[grc] Grassroots Radio Conference 2024 Directives
Sharon Scott
gm at artxfm.com
Mon Feb 12 10:09:34 PST 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
Our station, WXOX celebrated 8 years on air with a massive party this
weekend and I was really hoping to have a relaxing Monday morning. I
never expected to wake up to something like this from someone in the
independent radio world I try hard to serve. Ill-informed, misguided
attacks of this nature are a poison to the Grassroots Radio Community we
are trying so hard to build. However, they say any publicity is good
publicity so my only hope is that this unnecessary drama will lead to
more participation with the GRC. Then people can make up their mind for
themselves if we want to move forward together or stay where we are out
here on our own.
I don't have the time or negative energy to spend dissecting Lloyd's
email which is completely off-base. I appreciate Bennett for doing so -
accurately - in his response.
Let me briefly address:
I do not lead the GRC, I simply am the only one who EVER steps up to
host the monthly web-meetings (distinct from today's Radio for People
call which the WXOX on-air schedule always prevents me from attending).
If you review the last GRC Meet-Up, you will hear that my ask for
volunteers to host the next Zoom but was greeted with total silence - as
it is every time.
Following each meeting, I or another member of the WXOX staff then posts
the discussion to the Virtual GRC YouTube Channel so that folks who
could not make it will have the opportunity to catch it later. We do
this as volunteer work BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WILL and we feel it is
important that it get done and this community stay connected. Not
because we enjoy it or even have time for it.
Virtual GRC on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/virtualgrc
In fact, now that you mention it, it would be great to have some relief
here. Are any stations interested in hosting the next GRC Monthly
Meet-up via Zoom? As always, it is scheduled for the 4th Tues on the
month at 8 PM which lands on Feb. 27th this time. HOLLA!
GRC STEERING COMMITTEE
Neither I nor anybody else has authority in the Grassroots Radio
Conference. It is - and will remain - purposefully de-centralized,
non-commerical, and free of any board or official leadership. Otis has
the perfect saying for it, someone help me remember? .... The trouble
is meetings among community stations separated by many hundreds of miles
aren't going to magically happen. Annual Conferences where station
leaders get together, share ideas and inspiration, aren't going to
appear on their own. There needs to be someone or some group of people
moving it along. We do this is the most hands-off way we possibly can
according to the directive established by attendees at the GRC
Conference in 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin:
"At the GRC11 in Madison, Wisconsin, conference attendees decided to
create a Steering Committee to help coordinate discussions, assist in
conference planning, and maintain institutional memory. The concept of
the steering committee is in line with the GRC's decentralized,
grassroots nature. Though there is no minimum or maximum number of
members of the steering committee, it was agreed that it should include
representatives from stations who have hosted past GRC conferences,
representatives from future GRC conference hosts, and representatives
from the People of Color caucus."
In regards to GRC 2024, we have made national calls to this list-serve
and to our social media pages for more GRC Steering Committee
representatives from other host stations. Here it goes again:
IF YOUR STATION HAS PREVIOUSLY HOSTED A GRC CONFERENCE please contact us
so we can get a representative from your staff involved on the GRC
Steering Committee. The Steering Committee meets online a few times a
year to make calls for host stations, review submissions, and assist the
host station with the conference prep.
Right now the GRC Steering Committee includes:
Ted Coe KCSB
Zac Smith KUHS
Max Kelley WAYO
Sharon Scott WXOX
LaGanzie Kale KLEK
Joseph Orozco KIDE
Damon Cater WTSQ
But to be honest, you can ask WTSQ - the hosts of the 2023 conference -
how much of a role the Steering Committee played in the direction and
organization of their conference. They will tell you practically none.
Once the station steps up to host, aside from handing them a quilt and
some seed money, the Steering Committee remains decidedly hands-off
until they are asked for help -- and at which point we do so by calling
on the greater grassroots radio committee by posting to this listserve,
the social media pages, and whatnot. This hands-off approach allows
each station to build a conference to their liking that reflects the
personality of the station and their location. This is why each GRC
Conference is so different, so exiting, so unique!
GRC 2024 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!!!!
Participants at the January Monthly Meet-Up determined we should go
ahead and open the call for the 2024 GRC Conference Host so that folks
would have time to plan. An application created by the Steering
Committee with very basic information and was circulated to this
list-serve and posted on GRC Social Media. It is NOW OPEN FOR
SUBMISSIONS! We encourage stations to apply by the next GRC meet-up
(Feb. 27th) so that they can make presentations at this February
meet-up. It has not yet been determined when the station selection will
take place. To be honest, in past years, the decision has made itself
because we have only had one applicant. It would be a refreshing change
to have a number of choices!
So far this year, WTSQ Charleston is the only station that has submitted
an application. The 2023 Conference they hosted in West Virginia was
AMAZING - one of the very best - the entire WTSQ did an outstanding job
making everything just right. For the first time ever, they have
offered to host the conference again now that they have so much
experience under their belt. However, part of the beauty of the GRC is
that it has always been hosted by a different station each year but
right now we don't have any other options and the most important thing
is that the gathering happens.
If your station would like to host the 2024 Grassroots Radio Conference,
we encourage you get your applications in by Feb. 27th to have a chance
to make your pitch at the next GRC Monthly-Meet Up:
Grassroots Radio Conference Host Station Application
https://forms.gle/8ntrykYjr5s8piVq8
Hope to see you there!
In Solidarity,
Sharon
***************************
Sharon M. Scott
Co-Founder & General Manager
ARTxFM / WXOX 97.1 FM
P.O. Box 5103
Louisville, Kentucky 40255
USA
502.640.6414
***************************
ARTxFM
http://www.artxfm.com
************************
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On 2024-02-12 04:40, Lloyd Ewing via grc wrote:
> I do not see where Sharon Scott has been given the authority to
> determine how the next Grassroots Radio Conference is to be chosen.
> She
> implies that her decisions were made by a group attending a Zoom
> meeting
> that she held on January 23, but I do not see how anyone who was at
> that
> meeting would say that Sharon was given this authority. I do not see
> how anyone who was at the meeting would say that her pronouncements
> were
> endorsed by the people who attended that meeting.
>
> There was no announcement prior to the meeting to indicate that major
> decisions about the future of the GRC would be on the agenda. At the
> meeting there was no discussion about what method should be used to
> determine how the next GRC should be chosen, and there was almost no
> discussion about what criteria should be used to determine when and
> where we should have a GRC in 2024.
>
> In mandating that applications from groups that want to host the next
> GRC must be submitted to Sharon prior to her next Zoom meeting
> (February
> 27) she is ensuring that there will be very few submissions. Only
> people who have already been preparing to host a GRC will be able to
> meet that deadline. At Sharon's meeting Damon Cater mentioned that he
> is ready and willing to host a repeat of his 2023 GRC again in 2024. I
> have no quarrel with Damon, and having him serve as host for the next
> GRC may be the best choice, but there are a multitude of issues and
> concerns that should be considered before that decision is made.
>
> This is just a few considerations off the top or my head that I think
> we
> could discuss:
>
> Is someone interested in hosing a less expensive GRC? It seems that
> GRC
> 2023 may be the most expensive conference in my memory.
>
> Would it not be better to hold GRC conferences in a different city each
> year? Perhaps we could return to the same city on alternate years.
>
> How do people who live on the west coast think about having to
> traveling
> such long distances?
>
> Did anyone find a good alternative to an extended trip in a rental car
> from one of the major airports in the area?
>
> Could presentations be recorded for the benefit of those who are not
> able to attend?
>
> Damon admitted to pocketing a good profit from the GRC (was it 10k on
> 35k revenue?) I do not think that is unreasonable, assuming his own
> funds were at risk in preparing for the GRC, but someone else might
> offer other uses for the proceeds.
>
> Is the GRC in danger of turning into a professionally managed event
> like
> the NFCB, and what can we do to ensure that it remains an informal
> gathering for people who do not have the backing of large institutions
> and agencies?
>
> Does the GRC exist for professionals who earn income from promoting
> their services to community broadcasters, or does it exist for the
> small
> community broadcasters to share and offer mutual support?
>
> Should decisions within the GRC be mandated by a particular person or a
> closed group, or do we want decisions to be made by an open process
> where all are invited to participate?
>
> Etc....
>
>
> As for what went on at the Sharon's January 23 meeting, this would be
> my
> summary:
>
> The meeting drifted on for what seemed like an hour with mostly small
> talk and reiteration of things that most of us already knew. By then
> most people had checked out mentally, even if they were still sitting
> in
> front of their computers. After talking about the GRC conferences in
> general, Sharon abruptly announced that anyone who wanted to host the
> GRC in 2024 would have to submit proposals to her before the next Zoom
> meeting February 27. There were a couple of weak attempts to address
> the issues and to clarify Sharon's pronouncement, but strong leadership
> from the chair kept the pace of the meeting from dwelling on any of
> those questions, and the meeting ended soon after that. She said that
> her "steering committee" would choose from the proposals that were
> submitted, but she did not explain who that would be or how it was to
> happen.
>
> The people who attended the final meeting of the GRC in Rochester may
> see a pattern here.
>
>
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