Monday, November 30, 2009

A RADIO HOST WALKS OFF HIS SHOW...


I'm a levelheaded guy. My closest friends accuse me of having zero temper (as if that's a deficiency). So what got me so disgusted that I walked off the show this past Saturday?

My impassioned Facebook post just minutes after the show got plenty of people asking me "What happened?". My reply was brief and to the point: "What? You weren't listening?" with a furrowed brow. And in case you can't see my brow...the furrow is an indictment.

The show is a destination, and you pay when you don't listen. Guaranteed. "But I was out of town for Thanksgiving!" The new show is more important than Aunt Judy. Thanksgiving is in CC next year or you drive back Friday night or you set up your boombox with a Christmas tree timer. I'd tell you to listen in on your computer, but that's 'too Austin' for our city.

For those of you that were listening (lucky!), it's up to you if you'd like to spread the details. You hold valuable information.

I'm going the archaic route. You snoozed? You losed.

Rather, you can infer plenty by rereading my initial thoughts on the new show here. And to further get you thinking, I'll repost the new rules of the new show (with minor revisions):

A CONSISTENT, DEDICATED PRODUCER
Who is the producer of this show? No one knows yet. Whoever it is, they must commit this one hour to create the most creative, most entertaining talk radio in town. All in!

NO CANNED MUSIC
The music readily available for bumps comes out of a safe, 'classic rock-y' rotation. Joe demands his producer NOT use this rotation. It is boring, antiseptic and does not differentiate the show. All music used on my show will be either a) relevant to the content of the segment or b) something interesting in the alt rock or classic rock vein LYRICS INTACT. Every element of the show must have purpose.

JOE'S ARRAY
I require my own dedicated computer space for sound effects and music. It's time.


And, again, if you weren't listening this Saturday, shame on you. Your penance is to get 5 new people to listen this weekend. Hope that there are screw ups so I can show my closest friends what happens when I demand excellence.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

IS CORPUS CHRISTI SIMPLY A 4A TOWN?

THIS ARTICLE IS STILL IN PROGRESS

CAUTION: BELOW, I SPEAK GENERALLY RE: LOCAL GEOGRAPHY AND THE SCHOOL-GOING POPULATION. IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE OR UNDERSTAND THESE FACT-BASED GENERALITIES, PLEASE READ SOMETHING ELSE. ALLOW ME TO SUGGEST THE COMMENT SECTION OF A caller.com ARTICLE ON THE COLISEUM.

Updated 12/16/09: People are finally coming around. Read this article from today's caller.com here.

---------

Previous caller.com article with map of proposed boundary changes: Here

Tomorrow night, Tues., Dec. 1, the 2nd of 5 meetings to discuss proposed CCISD boundaries occurs at Miller High: CLICK HERE for more info.

Why should you care?

The last high school built for CCISD was in the late 1950s. In 1960, the population of the metro CC area (including Calallen, FB, etc.) was 266K1 and the largest structure on what we now call "Southside" was the CC Country Club. Big development was between Holly and Saratoga. South of Saratoga and east of Airline didn’t exist.


Fig. 1




What did exist was a much tighter population serviced adequately by 5 high schools. To demonstrate this, I've represented the 1960 population of CC with a circle with the 5 high schools arranged in a smaller circle within (Fig. 1). Take a look at a map and you'll see this illustration is not far from accurate.

Now, 50 years later, the metro population has grown to 380K1 (metro increase of 114K people), we haven’t built any new high schools, CCISD has no money to build one2, and we are faced with the question of how best to utilize what we do have.

Here are the current enrollments at each high school acc’d to CCISD:
Carroll – 2,282; King – 2,424; Ray – 1,825; Moody – 1,812; Miller – 908

I don’t have school capacity stats at this point, but will update this article with them soon.

There’s no huge revelation here: The city is moving south and so are the city’s children. The once circle-shaped city is now an oval. All of the high schools are located left of center, and most of the children live in the center or right of center.



Fig. 2


The schools closest to the kids are Carroll and King and they are, therefore, busting at the seams. No kids live near Miller so it's vacant (now's when you need to reread my caution at the top of this page).

With no money, they say, to build a new high school the task was given to 20 or so citizens, with massive ccisd-funded input, to redraw the lines that feed high schools to evenly redistribute kids into the five existing schools. A second charge was to reinforce the 'vertical paths' of kids--keeping everyone in one elementary school going to the same jr. high and on to the same high school.

Looking at Fig. 2 above it's not difficult to figure out what happened. To get kids into the empty Miller you 'steal' from Moody and Ray. To restock the losses from Miller and Ray you 'steal' from Carroll and King. Then King and Carroll are freed up to take more in from the growing south. What you've effectively done is move all of the boundaries South. In fact to get the numbers at schools as even as possible, you have to place the Ray/King border immediately adjacent to King. Look at the map again. You can literally live two blocks from King but now you're going to Ray.

Issue: when the economy recovers, our local home builders and developers intend on pushing south. One local homebuilder has plans to build over 1500 homes near Cimarron/Yorktown/Rodd Field when these rainy days go away. These homes will be filled, generally, with upstart families with kids. Those kids (those that stay in CCISD) will go to King (where else can they go?). King is already almost full. Oops.

No new high school means that in a few years a new boundary committee will convene TO PUSH THE RAY/KING BOUNDARY EAST OF KING and the MOODY/CARROLL BOUNDARY SOUTH OF CARROLL. Hear me: When this inevitablity occurs, students south and east of King will drive past King to go to school at Ray. Ditto with Carroll to Moody.

Keep in mind that the Boundary Committee was told "Do not make suggestions based on or wrapped around a new high school--there is no money to build one."2 They did the best they could given this critical limitation. But the process and the inevitable outcomes are symptomatic of the largest citywide issues:

--a) short term solutions taking precedence over long term strategy (the creation of a bayfront master plan is good enough; don't bother executing that master plan) and the current population paying for the sins of the past
--b) the quick acceptance of limitations (no new school--it's simply not an option)
--c) the failure to budget maintentance (see the condition of our parks, the coliseum, weed-grown medians and ditches, etc.)

and most egregious:

--d) the failure to address the ethnic and socio-economic realities of city shift and sprawl.

CCISD is currently conducting public discussions at all 5 high schools to answer questions and get public feedback. At the first one at Carroll, 5 people showed up.3 The short term outcry seems to be small--a few families (relatively) will go to a different school next year. The long term lack of a real solution to our problem remains to be addressed.

ps. I served on the boundary committee.

1http://www.censusscope.org/us/s48/m1880/chart_popl.html
2 "Elliff said the only instructions to committee members were that they not center their plans on the possibility of a new high school, because the funding was not available." from http://www.caller.com/news/2009/nov/09/ccisd-considers-changing-high-school-attendance/
3http://www.caller.com/news/2009/nov/19/school-boundaries-meeting-draws-small-crowd/

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

ITUNES GETS PLAYED

I'm an iTunes user. I'm sure you are too. It's holds my music library, I make playlists (such as 'Workout'), and it's where I've subscribed to many film podcasts including my own, The Movie Hour with Joe and Ethan.

And you can too by clicking here:
Subscribe with iTunes

My home desktop iTunes updates my iPod but that's the family shared with computer so you're likely to find the theme to Spongebob Squarepants in that library. My work computer iTunes library is very random because that is where I, up until recently, would download everything for the show including all the past Ultimate Music Masters and music for Halloween, Christmas and Oscar shows.

I recently got a new laptop and requested that it come iTunes-ed up. Now I have my OWN iTunes...it's all mine. I brought over everything from the house, removed all of the Spongebob, Miley and Weird Al and am sculpting and forming the perfect library.

Music has always been important to me and important to the show. One new, published, stated rule for the 'New Show' is to keep all music purposeful. No canned music off of some antiseptic database. I'd like to start playing the top five songs of the week and commenting from time to time and talk about new music I've discovered or am enjoying.

iTunes has a field that shows you how many times each song has been played. If you descend by this field you see the songs in descending order with the top one being the song you've listened to the most. At the office that song is Oasis, Don't Look Back in Anger.

Great Jam!

So with a new laptop and a clear, no-nonsense iTunes play count, what will leap to #1? Last night I found myself in the kitchen with the iTunes DJ playing some random jams while dancing with my daughter. Rock With You by Michael Jackson came on (I downloaded some stuff at his death) and we pressed repeat a few times...which knocked it up to 4 listens...and puts it at the top of the list.


(#2: Heroes by David Bowie).

So expect to hear all about it on the show.

What's your most listened to jam on iTunes?

JOE'S THEME SONGS - A RETROSPECTIVE

The radio show has had three official theme songs. Scroll down to hear them.

On the Nov. 21 show, I launched a new theme song: 'Won't Get Fooled Again' by The Who. We'll be editing it up to highlight Roger Daltrey's signature scream. The new theme song edit will have the KEYS slick radio voice guy talking up to the scream, but this can't happen until I name the new show--which I'm in no hurry to do.

When the three-hour KEYS Weekend Magazine first began, John Gifford picked the theme song (that I had no argument with), 'In My Place' by Coldplay. I've discussed how I like Coldplay no matter what Paul Rudd says.

After a while, though, hearing it week after week I had a creeping nag. I just began to think it was too slow a start so I eventually changed it to 'Regret' by New Order. I drive around all day and at the time was listening to my ipod a lot. There are many philosophies on ipod habits, but I'm a shuffle guy. I listen to my ipod on shuffle 95% of the time. As my creeping nag evolved my casual desire to change the theme song kicked in by me listening to every song's intro. Regret worked and I was more than glad to highlight New Order. I've been a New Order fan since 9th grade. When I got my first CD player, a Technic rack system complete with turntable, my parents said they'd buy me one CD. I scammed them and got the New Order Substance double disc set. A couple of years ago in one go-nowhere spark of on-air genius, I started a weekly 'Identify the New Order Song' game where the producer would play an unannounced classic New Order song prompting callers to call in and win stuff. This didn't last long because the producer's never played the songs and I evenutally forgot about it.

New show means new theme song. I like the scream--that's the only reason I picked it. Since then I've been reminded that it's one of the CSI themes. Oops.


THE NEW THEME SONG
'WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN,' THE WHO - 11/09-?


'REGRET,' NEW ORDER - 10/07-11/09


'IN MY PLACE,' COLDPLAY - 10/05-10/07

I'M 'SCHIZOPHRENIC'! AGREED

During the KEYS format blackout there was a lot of speculation about Eric, the station, General Manager Randy Brown's agenda, etc.

And a tiny bit of speculation about me. You can always depend on the crazies at caller.com to provide wildly nonsensical speculation about all things they don't know about and the KEYS shake up was no exception.

One poster wrote a book about the changes at KEYS. His speculation was that since I was quoted in a story, I obviously would be around for something. His thought was that if Eric moved to the morning, I would take a daily 5PM slot for one hour. What would that look like? This commentor is obviously a big time listener to both talk radio stations as evidenced by his/her knowledge of all the players and the depths to which (s)he had details about each show. Here's what (s)he had to say:

Hilliard in the afternoon.
Currently Joe Hilliard has a one hour program on Saturday that is very difficult to describe. He tends to talk stream of consciousness, weaving in-and-out of events going on around town. He’s as likely to talk about illiteracy in the Coastal Bend as he is to discuss where to find the best breakfast taco. Every few weeks he conducts ‘on the lighter side’ interviews with big name local guests. He never talks partisan, national politics and, to my knowledge, has never revealed his political affiliation. In the rare occasion that he talks local issues, he is very passionate with a clear opinion and is sometimes more engaging than Von Wade or [Zzzzzz] who are much more passive. On the Saturday following the council vote to end negotiations with Brass, Hilliard’s hour on the Memorial Coliseum was more informative and engaging than anything I’ve heard the other three local hosts say on the subject.
If he is moving to weekdays at 5PM for an hour-long lead in to Savage, his show could work with some changes.

Hilliard’s strengths are the entertainment value of his program, his non-partisanship, his ability to get interviews with almost anyone locally—including guests I don’t hear on Von Wade or [Zzzzzz]—and his knowledge of the arts and culture scene.

Hilliard’s weaknesses are 1) his non-partisanship. I believe he can get honest interviews with newsmakers because he doesn’t seem to push a political agenda in those interviews, but some listeners may not enjoy ‘equal time’ for non-conservatives. He allows them to be themselves and off guard. Local talk radio listeners like their hosts ultra-conservative and Hilliard doesn’t play that card.

2) Schizophrenic content. Being a Hilliard listener requires patience because you never know what you’re going to get on any given Saturday. You might hear a show about downtown development; you might hear an hour long rock trivia contest; you might hear Henry Garrett talking about motorcycling across America. Many people may prefer to know, generally, what they can expect before the show begins. To succeed in the afternoon, Hilliard must define his show more clearly which he may be unwilling or unable to do.

3) Lack of name recognition. Even though he puts on a entertaining show, the Saturday time slot hasn’t made him the household name that [Zzzzzz] is.



I can't argue with much of any of this. The show has always been contrary to the unwritten rules of talk radio--especially conservative talk radio. I'm not a conservative talk radio host and I've never wished to talk politics at a national level. Know your wheelhouse--national politics is not mine. When I talk local goings-on--and expect more of that by the way--partisan politics doesn't factor into it. At least not the issues I discuss. It doesn't matter who you vote for for president to know what to do with the coliseum or to discuss CC's brain drain.

The show is a nice show and that is why we can get guests--we're nice. And the guests typically have fun if they allow themselves to.

I might adopt the phrase Schizophrenic Content. It's fair and funny assessment. I believe, though, that the show will come into focus a little more and that that's overdue. It's been tough figuring out what to do with one hour after having the luxury of three hours. With three hours you could relax and have fun. One hour requires focus and, admittedly, that's been lacking.

I don't have it all figured out, but I'm getting closer.

The "NEW" Show

After much speculation, I still have my show on 1440 KEYS! Two Mondays ago, 1440 KEYS revealed their new line up: Eric Von Wade moves to weekday mornings and some great, popular shows are added to the rotation including The Dennis Miller Show.

So the show's still on in the same time slot.

There are now 3 english local talkers on air: Me, Eric and Zzzzzz. So I take it seriously that I'm still on air.

I'm rededicated to quality and entertainment and am pushing for more promos and ways to grow the audience.

Here are my first thoughts at a few new guidelines or rules for the "New" hour.

A CONSISTENT PRODUCER
Who is the producer of this show? No one knows yet. Whoever it is, they can't screw around on the computer while I'm creating comedy gold. All in!

NO CANNED MUSIC
KEYS producers have sophisticated touch screen computers that run a programmed log. All programming is mapped out chronologically with the commercials and bumps (music leading in and out of breaks) preprogrammed. The music comes out of a safe, 'classic rock-y' rotation. Joe demands his producer NOT use this rotation. It is boring, antiseptic and does not differentiate the show. All music used on my show will be either a) relevant to the content of the segment or b) something interesting in the alt rock or classic rock vein. I gave the example of David Bowie's 'Changes' given the content of the show but would have accepted Dylan's 'The Times (They are A'changin) or The Byrd's 'Turn Turn Turn'.

SOUND EFFECTS PAGE
I want more interactive sound effects on the show and unveiled an example while discussing a talk radio host on another station. Saying this person's name would be unnecessary advertising for that person so this person's name will be replaced by a snore sound effect (or in print: Zzzzzz). Hilarious. My vision is to incorporate quotes from local city leaders and celebrities into the show.

There's a new theme song and a new website: www.joehilliard.com

More talk on changes soon.

Monday, November 2, 2009

The Next Memorial Coliseum Plan

On the show this past Saturday, I mentioned that I had a new plan for the Memorial Coliseum, but ran out of time before I could go into it...or did I?

Brass is dead. Energies toward getting Brass back on the table are a waste of time. Energies should go into a plan that is 1) economically feasable, 2) a proper use of this public land, 3) properly honoring the veterans that Memorial Coliseum was built to honor, 4) is a tourist/local attraction, and 5) promotes growth in the area and citywide.

Councilman Mark Scott is floating a plan that I'm, at this time in it's inital stages, am on board with. Below is a simple text outline of it from Mark Scott, but it won't read well without the following visual aid.

Here are some pictures of the new Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston, TX. You can not understand the weight of this proposal until you go to the website for Discover Green Park and explore it fully HERE. This is not just a park. Go to that website and imagine something as dramatic on our bayfront.



The park to be modeled has:

•a one-acre lake
•a children's playground
•interactive water features
•an amphitheater stage and slope
•dog runs for large and small breeds
•public art works
•spacious green lawns
•and great restaurants

The plan would be to tear down the coliseum and put in the most amazing urban green space you could ever imagine that is controlled in part by a private group (and not the city). One centerpiece would gbe the most amazing outdoor WWII Veteran's Memorial you can possibly imagine to PROPERLY COMMEMORATE OUR VETERANS.

Read on from Mark Scott:

Proposal: Making Lemonade out of Lemons

In its simplest terms, I propose we tear down the coliseum and get on with our lives. However, I would like to propose a concept for an urban park experience, incentivize private development (on private land) and create a truly unique memorial to our veterans.

The general goal will be to create a unique urban park destination, (I propose “Memorial Park”) with a significant Memorial feature, while taking the basket of incentives we were proposing to use with the Brass project and offer them to any land owner in that area of downtown. In the end, we would have a great urban park, similar to the Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston, and leverage it along with incentives to stimulate private development in that area.

As such, I propose we move forward with:

1) Remove Memorial Coliseum – I am going to request that we task the City Manager with setting out the necessary steps to demolish the building. I am assuming there are several steps that need to occur whether you renovate or remove the building such as an Asbestos Report (necessary for either renovating or demolishing). I understand that we will visit with the National Swim Center group, but want to move both conversations along a parallel track so that time is not lost.
2) Create a Park Conservancy – This Conservancy would consist of private sector individuals (again similar to the Discovery Green project) and be tasked with coordinating the park design and fundraising for its completion. I see the Conservancy managing the park once completed.

I also see the park effort as a public/private venture that would include the City of Corpus Christi, the Downtown Management District and the Memorial Park Conservancy. The park land would include several pad sites for restaurants and retail shops. Again, I propose using the Discovery Park concept in Houston as our guide on this initiative.

3) Engage the Mayors Committee on Veterans Affairs as well as other veteran organizations to work with the Conservancy/City in developing a truly unique and regionally (if not nationally) recognizable memorial. The Memorial would be incorporated in the Memorial park.

4) Take the “basket of incentives” that we were offering in our most recent RFP and in negotiations with Brass and offer them to the private land owners in that area of downtown. Let’s work to leverage this park and incentives to create the development we are working so hard to gain.

The goal various groups have been working for include maintaining public space, recognizing the Memorial dedicated years ago, and stimulating development. The Memorial Park concept can achieve these goals, probably with the least amount of controversy and public outcry.