| Select ECMA Podcasts |
Radio@UPEI continues to issue select highlights of the volumes of content we captured over those four or five days. There is so much there to listen to it's hard to know where to start. It depends what you're into but here are some of my recommendations in no particular order.
|
radio@upei feedA couple of weeks have come and gone and yet I'm still marvelling at the remarkable experience that was the East Coast Music Awards, 2006, here in Charlottetown.
What a team!
Aside from all the great music it was a privilege to be a part of the team that put this event together and I must say that the attitude and teamwork that permeated this group was really something. I'm sure I missed half of it, but even from my vantage point, watching it all come together was rather amazing. As a supposed business prof I can say with some earnest that it could easily serve as a model case study in event management. The event committee consisted of some 20 to 30 sub teams. It would be impossible to be more exact. By its very nature the effort was fluid, organic, and, yes, my favourite word....decentralized. The ECMA has only a small staff (a great staff!) so much of the work for an event like this falls to volunteer chairpersons who in turn lead teams of more volunteers. I've called it a many headed monster on more than one occasion and that may be the best way to describe it. The lead-leaders, those who have been through the process before, like Event Chair Campbell Webster, Chairman of the ECMA board of directors Marc Chouinard, ECMA Executive Director Steve Horne, Event Manager Troy Greencorn, and Operations Manager Debbie Myers, led with a certain sense of quiet confidence. This isn't a top down event, it's all bottom up. Delegation is the key. These leaders put good people in all the key positions and then set out to work for them --giving everyone what they need to take care of their respective areas. And finally they just trust their choices, steer around a few corners here and there, and fill in gaps as they show up along the way. The attitude of this inner circle set the tone for the rest of us. On the eve of the event (pictured here) newbies like myself still had no feel for where we were in our preparations. Perhaps no one did. But as the event proceeded to explode all around us the anticipation and adrenalin that together seemed to course through the group like good wine just took over. An affirmative vibe settled over the event early. No one would say no to a legitimate call for help. If you had a problem you just had to ask someone nearby and they would gladly help . So how could you say no when someone asked something of you? It was fun to be a part of this kind of team.
How it worked
I had no idea we were getting involved with such a great group when through several connections I finally hooked up with the likes of Mac Campbell, Ray Brow, Steve Horne and Campbell Webster to offer the help of Radio@UPEI. We were willing to help in any way we were needed. And after a brief feeling out process we were welcomed into the fold without reservations in the same spirit as any other sub-committee.
Our team made some preparations creating a few standard intro's, getting a battle plan together, and gathering some information and stock material on potential featured artists, and the like. As the event came closer or role expanded. We helped to setup and operate RadioECMA (can't say enough about Richie Bulger and Mac Campbell who did the real radio stuff!). We put a team of bloggers together that spanned ECMA insiders, artists, and our own somewhat experienced team. We set up a second station inside the private quarters of the members-only lounge for interviews, editing, meetings, and the odd reprieve. We recorded shows concurrently in the Delta -grabbing feeds from the Ballroom, from the Selkirk stage, and setting up a recording station in the Sennheiser lounge on the mezzanine level. We recorded some intimate performances in the members-only lounge using our newly acquired (and sweet) Mackie Onyx 400f 10track digital recorder. When night fell the Mackie was packed up, along with our less sophisticated (front-of-house) mobile recording kits, and trucked off to Hunter's, Baba's, Myron's, Piece a Cake, The Guild, Rum Runners or elsewhere to record club shows.
ECMA 2006 takes to the Web
It all went out to the web as soon as we could vett it for basic standards of quality and get it out there. We all posted podcasts to the radio community site at http://radio.upei.ca at will. And we set up a little web-based magazine to present them in a second, slightly more coherent collection. Anything that we posted under an ECMA category (article or podcast) was syndicated to the world in its own RSS feed to allow anyone anywhere to subscribe to this content channel and automatically pull our podcasts into their own web site, PC, or player device. Using this same technology we also aggregated our collected posts on ECMA.com the official web site of the East Coast Music Association.
Posterity
Of course the addition of podcasting to this year's East Coast Music Awards Weekend which on one level offers a powerful new channel to experience the event weekend while it's happening adds another important element by contributing to the longevity and posterity of the celebrations. These podcasts will be available long after the last chord of the 2006 edition of the awards is strummed. Going forward they will be actively circulating around the world representing the artists and industry that created them. They will help to keep the spirit of these awards alive all year round. And when ECMA 2007 rolls around they will already be actively helping to spark a little more excitement, and a little more attention for these artists.
Streaming
Our role at ECMA 2006 didn't stop at podcasting. We had some fantastic contributions from bloggers. That which we could get quickly edited we used immediately on Radio ECMA which was pumping through the Delta Prince Edward Hotel's PA system, broadcasting locally over FM, on cable TV thanks to our partnership with Canadian Cable Ad Productions, and streaming on the Internet by ourselves at radio.upei.ca, by Aliant, and by the government of PEI in real time. One of the highlights of my weekend was when during one of my shifts as operator of RadioECMA Mac Campbell and I did a simulcast with CBC Radio One in Charlottetown on Island Morning. For a short time you could find us almost anywhere.
Fantastic Volunteers
Now I was very impressed with the work and imagination that our team put into creating their 50+ podcasts (and rising), but don't let me leave you with the impression that it was just us operating RadioECMA. All areas of ECMA 2006 benefitted from a large contingent of generous and dedicated volunteers...and our own little operation was a good example of this. From Thursday to Tuesday a steady stream of fantastic volunteer operators took turns at the helm, some more exprienced than others, but all doing a great job in engaging with their broad and diverse audience. Many artists stopped off briefly to entertain -taking to our little stage with a tune or a story.
Local, Community-based media again
It was very refreshing to turn on the radio this weekend to hear truly authentic, truly local entertainment and ideas. I hope that it may have reminded a few people how nice and indeed how important it is to have this kind of outlet, this kind of community-driven service. We had a number of people say as much. The feedback rolled in from Island-based listeners and from dozens of farther flung listeners as well -from Newfoundland to Vancouver to Providence Rhode Island and many points in between! It was innovators in Charlottetown who offered the first radio service East of Montreal back in the early 20th century and they entertained and informed the metropolis of Halifax and well beyond with one of the time's more wondrous and important technologies. Charlottetown was a centre! For a time here this weekend perhaps we were again. God knows we have the talent. This weekend we showed we could easily have the means! Or can we dream a little and suggest that more aptly we helped, just a bit, to usher in a new era in which there will be no centres, atleast not those governed strictly by distant, detached, proprietary media.
Why it all worked
Some might say the key to ECMA 2006 was the CBC making a larger investment, or the presence of new Satellite Radio providers throwing in some money. But it went well beyond these two welcome contributions. The key to it all this weekend, as many have said, was the community itself. The Island came through as everyone knew it would. As Campbell Webster puts it Islanders are great hosts of events like this because we, that is every single Islander, are well experienced at playing tourist operator. We are so used to helping friends and strangers alike 'come play' on our Island, we each take to the role of event host quite naturally.It makes sense. It certainly felt like the community did come together. Catalyzed by a top-notch event committee, the Delta stepped up, sponsors stepped up, hoards volunteers stepped up, even government stepped up. Venues certainly stepped up (even non-traditional venues). Another thing most Islanders are well exprienced in is in throwing kick-ass parties! And that's what we did for five days and nights on end. It was a joy to see the clubs so abuzz. It was great to take in the embarrassment of riches that was the musical smorgasbord that dotted the downtown. To put it simply it was great to see everyone come together to spread some East Coast love. After all it is a great product we are selling. The music and culture that we blasted out across the world, on the Internet, and on TV, is of a kind that is as vibrant and deep as any you'll find anywhere.
By all accounts ECMA 2006 was a huge hit. Artists, delegates, and fans alike gushed about how well it works here in Charlottetown. We carried on that great tradition that is East Coast hospitality, music & culture, and we added some innovative new ways to experience and share in the event while it is happening, and long after it is over. Btw, a lot of business got done this week, I'm told. The international delegates went home with plenty to think about. A lot of artists made best use of the spotlight they shared here. I think it's safe to go even further. I think the same can be said of the place itself. Don't you think? Let's do it again real soon. I'd be there to help for sure.
Recent Comments