Beginning my term as President of the Board

I had a good time last night at the Blues Power benefit concert for Tom Wendt.  It was inspiring to see how many people have been touched by a long-time KBOO DJ.  Personally, if not for KBOO, I would not have learned to listen to and enjoy non-pop music like blues and bluegrass.

Tonight is the first meeting that I'll chair as President of the KBOO Foundation Board of Directors.  The agenda is posted here: kboo.fm/node/11163. 

If anyone is reading this, one topic I'm interested in discussing is how do members feel about the juxtaposition of our new (well-done in my opinion) underwriter announcements with the "non-commercial" aspect of KBOO?  Our underwriter spots fit the definition of non-commercial that will satisfy the FCC and maintain our non-profit status.  And we can put the sponsor donations to good use.  But I know that when NPR started having their environmental programs sponsored by ADM, I looked askance. 

We're going to be making changes to the Program Guide and decreasing the ability to generate ad revenue from that source.  Does the on-air recognition of local business underwriters who support KBOO fit with our values--are we still volunteer-driven, listerner-supported, non-commercial community radio?

Another topic on my agenda as the incoming President is to move forward with a 2nd Stream on kboo.fm.  I'm of the opinion that we can afford the technological upgrades needed to make it happen, but we need energy for programming another 24 hours of compelling radio.  Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

I'll be visiting my parents in California next week, so I'll be unfortunately miss Amy Goodman's appearance at the Bagdad 11/23.  I've been pleased with the scheduling move of Democracy Now! and find her to be an invaluable source of in-depth news stories about things that really matter.