Thanks to everyone for making the 2012 Spring Membership drive a success! If you did not renew or become a member during the drive, it isn't too late - you can still pledge online or by calling 800-286-7002. If you are curious about what goes on up in the studio during the membership drives, click on the photo to view a gallery of images.
Friday - March 30, (morning) OUR GOAL WAS MET! Just before 9AM this morning we were able to return to our programming and end the Membership Drive early – THANK YOU! It is always so gratifying to be a part of the WWNO team during the Membership Drives. We love hearing from you and we do pay attention to your comments so please keep commenting (year round!) Our volunteer corps is simply amazing and such a fun group of people, if you have been thinking about getting involved, please do reach out to Maria via email – mcicio@uno.edu. We will be at the French Quarter Fest next. Also, like I have been saying all week, our food vendors have outdone themselves this year. Go visit Canal St. Bistro, The Rendon Inn, Café Granada, PJ’s, The Whole Foods Market and Southern Candy Makers…they do New Orleans proud!
Thursday - March 29, (evening) You did not just hear Yoda or Christopher Walken on our air-waves…that was James Arey and Farrar Hudkins with Jack Hopke. They do great impressions, huh?! Thanks to everyone for calling in tonight, we had a generous matching gift of $10,000 and your $’s were doubled tonight. The phone bank room was hoping and thanks to The Rendon Inn and Southern Candy Makers we (over) nourished, making our energy level match that of the ringing phones. We are on track now to finish the drive early tomorrow morning if we can maintain this momentum.
Thursday - March 29, (morning) If you missed Battle of the Sexes this morning you missed a valiant effort on behalf of the men but they just can't seem to win this battle! I will have to double check my records to be sure, but I think the women have been the champions each time we mount this battle. Phyllis Jordan and Diane Mack led the Women with GM Paul Maassen pitching for the Men. Sorry Paul - you will get another chance in the Fall. Thanks to everyone that called! We had a great team on the phones this morning including WWNO intern Lauren Menking and a great crew from Habitat for Humanity - Sarah LaRock, Erin Boyd, Gwyn Garrison and Jenna Mitchell. Everyone up here is in awe of Canal St. Bistro - delicious fresh juices every morning and todays breakfast was brisket and cheese omelette with biscuits. Go eat there!
Wednesday - March 28, (evening) A BIG WWNO welcome to our seventeen new members and new member, Molly Reid is the winner of our portable HD radio. Congratulation Molly, we will mail the radio to you tomorrow. Thanks to everyone that called in with a pledge, we had a record breaking night! Many of you chose the Jazz Fest tickets as your thank-you gift and we invite you to send us some photos or post them on Facebook (I'll remind you!) When you called our phone bank room tonight chances are you talked with Ron, Stephen, Rick or Lee and I am here to tell you, they had a great time talking to you. Rick tried to tell me he was only here for the gelato, but I know he was here for the pork chops! Two of our volunteers renewed their membership tonight at the Dollar-A-Day level and got to take their new JBL Radio out of the box and Stephen asked me to tell you, don't throw the instructions. Thanks again to the Rendon Inn for providing us all with dinner! Keep listening everybody and let us hear from you.
Wednesday - March 28, (morning) We had a very exciting morning here at the station! We kicked off the day by offering a pair of Jazz Fest Tickets at the dollar a day level. Our volunteers were ready and waiting as the phones lit up! Kristen, Shannon and Emily were here representing The Fringe Festival, along with WWNO volunteer veterans, Seuss and Ken. We exceeded our morning fund raising goal by the end of the two hours – and welcomed 30 new members into the WWNO family.
Canal Street Bistro once again provided a delicious breakfast to keep us fueled and motivated. Today’s selection was a Spanish breakfast of scrambled cheddar cheese and chorizo eggs, served with pico de gallo, corn tortillas and black beans. We washed it all down with fresh squeezed cinnamon apple juice. Not only is the food fresh and delicious, but Canal Street Bistro uses ecologically conscious packaging – all containers, from paper to plastic, are biodegradable and compostable. (Volunteer Coordinator, Maria Cicio reporting live from the phone bank room.)
Tuesday - March 27 (evening) - YAY! We just met our goal - thanks everybody for pledging and congratulations to Lora Davenport, the winner of our Portable HD Radio (we'll be mailing it to you tomorrow.) Georgette Ioup, Barbara Seide and Ron Cuccia talked for hours tonight on the phone but it didn't seem like work, did it guys? It is truly a joy talking to all our members during the drive and if you don't believe me, come up here and give it a try! Thanks tonight to the Rendon Inn for providing us with several glorious minutes of non-talking time (because we were eating the best comfort food I have had in some time.) Until tomorrow! Keep listening...
Tuesday - March 27 (morning) — Another successful morning thanks to our generous listeners out there! We started the day with a bit of technical drama when the University’s internet refused to cooperate, but that didn’t stop people from getting their pledges in. Thankfully, all systems were a go by the time things really started to rock ‘n roll. (So many Dollar-a-Day pledges coming through; it was awesome!) We had some real Membership Drive veterans from the WWNO Volunteer Corps manning the phones today, so once we were back online, things went smoothly. Thanks to Lisa Smyth, Kim Bellinger, Gavin Sutton, and of course, Jack Curry! Once again, Canal Street Bistro managed to wow everyone here at the station with some delicious breakfast that was a great way to wrap up the morning. Keep checking in with us here at the Membership Drive blog to learn about all the exciting plans we have brewing for the rest of the drive! (This report was brought to you by the membership office extraordinaire, Hallie Sheck.)
Monday - March 26 (evening) — We are in the midst of a $3,000 challenge grant right this second, and we are so close! Jack Hopke, Ros Wingerter and Sarah Burnette are on the air talking all about it — and we have Mary Dewitt Dukes, Jeff Brinkman, Suess Shelton, Georgette Ioup and Stephen Eipper here ready to take your pledge. In between talking to you, we are enjoying a DELICIOUS meal from Cafe Granada (seafood paela, patatas bravas, sweet and savory mango spring mix salad) I highly recommend it - it is too late for you to eat with us, but you can visit their restaurant at 1506 S. Carrollton. OH and the gelato from La Divina...divine for sure. The food keeps us nourished so we can take your pledges, because that is why we are here and we truly enjoy talking to you! Please share your comments with us when you call (there is room online for your comments too!) We will share them where we can.
Saturday - March 24 (afternoon) - We met our goal for this shift thanks to a very generous donor from Ponchatoula. She called in and offered a $1,000.00 match - and you responded helping us to reach our goal just in time, thank you! Richard McCarthy, Poppy Tooker and Paul Maassen have left the building now, but the special Farmers Market thank-you gift is still on our pledge page for a little while longer. You have the option of receiving $20.00 of Farmer's Market tokens for your $160.00 pledge, or $60.00 for your Dollar-A-Day membership.
Saturday - March 24 (morning) - Have you been listening to Fred Kasten with Peter Ricchiuti and Katy Caraway this morning? If so, you heard that today is Katy's birthday and that Peter made it in after hanging with the big boys until 2:00 AM last night! Be sure to say Happy Birthday to Katy when you call in with your pledge, it will make her day. Thanks to our fantastic volunteers for helping out on the phones this morning. Kate Holcomb, Anna Walton, Tion McGhee, Mary Dewitt Dukes and Karen Snyder - we couldn't do it without you!
We are extremely well-fed up here again today, thanks to Canal St. Bistro, Laurel St. Bakery, Whole Foods Market AND Southern Candy Makers...you too can enjoy these delicious meals by emailing mcicio@my.uno.edu and signing up for our volunteer corps.
Keep listening! And help us reach our fundraising goals today - links below.
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Friday, March 23 - Thanks to all the WWNO members that responded to the Kick-Off Hour this morning, we met our goal — a day's worth of fundraising in just one hour! We had a great time talking to you and the morning went extremely smooth (despite the rain) in no small part due to our great volunteers: Kate Martin, Beverly Barry, Stephanie Reed, Jeff Brinkman and Georgette Ioup.
AND we were all happily fed thanks to Laurel Street Bakery, Whole Foods Market and Canal Street Bistro — yummy! Please frequent these great establishments and let them know you listen to WWNO, too.
To see the photos click on the image gallery above.
Make your donation to Support WWNO during our Spring Membership Week!