YOUR OPTIONS AS A VOLUNTEER
Management
The Management Team includes the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Youth Representative and eight ordinary members (many of whom are also members of the various sub-committees, such as Marketing, Programming and so on). The President and Vice-President are the “public faces” of the station, and provide leadership. The Secretary looks after all the legal and administrative aspects, such as insurance, minutes, correspondence, and reception. The Treasurer looks after our finances, while the Youth Representative represents members under 18 years old.
Reception
The people at Reception are the face of the station, being at the front desk, as well as manning the phones… plus, they are the “glue” or the “hub” for everyone else in the station because there is always someone on Reception during office hours. Reception also do some of the “behind the scenes” work such as helping to empty the rubbish bins, ensuring that there is always fresh milk in the fridge, writing the Community Announcements and keeping that folder organised, plus a host of other tasks and duties…one of the key ones being to collect people’s money when they pay us for membership or being a subscriber.
Marketing & Media
The primary role of Marketing & Media is to raise awareness in relation to the station, thereby encouraging new members and subscribers, and also fund-raising. Some of the events that have been held in the past were Classical Concert, Country Music Jamboree, Gemini Party and Hat Party. We also hold regular outside broadcasts (i.e. we go to air from an external location) in support of the community groups and community events. Our Publicity Officer organises our press releases and ensures that all our “public information” is consistent with the message that we give out. This role also incorporates some of our internal communications.
Sponsorship
This is one of the station’s main sources of income. As a community radio station, we aren’t allowed to advertise, but businesses can sponsor us. We have to clearly mention the name of the sponsor, and we are limited to playing a maximum of five minutes of sponsorship per hour.
Programing
Presenters submit a Program Submission Form just before the start of each program block. Not every submission makes it to the next program block – the Programming committee review all submissions, organizing all submissions and then determining what goes on and when. This is guided by listener feedback. Our first ever listener survey (released in late 2007) was conducted by business students at the Sunshine Coast University. Because one of the underlying principles of a community radio station is to embrace diversity, the Programming committee also takes into account the types of programs being offered by the presenters, and how best to fit the programs in to reflect the diversity as well as ensuring a flow from one program to the next at any one time – it’s no mean feat!
Audio and Ad Production
Production have priority in our Studio 2 bookings because they produce all our pre-recorded announcements. These include sponsorship, ongoing community announcements and station IDs (radio jargon for a short announcement or jingle e.g. “You’re listening to Noosa Community Radio, 101.3 FM”, so listeners can identify which radio station they are listening to).
Training
Training is responsible for developing and delivering training packages within the radio station. Also of interest to note – that in 2005, we won an award for Innovation in Training. Our In House courses are based on modified competency units from the Certificate III Broadcasting.
News
Currently we do not have a news committee but hope to in the future. The plan is to have newscasters come in early each morning – about 6:30 a.m. – to collate and record the daily local news for broadcast during the day.
Music Library
We have our own in-house library of music, and so Library catalogues all of the CDs. These CDs may be borrowed by on-air presenters.
Internet Technology
This area covers the studio equipment, website, in-house network (i.e. all the computers), and other office equipment.
Human Resources and Organisational Health & Safety [OH&S]
If anyone has any issues of a Human Resources nature, then this is the first port of call, if the individual is unable to sort it out on a one-on-one basis.
Technical
Technical covers, all the workings of the studios, antenna and tech room (the engine room of the station). They also arrange outside broadcasts in conjunction with Programming, trouble shoot wherever required and where possible, service faulty equipment, and make recommendations in relation to technical matters. In a nutshell, they deal with all the radio-related technical stuff! If there is a problem with anything technical, no one unauthorised should be allowed to tamper with equipment – inform the Day Manager and/or the President.