarts and a passion for events to join the JETs Team (that’s JOY Events Teams Team, just like how ATM Machine is Automatic Teller Machine Machine). From CD Launches and Outside Broadcasts to Big Wig Wine & Dines and Member Soirees, we’ve got a wide variety of exciting events for you get involved with. You’ll have plenty of chances to strut your stuff while getting hands on experience planning and coordinating events. To find out about joining JETs click here.

Meanwhile, if magic markers and whatnot aren’t your thing, we’ve always got stacks of CDs to sort, floors to scrub and, while we’re moving into the new building, plenty of walls to paint. So, become a volunteer anyway, because it’s going to be the best way to stay warm-hearted this winter. To find out about general volunteering click here.

x Dan Vo

What to do if you’re a big kid who still likes crayons, Lego, glitter and JETsetting.

Brokeback Marketing - The Real Life Romantic Drama

Howdy. This is the Brokeback Marketing blog, the real life romantic drama of a gay and lesbian community radio station, JOY 94.9, putting it's love out there to the Melbourne community and beyond. Some say it's an unrequited love, others say it's a love that is harboured in secret, others say it's love that is yet to be fulfilled to complete, satisfying and perhaps even orgasmic fruition.

So perhaps you're starting to see why I choose the word "brokeback" beyond the fact that, just maybe, I'm trying to increase Google hits. Well, there are a few reasons, the first is the word has become synonymous with being of a kweer persuasion (that's the latest word we use at JOY 94.9 to holistically describe the diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer communities). Even though the context may sometimes be negative, more on that later.

Second, "brokeback" evokes notions of romatic drama, which can certainly be likened to the experiences of anyone who is involved with community broadcasting and media making. You don't particpate in community radio unless you have a potent passion for what you do, quite often voluntarily. You'll also certainly experience a high degree of drama which usually comes from the fact that working in community radio is like being the giver in an unrequited love relationship. Everyone including volunteers, listeners, members and subscribers, sponsors, donors, gives so willingly and generously to it without ever expecting anything in return (or do we?).

Third, back to the derogative use of the word, our modern entymologists have shown that younger people will use it like they way they say "that's so gay" - not so positively. Certainly not entirely demoralising, but in the spirit of reclaiming words like fag, geek and short (all of which I've been called many a time) I grab the word by both horns and steer it towards being one of positivity. For me the word "brokeback" should and does represent: difficult challenges to can be overcome by persistance, persuasion and sheer effort.

So, Brokeback Marketing hey? Yes, yes. This is a blog about the hardships of marketing community radio to different and diverse communities and how, with a bit of smarts, endurance and sometimes even blind faith, you can blast through limitations and push on through to intense and mindblowing successes. This is a blog about how a humble station can brand, communicate, organise events, research, retail, plan, strategise, socially influence, sell and do so much more on a budget the size of a shoesting (fortunately we don't need the laces because being cowboys we wear boots and also the fourth reason I used a word with "broke" in it).

So, marketers, promotors, PR gurus, and all you folks reading along, pay attention. I'm about to show you how it's done down here on the farm. Mostly, it's gritty, dirty and hard. Luckily, sometimes it's glamourous, sensational and sparkles (like a diamond in the ear of Melbourne). I will reveal all that happens behind these here barn doors, that I promise you. Because Hear, Here at the station we bear our scars and stars with absolute pride. So, are you ready to look at them?

x Dan Vo

Brokeback Marketing - The Real Life Romantic Drama