Getting To Know People Who Make Our Advertising Happen – 3 Questions with Rob Wasson and Julie Wilder
Media is obviously a people-business. Personalities on-air, on-line and in social media create content that attracts audiences.
But many more people are involved in our daily operations than just the voices you hear, the faces you see or the authors you read. Without these behind-the-scenes roles, sponsorship fulfillment to our audiences wouldn’t happen.
Today, Radio Indiana introduces you to Rob Wasson and Julie Wilder, of the Traffic and Continuity Department here at Emmis.
Rob and Julie both have an extensive history in radio, and both stayed on staff with Emmis Communications after their respective companies were bought out. Both Rob and Julie have a passion for the broadcasting industry and they go above and beyond to ensure our clients get their ads on the air. Many people don’t get a chance to learn about traffic and continuity, but without Rob and Julie you wouldn’t hear a thing when you tune to any of our stations locally, and across the state!
It is their job to make sure the commercials not only get onto the air but also that the right one is playing. Imagine that each commercial is a piece to a giant puzzle. Once each piece is set in place they then have to ad what color goes on that puzzle piece. Not only that, but they have to make sure another piece with the same color isn’t placed too close to it.
Explain your job to someone who doesn’t know exactly what you do.
Julie: “Traffic is taking where the clients want to run on that station, and making sure they air where they want to. Continuity is the commercial that is associated with that. Making sure you aren’t running a Fourth of July spot (industry term for a radio commercial) when it’s Memorial Day.”
Rob: “We put the spots on the air and we work hard to schedule them were the client wants them. We take the spot that clients have sent us, or we have one made here, and get them on air.” http://radio-indiana.com/20150304/beyond-the-mic-meet-the-men-behind-your-radio-ads/
What skills do you have to have to work in this position?
Julie: “Not just anybody can work in this position and make sure everything is right. You have to be fairly detailed and have to have an attention to detail. If you don’t, you will drown. And if you can’t multitask you will drown.”
Rob: “The biggest challenge is because everything is running through our department we need constant communication.”
Are there any memorable moments when you have fixed issues that could have caused a problem for the clients/listeners?
Julie: “I can’t think of any specific moments…Back in the day we were always on call so it would be nothing for me to get a call at 2 in the morning, ‘Hey, this spots not on.’ Now that technology has changed so much I can get on my computer at home and see if another one of our stations are running it.”
Rob: “We are almost like a well-oiled machine in the fact that we have dealt with most situations, although there are still some surprises every now and then. We need communication back from others and sometimes it doesn’t happen, so that is the most challenging part because if we don’t get information then things stop here.”