Seeing PR and Radio Together

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go to the WSB station in Atlanta with WGUR 88.9 FM, which is the college radio station that I work for. I am the Public Relations Manager for the station. We got a chance to take a tour of the clear channel/cox stations of WSB, which are News Talk 750 AM, Kiss 104.1, 97.1 The River, B 98.5, and 95.5 The Beat. The main focus was on 95.5 The Beat. We had the chance to go into the DJ booth and meet some of their DJs. The program manager, Cagle, showed us around the station along with the Sales Director, Andrew. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the promotions staff and talk with them about how they run promotions, how long it takes them to start planning an event. They have a strategic process they follow which makes them look at what do they want to do at the event, what are the prizes, who will attend, and much more to make their events successful. They also have a prize closet, filled with fun promotional items. Being able to have a budget definitely makes a difference. I learned that you must have a plan if you want to have not only successful events and contests, but to have a successful radio station and a thriving business.