BAHAMAS

CALLING ALL FOLK MUSIC FANS.

The beauty about doing a morning show on a radio station that allows you to play the music you love is that you get to share the music you love with your listeners. Red River Radio and the Morning Hike with John and Mike are no exceptions. This year I have had the privilege to wake up every morning, bike to school which is about 15 minutes, and then jam out to some of my favorite music for two hours.  Could life get any better?

I also get to talk to a very funny guy every morning, Mike Cuma.  The guy tells a funny story.

I want to pass on some advice that a wise lady shared with me earlier today. Cathy Hanson is a radio instructor at Red River College. I spoke with Cathy today about my show in search of feedback on how I could tighten it up and make things better. The message Cathy left me with is so simple, but I feel important to share with anyone interested in radio.

So today when I sat down with Cathy, she said you guys are doing great, you're just being yourself and that's funny. You guys aren't gimmicky or cheesy at all, which is exactly what your listeners want. She said you boys are authentic. Wow what I compliment I thought.  Not only did this make me feel good but it made me appreciate why I love doing my radio show so much, because it allows me to be me.

My big sister Emily bought me tickets to the Bahamas show on Tuesday, she must listen to my show because she knows I like Bahamas a ton. #respect

I hope you enjoy the track.
  

You know what you know.

The Morning Hike with John & Mike is now 8 weeks old. If you're unfamiliar with my blog I write about being on radio and my experiences operating a morning radio show at Red River College. The first few weeks were fun but kind of rough at times.  Lately, things are operating much smoother.

Myself and counterpart were not used to getting up at 5:00 am, we weren't used to having to produce material everyday and so many other little things that I will not bore you with them here. After 8 weeks we feel like we're cruising. Everything is getting easier and we're still having a blast doing it.

You really only know what you know. My point is that play music you know about, stuff you enjoy and talk about things that matter to you. If you do this you will come off as more sincere and your listeners will respect you for it.

                                                  My new motto "Know what you know"

The Sweater Contest

Recently on my morning radio show, the Morning Hike we launched a contest where we're giving away a very comfy and attractive sweater. The premise behind this contest is to have our listeners use our social media platforms to nominate and share a story about a nice person in their lives. We have received positive feedback from our peers and listeners about this contest and are happy to say that the Morning Hike is dedicated to making our costumers happy.

The beauty about running a contest where people get to share a feel good story is that it makes you feel good to win something for a friend or just someone you admire for being a great person. Running contests can be difficult and making people want to enter them can be even more difficult.

Here is what I've learned. Make them about the listeners, make them about the costumers and empower them with the feeling of belonging to your community. Read the best entries out on air and share them on your social media platforms. The world is a crazy yet simple place. I say this because sometimes it's the simplest things that get people talking and sharing stories with each other.

When you run a contest keep this in mind. Simple is good, and feel good is always nice.

Here is a track by The Lumineers, a band we have started to play more of on the Morning Hike. Very good stuff in my opinion. I hope you enjoy this track and have a great weekend.

   

Hearts of Gold

This past week, The Morning Hike had the opportunity and pleasure to interview two very kind people who are at very different stages in their lives. We interviewed the Dean of Business and Applied Arts Graham Thomson on Tuesday and Jackie Doming, a second year communications student here at Red River College on Thursday.  

The interview with Graham went quite well. We spoke with Graham about his participation in a fundraising effort known as Change for the Better. Change for the Better raises money that supports homeless employment programs. 

Graham participated in what is known as the CEO Sleep-out. Graham explained on the Morning Hike that this is supposed to raise awareness about homelessness and not stimulate it. Graham mentioned that it was a wakeup call on how privileged he is to be able to go home to a warm bed. The thing he said that was the most humbling was all the noise he heard down-town throughout the night. He mentioned that he was surprised at how consistently siren bells rang throughout the night.

The event brought awareness to two solutions to ending homelessness: (1) Employment and (2) housing.

Change for the Better is still fundraising - all year round. And they still hope to reach their goal of $150,000. Currently, they are at $111,595.

http://www.changeforthebetter.org/

Jackie Doming, a second year student at Red River College is doing some fundraising of her own. She has started a project called Threads of Hope. This projects purpose is to raise $10,000. This will be donated to the Children’s Wish Foundation. Jackie explained that she was intrinsically motivated to take on a project like this because she doesn't have any brothers or sisters. She further disclosed that her parents come from the Philippines and that the health care system is not as modern as here in Canada. Both of those things combined with her love for DIY activities sparked the campaign to sell clothing and accessories where the profits generated will go to benefit others in need. This indeed is very inspirational stuff.

You can learn more about this project by visiting Threads of Hopes website.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/tohclothing

You learn a lot from talking to people and even more from listening to what they have to say. Radio is a great medium for listening. These two very different people, in completely different stages in their lives, one ready to retire one just getting ready to launch their career are out spreading positivity in their own ways. It made me proud to be a part of something, the Red River College community and to have my part, in helping share their messages through radio.

This song is awesome; it's by The Head and the Heart. It's been getting a lot of air time on the Morning Hike these past few weeks.  Enjoy!