Thoughts for the Chairman's Report 2012

Fit for purpose - a message, a saying, that Warren Vickery wanted me to remember as we said goodbye at the Hospice.
Warren was referring to dealings with the Government's fobbing UMSi off from getting an Auckland wide frequency with their machinations on granting us a license that had so many restrictions.
What the Government (and it's agencies) was offering was definitely NOT fit for purpose in Warren's mind. A mind that was continuing to plan/plot/strategise around these impossible conditions and to achieve an Auckland wide frequency for the Unforgettable Music Society.
I wonder what Warren would have made of Lawyer Mai Chen's book, Public Law Toolbox. Her book has advice on where to go, who to see and how to make representations. Instead of hiring a costly legal team to fight a battle against a government decision, she advises spending time hunting out the right body to take up the cudgels on your behalf.
Chen writes that, dealing with government does not have to be David vs Goliath. "Governments have unique vulnerabilities."
Secondly, timing is critical. "Most clients do not understand that government works to yearly and three-yearly (election) timetables.
Thirdly, find a common national or public interest. "The most important determinant for success in fixing a problem with government is not who you know, as clients often think, but whether there is a shared national or public interest for fixing a problem. Politicians and officials have to be able to justify policy or law reform, or expenditure of public funds to the electorate. The skill is in finding a shared interest with government in having a problem resolved.
Finding a national or public interest was a suggestion that had the UM Society try to develop a relationship with Grey Power. Warren was the main driver in that. I'm not sure that our Unforgettable Music voice has risen high enough up in the concerns of Grey Power as a body.
You may have seen/heard that Kiwi FM has been allowed to relax their commitment to all NZ music from 100 to 60%.
Ministry of Economic Development was looking at including the non-commercial Kiwi FM frequencies for Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and two others - all of which were set aside for the youth radio network - in a review.
Whether that review gives us any opportunities to lobby our cause for the music for the Seniors of this country and steer the Government boffins away from youth radio network thoughts.
A John Drinnan story on Kiwi FM suggests that Government tender could realign the division between the two players in the commercial radio duopoly of Radio Network and Radio Works. That is especially the case in Auckland where the two firms are finely balanced.
With the passing of Warren and no visible means of financial support to get our Auckland-wide radio dreams up and running - is the Unforgettable Music Society 'fit for purpose'
Maybe the internet is a way of the future. Social media giants in Google and Facebook are using the radio model in some ways, offering a free service in exchange with putting up with some Ads. Facebook has to offer something to its users to attract more eyes that appeal to advertisers. Much like a radio programme attracts ears (listeners) to sell to businesses that want to use those ears to get to the purchasing minds. Somehow the social media likes of Facebook are (appealing to their users egos) getting more involved with their users, learning more about each and everyone of them to customise sales messages in a way radio hasn't been able to. Imagine an Ad break between songs that has different messages targeted at different listeners - individualised to each listener. Rather than say, just having Auckland Ads for Auckland listeners and Christchurch Ads for Christchurch listeners.
Maybe if we are streaming Unforgettable Music on the internet we could engage with listeners with our common interest in music. Maybe we could create podcasts on feature artists (Today FM Tonight At Seven style) and these podcasts could have targeted Ads based on customer supplied information.
At the moment we have a number of individual low power fm stations (mostly in Auckland) that use a base of Unforgettable Music to deliver their own particular style.

After posting this, through Richard Phelps on FB, I can across a discussion on using QR codes on radio