College Radio Day: Pie a DJ!
College Radio Day: Pie a DJ!
Pay a dollar, pie a DJ.
That was WMHW’s motto for College Radio Day 2017. On Friday morning, Oct. 6, our executive staff and DJ’s gathered near the Bovee University Center to get pied in the face for donations. Armed with hot tracks and throwbacks from our hip hop station, 101.1 The Beat, and a few dozen bottles of whipped cream, we set up shop on the most heavily-trafficked area of campus, and invited everyone around to take part in our very first Pie a DJ event.
Our friends, fellow Central Michigan students and members of the community came out to support (and humiliate) us, with many paying as much as $5 to pie everyone present.
By the time we ran out of whipped cream at 4:30, over a hundred pies had been thrown and $115 dollars collected by our staff.
Apart from eating whipped cream in quantities that are otherwise frowned upon, our goal was to engage with our audience in a new, exciting ways.
In previous years, WMHW celebrated college radio day by broadcasting from the observatory atop Brooks Hall, Central Michigan’s science building. We’d throw free t-shirts to students below and interact with our listeners in an effort to raise awareness for college radio.
But this year, we decided to do something special.
Graduate Student Morgan Durfee Pies Station Manager, Abby Johnson, and Traffic Director, Maddy Hiller.
Our Traffic Director Maddy Hiller and 101.1 Program Director Wesley Heidkamp, along with our faculty advisor Jim Bollella, brainstormed the idea early in the semester, with the hope of shaking up our established routine. After the plan was made, we teased and later promoted the event on both our stations to spark interest.
The preparation for the event, from permissions to promotion to gathering supplies, mobilized our staff and gave us a fun objective for the beginning of the semester. Pie a DJ, by the time all was said and done, served not only to reintroduce WMHW to the community, but to unite our staff and kick off a semester full of exciting changes.
College Radio Day is about gathering to celebrate student radio everywhere, and it’s an important opportunity for us as future media professionals. This was our chance to tell everyone about what we do, and to reintroduce ourselves to our community.
I’ll get pied in the face for that.