a re-print from “The Record”
CIDI, the little radio station that could, is chugging away making the grade. At our own pace we approach the summit of Patch Hill, our destination, always realizing there is a deadline to be reckoned with.
We, at Radio Communautaire Missisquoi (RCM), have managed to begin broadcasting, produce original programming and above all realize our mission statement, “Being Who We Are”. As small as it is, the statement resonates with our volunteers and community in a big way.
A five hundred watt transmitter is being erected on Patch Hill at this very moment (RCM’s goal), just outside of Knowlton, in our minds. A dream, like anything else, exists and therefore is a real thing. It materializes only when people believe it will, and that can only happen when there is sufficient confidence to nurture it along. “Being Who We Are” is the confidence builder.
Before our current fifty watt transmitter RCM had the dream of broadcasting from its studio rooftop to the Town of Brome Lake well planted in its collective mind. We couldn’t give up on the original plan back in 2004 of having the Patch Hill tower, so we created a work-around dream in order to solve the problem. Just because the money wasn’t in place, never meant the dream was dead.
Always, our goal is to reach the summit of Patch Hill and we believe that we’ll get there on our own steam. We are only as good as we sound and we have to believe in who we are in order to be the best that we can. People do notice.
The secret to producing CIDI’s radio shows is to never use the word “should”. You know, “one ‘should’ act like this, ‘should’ sound a certain way and ‘should’ never do that”. Freedom for RCM’s hosts to be who they are is of the utmost importance, if we want them to sound good. And they do. No restrictions, except for the obvious no-no’s such as profanity and the defamation of somebody’s character.
What I find, is that most people tend to have preconceived notions of what radio “should” sound like. It’s easy to fall into the trap of having radio hosts sound like smiley faces on steroids, but is it natural? Do our friends sound like that around the coffee table? Maybe. And, if one of them would like to be a host on CIDI then fine. As long as they are being who they are. That’s the trick.
As a community, we lack confidence when the standards of living are set by global thinkers trying to make everything the same, from the way our food is packaged to the way we act. After a while we begin to feel as though we no longer belong, because in order to succeed we have to fit into a ubiquitous lifestyle of sorts that permeates our very existence, turning us into something we’re not. It’s as if we are being absorbed by a huge commercial sponge.
CIDI dissolves this process and gives us back our lives. In an environment of acceptance and appreciation, our radio station broadcasts the true essence of who we are by simply “Being Who We Are”; bilingual, Canadian and true to ourselves.
Regardless, RCM still needs to raise $150, 000 by August 2011 (the latest CRTC deadline to be fully operational) in order to reach its full potential within Brome Missisquoi and Shefford. How good do we sound? It’s time to let us know. It only takes 15, 000 members, at ten dollars a piece to continue being who we are.
Go to our website (www.rcmmedia.org), fill out the membership form and join us at the summit.
Don’t forget. For this year’s Stop! show, June 21st, tickets are $15 and are available online at www.ovation.qc.ca and at the Maison de la Culture de Waterloo’s box office at 441 de la Cour in Waterloo (info: 450-539-4764). The show starts at 8 p.m. and features seven independent regional acts, six from this year’s TV Stop! battle of the bands show and last year’s winner.
If you’d like to place a vote for the public choice award or simply see what you’d be in for, as far as talent is concerned the night of the show, go to www.rcmmedia.org/blog/stop/. On the web page you can see the various videos of this season’s Stop! show performances.
Between its live Stop! awards show this Sunday, annual Stop! TV show and CIDI radio, RCM provides an opportunity for up and coming young acts to be seen and heard.
Being who we are is CIDI, lots of great shows, lots of wonderful hosts and terrific volunteers. Give us a listen, send us your comments and suggestions, we always want to hear from you all and play the stuff you want to hear.
For those of you who can’t pick us up on the radio go to our website and click on the live-streaming button. If you missed a show you can listen to it on the CIDI player or go to the show/host pages and listen to past programs.
Maurice Singfield is General Manager of Radio Communautaire Missisquoi and vice president of its board of direcors. Tel: 450-242-9873 / 1-888-539-2098
