community radio goes national
by Heidi Havdale
NCRC
What are the perks
of being a CICK board member? Access to the music library, voting on exciting prospects for the station, hobnobbing with some great people? Yes, yes, and yes. And once a year, there’s an opportunity for one lucky board member to attend the NCRC, a conference put on by the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA). For those of you unfamiliar with the NCRA, it’s a not-for-profit group committed to volunteer-driven, non-profit, community-created radio across Canada. Its goal is to ensure stability and support for individual stations and long-term growth and effectiveness in the sector. Every year the NCRC is hosted by a different radio station in Canada. As you may have already guessed, I was the lucky member selected for a five-day adventure to… drum roll, please…Winnipeg, Manitoba! That’s right, the place where every piece of our pocket shrapnel was once minted. Beyond that tidbit of trivia, I knew nothing about Winnipeg and was pleasantly surprised to discover a city with a unique vibe, lots of music (their jazz fest was in full swing while I was there), and distinct pocket neighborhoods, notably the artsy Osborne Village. Unfortunately (and fortunately), I didn’t have a lot of time to play tourist in Winnipeg, since the conference was packed with all-day, back-to-back workshops, things like Citizen Journalism in the Digital Age, Building Consensus, the Art of the Interview, and KnowYour Show. I felt pumped after spending five days learning copious amounts of information about radio. Plus, spending that time with people who are knowledgeable and stoked
on radio inspired infectious excitement. Everyone at the NCRC was eager to share strategies for success and relevant resources. Me, I gained the most value from the Community Radio Caucus, the Plenary, and networking during evening events. Since the majority of the stations in attendance were campus stations (due to the financial hardships of most community stations) it was useful to spend two hours with community stations discussing topics and ideas for maintaining our viability, such as fundraising, volunteerism, and community outreach. At the Plenary, CICK had a vote on every issue in the agenda. Not only was it a vote from CICK, we were the only northern BC station in attendance, so let’s just call it a vote from the North. In terms of networking, people all over Canada now know a little more about Smithers and the good things we have going on at CICK. The fact that CICK is running out of a 1920s train car is a serious cool. Put together with the fact that our own DJs just custom built a music trailer, powered by pedalling a bike, and we are blowing the minds of our peers and inspiring new frontiers for radio ingenuity. I want to thank those of you in the community who donated to the trip, helping our station to have a voice on a national level. Not only do we plan to implement some of the ideas we gained from the conference, we’re also looking forward to sharing our new bike-powered project on the Ottawa airwaves of a fellow conference attendee. Let’s see what we can bring to the table at next years conference in Victoria, BC. Stay tuned! [sic] 4