KSER Vision Quest

Thanks to everyone who called-in, wrote in, emailed, or posted comments here about a vision for KSER's future.

Here's audio from Saturday's Vision Quest program. Click on it to play it in your browser, or right click to download it.

http://kser.org/download/KSER_VisionQuest_20090221.mp3

Here are the notes taken by the Board secretary during the program:

KSER Vision Quest broadcast and meeting
Saturday 2/21/2009 2:00pm

Attending the meeting in person.

Brenda Mann-Harrison, Board
Bruce Wirth, Manager, SPOT member
Candace McKenna, Board, SPOT member
Joel Reynolds, Volunteer
John Jameson, Volunteer
Karen Crowley, Board President, SPOT member
Kinuko Noburikawa, Volunteer, SPOT member
Leilani Lamarca, Volunteer, SPOT member
Mike Svob, Volunteer
Peter Dervin, Volunteer, SPOT member
Sandy Thompson Board, SPOT member, scribe of this document.
Ted Sharpe, Volunteer

Callers:
Vance in Everett
Dennis
Spencer (just moved to Snohomish county from Seattle)
Joe in Lynnwood
Don in Snohomish
Betrand in Port Townsend

Anonymous web commenter: “Don’t put syndicated programming on the station. If I
want NPR, I’ll listen to NPR.”

David in Darrington: be local, drop corporate stuff, esp. the Takeaway

Minutes of Discussion
Bruce: What happened to Frettin Fingers? Introduces Karen, studio audience.

Karen: what does Public Radio mean for your life? What should we be doing in
Snohomish country? We started asking questions about a year ago: how we do our work. We created our values and mission statements.

Karen: Radio has become a multimedia experience. Introduces studio audience.

Bruce: Karen, why do we need to look ahead?

Karen: the world is changing rapidly. We value localism. Sno Co is over 650K,
demographic changes, aging and emerging younger community. There are many things happening that will affect us where we live. Who is talking about that? How are we talking about that? And how will KSER as an institution change and respond to that community?

Bruce: What does KSER do for you? What should it do for you and your community?
What would be an example of the kind of feedback we are looking for?

Question: Imagine a radio station that is serving your community – what
would it be like and how could it best serve you?
Ted: I would like to see more on-location live stuff. I was at the Collins building rally
today. I would like to see KSER being out about in community. Arts festivals, music.

Mike: second Ted. There is sort of a perception sometimes that there is not significant
culture in Snohomish County. I think KSER has two roles: to represent & expose what’s going on, and that tends to promote culture as well.

Vance (on phone) I like Vaughn’s program “Vinyl Repair”, Danny’s “Rock & Roll
Time Machine”, John Noe’s “Juke Joint”, Jef Hofman’s “Dusties”. KSER is definitely
about the music. I used to listen to the President’s radio address before you got
Democracy Now. I think KSER should be a music station. I don’t think you have a local news program. I like Jim Hightower, but it cuts out on me. I notice you have HD – do you plan to launch another HD channel?

Karen: Vance started by saying he liked the music, then moved into the local news
content.

Dennis (on phone): I like Bluegrass, Frettin Fingers, Coconut Wireless. I used to work
at a local station in Eastern Washington which had local radio spots of things that were
happening as they happened. I was disappointed to see that KSER was not at the South Everett neighborhood center. I thought ‘what an opportunity they’re missing’.

Bruce: You would like us to be more physically in the community. What would you
like to have coming out the speakers?

Dennis: I didn’t like the Canadian program in the afternoon.

Bruce: We dropped “As It Happens” because we found it was the least listened-to
program.

Dennis: The Native American program seemed to center on the Canadian rather than
US Native American. I used to listen to the Native American program on Sunday
evening. I’m finding that what I’m hearing is a bit of a smattering, a little bit here and a
little bit there. You never know when it’s going to be on. The Scandinavian music is
sometimes interspersed with the Celtic music. Sometimes the website doesn’t match up
with the programming.

Question: Who are our other partners? What events should we be at?
Mike: I was involved with moving the station from Lynnwood to Everett. I am not
sure I know what groups we should work with – Arts Council, Everett Historic Theater, High School, Community College, but I don’t see the legwork being done to get out into the community and actually develop those relationships right now.

Candace: What are we doing to promote the conversations in school boards, city &
county councils and the items that will affect us for years to come?

Bruce: to be out in the community is resource-intensive. It’s hard to get people for all
these events because we often don’t get takers.

Karen (on web): Bringing new or local music to town, more local news reporting,
raising issues.

Karen: you have to want it really bad. The goal comes first, then you perceive how to
get there. If we can name it and see it and smell it, you can find the resources.

Spencer (on phone): just moved from Seattle, A radio station first & foremost should
entertain. We really like the Sunday night lineup. There could be more variety, esp with newer flavors, new music. It would be good to do a concert in the summer or a movie series. I don’t think people appreciate a radio station that doesn’t have commercials until they listen one for awhile, then after they listen, that’s all they’ll listen to. You just need to get more people to listen.

Joe in Lynnwood (on phone): Saturday lineup is fantastic. I’ve been listening since
1.5 yrs ago. I am involved in volunteering at the schools, schools are one of our largest
investments but do a poor job outreaching to the community to show us how our money is spent. If they could do a better job, these bond issues would have an easier time being passed.

Bruce: so should KSER be reaching out to the schools, showing how good the
education is. Should KSER be reaching out to young listeners, to the schools to try to
involve students in producing programming for the station?

Joe: Just don’t put it on Saturday.

Anonymous poster and David in Darrington: we should do local programming only,
screw the syndicated stuff.

Question: Should KSER have a point of view?
Mike: It’s a double-edged sword. KSER has a responsibility to have a point of view,
but also a responsibility to be sure it represents a broad cross-section of the community.

Bruce: we have a range of programs that represent (unions, League of Women Voters,
senior citizen activists, peace activists, we have a finance program)

Mike: Deep down, it’s the dialog that matters. KSER needs to be a forum for that
dialog. The discussion is part of the fun

Email from Hazy Day: more new music, more local programming. Saturday and
Sunday could be rearranged, morning programming is good. Need more volunteers to
work in the community – how do we get them?.

Don (Snohomish): calling to heap praise, just discovered us a year ago. Keep
Saturday like it is. Love classical, old rock, new rock, frustrated my whole life switching stations. Don’t change a thing. The mix is important. Get to hear music would never hear. So I don’t want you to change. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…I get to hear music on your station that I don’t ever get to hear anywhere else and in my whole life don’t ever get to hear.

Ted: I like to think of the world as a diamond – it has facets. Point of view – we can
be the bridge without agreeing with everything. I don’t listen to what we play that I don’t like. We need the input to be the bridge.

Bertrand (Port Townsend): it’s great that you want to look forward with a strategic
planning process. I have listened for many years. Tend to have more leftist views, but I
miss the more balanced shows like Left Right & Center. A wide variety of political
views not only is interesting but it will involve more listeners. You have Democracy
Now three times a day. I think it would be good to find people who are really dedicated to an art form and would do cameo programming. Even if the presentation is a little fumbling or amateurish, the passion is what matters.

Brian: (Web comment): If it ain’t broke don’t fix it: keep the music you can’t hear
anywhere else.

Karen: we have a value stating we should air voices and ideas you can’t hear
elsewhere. I want to challenge people: how do we get there. The idea struck me that you will see a local play holding auditions for folks – what are the new “how” fresh ways we reach out to folks.

Candace: thanks to everyone who called in. Point of view: we have this frequency, we
serve our community by keeping them as well informed as they can be so they can be
citizens and live the quality of life that they want. When I think point of view I think
inform people to be good citizens.
.
Bruce: our license is to serve Everett and the surrounding communities with a non
commercial educational radio station.

Leilani’s whiteboard notes, taken during meeting

Shouild KSER have a point of view – if so, what?
Imagine a radio station serving your community – Define
Promote/represent localism.
Responsibility to have a POV – needs to be representative of cross-section of
community.
Dialogue/discussion/conversation. “Be the bridge” that connects.
I like music shows/local news/Jim Hightower Commentary/Democracy Now
Other suggestions; Presence @ local events; continue with the BBC, Native American
programming; More variety of music
Partnerships: Arts council, k-12 schools/colleges – resource intensive.
Have cameo appearances/programming from public.
“Balance” is important –
Diversity brings more people to the table.
Cover/communicate issues on city/county councils.
Content/passion more important than production
Believe in & articulate your goals – resources will follow
To entertain is a priority.
Inform people to be good citizens
More community involvement – local arts/music events.
Licensed to city of Everett.
Reach out to schools, students – cover the quality of local education.
Locally produced programming vs. nationally syndicated
Have a heavy-duty volunteer campaign to bring in more volunteers
Don’t change anything – all the music/mix is perfect.

Sandy Thompson, Secretary, Board of Directors.