Tanya Odorizzi landed her job as a promotions assistant after becoming
a victim of her radio station's good marketing. "It was a contest, a silly
radio thing," she says.
"I was down on my luck for a couple of months, feeling really depressed.
I was listening to a morning radio show....The contest was 'Tell us why you
deserve to have an overnight stay at a resort.' I told them my sad story.
By then I'd sent out 92 applications with no response."
Odorizzi won the prize -- and in the process met the woman who would become
her boss. "I love my job. I wouldn't trade it for anything!" she says.
"I've always wanted to do promotion. It's kind of a family thing. My cousin
is in television and I heard my family talking about it. Then when I got older,
my cousin asked me to volunteer at a telethon his station was running. I kept
volunteering and decided to try to make it a career for the rest of my life."
Odorizzi's favorite promotion was one where a sailing magazine wanted to
promote boat safety and asked her to spend a sunny afternoon out on deck.
"This work is a lot of fun. There's a lot of weekend work -- this isn't a
Monday-to-Friday type job.
"It's considered glamorous," adds Odorizzi. "People...think of people like
Howard Stern or Connie Chung. And you do become sort of a celebrity locally
and with your family. You're a star in their eyes."
Stephanie Martin, promotions coordinator and traffic manager at a radio
station in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, started in sales. "Although I started
in sales, this position was 'created' for me. I do enjoy coming up with ideas,
creating promotions for our clients and helping to bring them to fruition.
It's never dull and boring," she says.
"I have to make sure everything is ready for a promotion or remote. I have
a checklist: logs for the on-air talent, prizes for [the] giveaway, entry
box, pads, pens, games to play, displays, promotional merchandise and so on.
When doing an event like a beer tasting -- a game show take-off -- I put together
the visual props, the staging of the staff and listeners, and physically help
out where necessary."
J.P. Stephens is promotions director for a radio station in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina. "I like the idea of getting free tickets and merchandise to
help promote my radio station. There's something pretty empowering about asking
for things and giving them away. It's a lesson I've used often outside of
work."
Stephens admits there are challenges. "I work for a radio station with
a very small broadcast radius. It's tough, sometimes, convincing people that
they ought to advertise with us in exchange for promotional items. Also, having
to fax in guest lists can become tiresome."
He recommends this career "to anyone who works well with people, particularly
those who have good telephone skills. You get to meet some really cool people
and get some cool free stuff."