Serving as president of Writers of Kern has opened doors for me (literally). With our Spring Conference coming up in March, our Board embarked on radio advertising to help spread the word. To start the process, I went down to the American General Media office last Thursday and met up with Sales Manager, David McElwain to sign the paperwork.

After we finished with the business end of everything, David asked me if I wanted a tour of the production side. I accepted and was thrilled to tour the building where KERN News Talk, Hot 94.1FM, 101.5 KGFM, ESPN Bakersfield, Hits 93.1, and 96.9 La Caliente are produced.

David showed me each studio and explained when the red light is on, they are live. He also answered all of my questions, which ranged from does each host control their own soundboard (yes) to where is the tower that broadcasts the signal (outside in front).

He also explained how everything now is digital, with computers taking care of when our ad would be run.

Our own WOK member, Brent Gill went down to the studio to record them for WOK. I’ve heard the final versions and they sound great!

Thanks to David for the tour and to Brent for recording our copy which will run March 14 to March 27 on KERN News Talk. Thirty 30-second ads a week for two weeks, for a total of sixty ads. If you happen to hear one of our ads, please comment and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I was so excited during my tour, I had a senior moment and totally forgot to take any pictures. When Brent went to the studio to record our ad copy, he took pictures and sent them to me. All images courtesy Brent Gill.