KSER Vision Quest

Thanks for this invitation to comment.

Over the years I have supported KSER as actively as I have been able from my across the Sound location.

Donations as I could afford, during the years when Ed kept things going on a shoestring. A miracle of survival.

Recently though it seems that success is allowing changes to be afforded, and it sounds like more outside programming is being purchased.

I do not have the time to dig into the budget and I trust the board to keep things financially on track but I suggest that extra funds be put first and foremost into local offerings. If I want to hear Lyn Rosseta Casper talk about food I can go to a big budget station and dig that up. Instead, why not develop a short program with the same host visiting a different restaurant every week? Start with your business believers and speak to the owners about their vision, and talk about the food while they offer a meal to be sampled by the host, including recipes provided by the owner. That might be an easy volunteer to find, and expanding the show beyond current business believers will alert the greater business community to the power of public radio. Probably recruiting more donations. And we don’t need Zorba Paster, when we have the local naturopathic folks. Local first please.

I would prefer to see the long term volunteers who have kept the station going be employed as paid volunteer coordinators, and programming consultants, using the funds available now for syndicated shows. Local first please.

The real value of KSER is as a canvas to exhibit the great genius of local volunteers who are passionate about a particular genre of music, or a focused belief. There are many folks who have such high quality of tastes that it is nearly always spectacular to be exposed to their high grade choices. Like having a wine expert buy you wine rather than the hit or miss of choosing a bottle off the shelf or selecting a CD by it’s cover.

Advertise for more DJ’s, let your new staff volunteer coordinator call for interested parties and start with a short weekly taped presentation that you can air during bbc overnight etc. recruit local genius. Bring on things besides music too, collect the possibilities and sort them out, while making program changes only due to attrition. ( I think here of groups I would never join, and because of that I do not know anything about how they think, like the churches or the military, or the institution of large corporations etc. members of the community I would probably not encounter, but maybe when I could not sleep it would help to have them drone on at 3 am, [one can only be so tolerant] )

Even genres I do not pay attention to are rewarding when selected by the enthusiasts. (I am not of the generation, but I always enjoyed B-sides for example, even when I would never select such music on my own, because it was constantly the best of that noise and worth listening to in order to perceive the art I would never have bothered with except at KSER)

But the big opportunity is one that I can find no good example of currently, that will have to evolve from the listening community over time, and that is a discussion show that can actually become a dialog about local circumstances. I know of no useful format yet discovered that will actually nourish conversation like a great dinner party. But maybe a show called “the party” or “the potluck” , or some form of expanded interaction, a huge multi party conference call?

But that is the potential for public use of the airwaves. Communication. And nothing works like a face to face yet, but radio has the best chance of doing this. And as we are swept along in the major transitions taking place in our world society it will require that true genius and insights come to the surface and we learn to follow and contribute to the great idea, not the great professional expert. We need to invite comments from younger people who are still forming concepts about the world so we learn of their sharp fresh perspectives. The folks who brought us our current economic collapse through their arrogant beliefs, will not be able to offer effective improvements because they are too thoroughly acculturated in a non functional system that has brought us things like prevalent cancers and unsustainable debts.

Also, don’t get caught by the feeling that growth and expansion is the primary measure of success, because we are seeing this paradigm collapse world wide. Community building and communication is a hopeful future and does not require a bigger audience, but will probably create one. So the question about a KSER point of view is difficult. We tend to limit the circle of our friends to those who say things we like to hear, but the world is much bigger than this or bush would have never become president. We need to find out how expansive the world can actually become.

Thanks for asking for input, and try not to just vote on what you air by counting the requests based on popularity. We need exposure to diversity. I find there are certain individuals who reflect my sense of taste in any genre they wish to explore and I want to pass on my sincere thanks for their time and energy spent in sorting through so much music in order to provide the listener with the best of the best from their personal choices.

My life is deeply enriched because of the opportunity KSER provides for many individuals to share their personal passions. Invest in local riches first.

Thanks for your efforts.