Board Blog: The Challenges of Running Your Station

Dear Student,

Whether you’re new at your job, applying for it now for the fall term, or you’ve been at it for some time now, you’ve got a lot coming toward you.

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Connor Spielmaker CBI Student Representative

My name is Connor, and I’m your student rep here at CBI. I’ve been running my campus TV station for coming up on two years now, and man, have I learned a lot. I wanted to share the basics of the most important things I’ve learned so far to get things started.

1. You, my young, college friend, are in charge.
Congratulations! You’ve just stepped into the realm of responsibility. You now have a full time job that you’re probably getting paid minimum wage (if at all) to do. Crazy, huh? The most important thing to remember is that you were selected for your position for a reason. I’ll be honest, I was promoted to Station Manager as a freshman, and I had no idea what I was doing. There’s a lot of learning as you go in college media, which is kind of the point since the main goal is to learn. Even though I had no idea what I was doing, I still had to act like it. Whoever hired you did so because they thought you could the job. If you couldn’t do it, you wouldn’t have been hired. So, sit down at your new desk, decide what you want to get done, and do it. Ask for help when you need it. Listen to the advice you’re given. Do not be afraid to fail.

2. Managing a group of college students is incredibly difficult.
Why? Because there’s a good chance these are more than your staff/coworkers. They’re probably your friends and classmates. They may have been there longer, and now you’re their boss. Make sure you draw the work/social line, and stick to it. There are rules in place for your operation to run smoothly. Make sure they are being followed. Sometimes you’re going to have to be stern to your friends, maybe even fire them. Just remember that every act you do (praise or discipline) provides a lesson. Don’t let your staff walk all over you because you’re afraid of losing friendships. You might think you’re being the best boss ever, but how does anyone learn from that? Which brings me to my next point …

3. You’re a professor.
Sure, you don’t have one of those fancy pieces of paper framed on your walls, and maybe you only have a year or two of your own education under your belt, but you were chosen for a reason (see number one). The people working under you, beside you and above you are all going to learn from you. Always put your best foot forward, and give the best information you possibly can.

4. You’re a fighter.
If there’s one take-away I have from these past two years, it’s that something or someone is going to get in your way at some point. Whether it’s your adviser, Student Government, your university administration, your budget, your mom, whatever it may be, you’re going to face challenges left and right. See, being behind the desk, we see things no other student will ever see. At some point, someone’s going to tell you no on an idea you think is awesome. Make sure you get a reason, so you can go back to the white board and figure a way to resolve that problem so you can move forward. Example: I have a small studio, and I brought on a new morning feature show. Problem: Can’t have a feature show on a hard news desk. Looks weird. Shall confuse the average freshman.
Solution: I went for a walk, found a really cool space overlooking our student union plaza, and decided that was our next studio. Next, I found the money after carefully analyzing our budget, and then I went to the student union staff and said “Hey look at this space that no one uses at nine in the morning. I can use it, and it’ll help students get a view of some of your programming space. Win-win!” Well-ah.

5. You’re going to make mistakes.
You’re 18-22 years old (give or take). You don’t have the experience that a tried professional in our industry has. So, naturally, you’re going to think a feature type news show at nine in the morning on an apathetic campus is a great idea (see above). Oops. Yeah, that’s right. I just admitted I spent two semesters on something that was doomed to fail. But, at least I can check that one off the list! I now know that 9 a.m. is a bad time for college students. Not everyone is a go-getter like we are. Who knew? Your mistakes don’t define your operation. They help you make awesome things that do define your operation. Don’t sweat them, but don’t repeat them.

I hope all of that was relatively informative. My main goal here in my small section of the internet is to give my fellow students some insight to know they’re not alone. But, I need to know what your challenges are. What is your station going through that you’d like some perspective on? Drop me a line at studentrep@askcbi.org and if it’s something that’s can be applied to a lot of people, I’d love to write about it. Also, feel free to just drop me a line to say hey! It’s always a great time to see what other people in my position are doing with their stations and lives.

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

Connor Spielmaker[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]