By John Strauss
November 1, 2014
This is pledge season for public radio stations across the country. And the pleas for support, tiresome for some listeners, can be exhausting for the people pitching behind the microphones.
Angie Rapp, marketing manager for Indiana Public Radio and WIPB-TV at Ball State University, has worked behind the scenes and on-air — pitching, or asking for contributions, producing the show, organizing volunteers, serving food, washing dishes and even taking out the trash.
Sitting in front of the mic was the hardest job when she started.
“It’s incredibly hard the first time,” she said. “It’s intimidating and a little scary because you’re afraid you’ll mess up.”
But the fear passes when you remember the basics: Be yourself. Just try to have a conversation with the other person in the studio — and with the listeners.
“At the end of the day you’re just talking about something you’re really passionate about, and that part is easy.”
Behind the scenes and on the air
Plenty goes on behind the scenes at Indiana Public Radio, a group of five stations between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, based at WBST in Muncie. Volunteers in a converted conference room answer the phones and take pledges. A manager tallies the contributions. Some givers offer a matching challenge: Raise a certain amount in an hour, say $300, and they’ll contribute the same amount to double the contributions.
Through a soundproof window, the phone volunteers can see into a studio next door where the on-air crew is pleading for pledges. They’re with a producer who keeps track of the clock and makes sure they finish up in time to rejoin the network. Talk too long and you risk “upcutting,” the NPR feed by talking over it.
In a second adjoining studio, a board operator switches between the network feed and the studio where the volunteers are pitching. That person makes sure the right elements are being played, including weather breaks, news and underwriting announcements.
Mistakes happen all the time, glitches in the show that add their own spontaneous charm.
During “All Things Considered,” for example, the producer will have a list of times, down to the second, when the period to ask for contributions can begin and end.
People making the pitch have been known to completely lose their train of thought or misread the clock.
“I did that,” Rapp said. “I thought we were out of time, when really we had three minutes to go.”
She started waving frantically at IPR staffer Matt Bloom, her partner in the broadcast, right in the middle of his careful explanation about how to give.
“He didn’t know what to think,” she said.
“But that happens: At least one time in every pledge, you lose your train of thought and hit a brick wall.”
Watching the clock
Emily Kowalski, member services coordinator, started working pledge drives in 2009.
“I got to be on the air the first time that year,” she said. “It was terrifying.”
Her partner reminded her to pretend they were just having a conversation.
She had been briefed on hand signals the producer would use when their time was up. A raised index finger signifies one minute to go. A cupped hand like the letter “C” means 30 seconds. A fist means 15 seconds.
Kowalski paid attention but promptly forgot all the signals in the excitement. Not even the large digital clocks on the walls help every time.
“I had a hard time talking and watching the clock,” she said.
“You start talking and you get on a roll. Then the producer will start waving their hands because they’ve been trying to tell you that you only have a few seconds left.”
Ahead: More voices, more smiles
When not on the air she helps organize the pledge drives. There are two a year, and about a month after one drive has ended, she starts planning the next, calling volunteers, getting people scheduled in the jobs.
She’s already started thinking about what to do in the spring.
“We’ll have a few more voices on the air, some that we haven’t heard before. We’ll have people from the community who our listeners will know. We’ll make the listeners smile.”
Kowalski knows pledge drives aren’t always popular.
“But they’re necessary. And if we could just get those other nine people you know, who aren’t members but who listen, to pledge just $40 per year we wouldn’t have to be on the air so long.”
Like everybody else who’s worked on-air for the drive, she’s had her moments.
“The worst thing is when you’re on the air and in the middle of a sentence, and you forget what you’re saying. I’ve done that. I was being really dramatic. I was gesturing and I was saying, ‘You just need to pick up the phone, and….’
Her mind went blank. She couldn’t think of what to say next.
But her partner knew what to do. Stephanie Wiechmann jumped in and said:
“Yes! Pick up the phone now - and dial 1-800-646-1812.”
John Strauss, a Ball State University journalism instructor, is interim general manager of Indiana Public Radio and WIPB-TV, the public broadcasting stations owned by the university.
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