I ran for President of @97rockbuffalo to #MakeBuffaloRockAgain

South Buffalo candidate comes up short

It was a long hard battle but I came up short. It was my first attempt at competing in a promotion run by our local Buffalo classic rock station “The Mighty” 97 Rock [WGRF 96.7]. It was a good experience, even though I felt a little overwhelmed at the number of other candidates I was running against. I new it was a longshot but I gave it my all leading up to Election Day, November 8, 2016. Overall I received around 4% of the total votes cast with the winner getting about 29%.

I was serious about running and excited to win if elected. The incentives were great and I knew it would be a blast. But, it wasn’t my time and I’m still happy to live to see the next day. The overall experience was the biggest incentive for me: submitting my bid on the site, requesting all my friends and family to like my status, recording my campaign ad and hearing it on the station, and getting everyone to vote on election day. I considered all of it free promotion and a chance to increase my name as a brand in the field.

I heard the call to submit on the air on Oct 10th giving me a couple weeks to push for the 97 Facebook “LIKES” necessary to be considered. In just 12 days my FB friends came through and I received over 100 “LIKES” and as a result felt I had a shot at it. I even created a Facebook Event Page for my campaign. I was getting more and more excited about going into the studio to record my spot. The only problem was, I really wasn’t prepared with any real campaign script. I went in there cold and had nothing to say but state my name and recite my slogan “Make Buffalo Rock Again” with the station ID. I froze, as if I had never been in front of a radio station mic before.

I was introduced to the radio biz in 1998 working part-time for an AM station in Florida and since worked at 3 other terrestrial stations, as well as, creating my own internet radio station in 2004 [Flavor Radio]. At any rate, I had a weak commercial for my ad, and very little star power in the Buffalo rock scene. Most of my music dealings were promoting Christian Hip Hop artists and hosting events for that genre. It was a leap of faith, but in the end, I came up short. If I had to do it all again, I would – I regret none of it. Better luck next time.