Choosing the best place and time for a community media event is crucial.
In theory, a community FM radio event would be based on the highest hill in the centre of the coverage area. FM radio signals, unlike shortwave or AM, only travel in a straight line. Tall buildings in cities can block low power signals.
However, our experience in facilitating media events seems to indicate that the best choice is a building in the community where the most people will participate - even dropping by to see what's going on.
We are talking of participatory, grassroots communication - no studios, no professionals - public space media controlled by volunteers.
When the weather permits, being outside seems to create a great atmosphere for discussion of local issues and cultural celebration.
In mainstream media, essentially controlled by advertisers, the goal is simply to get as many as possible people listening to the broadcast.
Community media is more complicated; ideally we want a participating audience. We want as many people as possible talking rather than just listening consumers.
Also our audience can be much more targeted. In the first place, low power radio covers a restricted geographic area so we can assume our audience shares similar experiences. Also we are not controlled by advertisers so we can focus and entire event on, say, seniors.
But at the same time we have to scan the community to determine what else is going on at the time of our event - and plan accordingly.
If it's an FM Radio Special Event, we have to make sure that we have two months to prepare the documents and get permission for the broadcast.
