Yours truly has been knee deep in planning the mother of all
events: a live call-in auction on Cable Channel 20, happening the
weekend of May 21 through 23.
Yours truly has been knee deep in planning the mother of all events: a live call-in auction on Cable Channel 20, happening the weekend of May 21 through 23.
I have to say that the most exciting part of this event (besides raising some money for your community TV station), is that the entire community has a chance to get involved and benefit.
Businesses throughout northern and central California have begun donating to the CMAP auction, because in exchange, they’ll receive a daily thank you on channel 20 through June of 2004. This is nothing to sneeze at, but in addition, they’ll get accolades during the auction, while viewers bid on their items. Should be lots of fun. Now, you may be asking yourselves, who’s going to host this shindig?
Glad you asked! That’s where you “hams” come in. Lord knows I can’t host this entire event myself (if I’d like to have a singing voice by the end of the weekend), so we’re looking for a few good on camera personalities to help out. We can bribe you with food, drinks, and camera time, as well as a good time with the volunteers and staff at CMAP. Hosts will receive training in our studio, and you need only commit to as much time as you can offer. Having produced five of these things at other stations, I promise you, it’s a lot of fun.
Secondly, we’re recruiting non-profit organizations who would like some free publicity on the air. The deal is, four or five volunteers will take bids over the phone, live on Channel 20, in exchange for an interview once an hour so that they get a chance to plug the services their agency offers the community. Volunteers can also decorate our phone bank with a banner to further plug their website, etc. It’s a win-win, as they say.
Finally, there’s YOU, the community member. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll have an opportunity to score some great deals during our auction. Mark your calendars for May 21 through 23, live on Channel 20. Times will be announced as we get closer to the event, but I wanted to give you shopaholics fair warning.
One last reminder about our big event: it’s only available on cable, as satellite does not carry your local community channels. If you are one of the unfortunate ones that can’t get CMAP, never fear. You can be in our studio audience to bid on items. All items can be viewed on line beginning in May, so bookmark this one: www.mycmap.org. For further information about the auction, give me a call at 846-4983.
Suzanne St. John-Crane is the director of CMAP. She writes a regular column for publication in The Dispatch highlighting the news from our local television station.
