MAY 21, 2013 ROTARY IN REVIEW:
David Kansas, American Public Media
Posted by Joseph Beckman
on May 21, 2013
Minnesota Public Radio® is one of the nation's premier public radio stations producing programming for radio, online and live audiences. With its three services — MPR News, Classical MPR and 89.3 The Current — operating a 43-station regional radio network and serving a regional population of 5 million people, MPR has 127,150 members and one million listeners each week.
President Dan McKeown opened the meeting on a spring day more suitable for a duck than baseball. The Twins got it right this week, and are out of town. Maybe we’re finally getting in sync with the weather!
Special guest Jon Bon Jovi had to cancel at the last minute, so in President Dan invited JERRY FALETTI to lead everyone in singing America the Beautiful. He filled in wonderfully, and DOUG HARTFORD did a fine job of tickling the ivories.
Chuck Graham delivered the invocation, focusing on the survivors and first responders to yesterday’s natural disaster in Moore, Oklahoma. Carolyn Brusseau followed up with a memorial for Gage N. (“no middle initial,” seriously!) Colby, DDS. Even your Scribe does not make light of these sort of things folks, so keep them all in your prayers.
Jill Petzel introduced the week’s guests, including Joachim Neugart, a visiting Rotarian who is the director of Neuss Chamber Orchestra! St. Paul is quite a distance from the Rhineland to travel for lunch, so we hope he deemed the green bean/carrot vegetable combo worth the trip. (Seriously, though, the orchestra is currently on tour in the US, and Joachim apparently on a tour of US Rotary Clubs.)
President Dan** thanked MIKE HERNANDEZ and Ed Coleman for their service as door greeters. Ed later introduced Mike as Club 10’s newest Rotarian. Welcome, Mike!
It is “birthday week,” and Rotarians Doug Hartford, Jim Field, Chuck Graham, Bill Kansas, Jill Petzel, Jim Delamater and Sarah Kolar were acknowledged. Jerry Faletti and Doug Hartford reprised their musical turn to lead a rousing stanza ofRubber Duckie Happy Birthday. Perhaps not satisfied with the crowd’s response to their main act, Doug ended with a flourish, adding several measures of what may have been Crocodile Rock after the group finished singing. (Or something else. Your Scribe sort of stunk at “Name that Tune” and cheered when it was canceled.)
Next, Jim Delamater gave a preview of the upcoming Fellowship Day at White Bear Lake Country Club. You can sign up here, or contact Sherry. The afternoon begins with a lunch buffet at 12:00 p.m. After that, in addition to the golf, tennis and biking options available in past years, there will be a motorcycle tour and a card games. The afternoon will end with a cash bar beginning at 5:30, and dinner/awards at 7:00 p.m.
President Dan moved for the passage of a bylaw change previously disseminated to all Club members. The change permits some flexibility with regard to the changing of the guard (which occurs in July each year) and is as follows:
Section 4, Term. The installation of officers and directors shall take place the last scheduled meeting in June or the first scheduled meeting in July, and they shall serve for the ensuing year or until their successors are elected and installed. Directors shall serve for a term of two (2) years.
Sarah Kolar led a lively round of “happy dollars.” Michael-jon Pease stole the show by kicking in 100 times the typical Happy Dollar contribution in honor of receiving the right to marry in Minnesota last week! Happy Dollars this week also included also a raft of end of the academic year gratitude for the academic performance of children from high school to medical school. Your Scribe is suitably intimidated, and resolves to hire Pig Latin, Origami and Rubix Cube tutors for his children this summer.
CAROLYN BRUSSEAU introduced our speaker. Dave Kansas is Senior Vice President of Content and Chief Operating Officer for American Public Media. Based in Saint Paul, he is the senior executive overseeing all content, including regional and national programming. He also oversees the operations of American Public Media, including its multi-state station networks in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota Public Radio) and Florida (Classical South Florida). Before that, Dave was with Wall Street Journal.
Dave, a native of St. Paul, recounted his adventures in print media that have literally moved him across the globe. He returned home to the challenge of transitioning his media savvy to radio, which is (of course) much more than what we all remember from the days of the battery operated transistor or for some, the shoulder mounted Boom‑box!
American Public Media (which we in St. Paul may be inclined to refer to as “MPR”) is actually one of the largest suppliers of classical music to radio stations across the country. Although the internet requires that APM/MPR add a meaningful visual component to an historically audio medium, its bread and butter remains the airwaves: roughly 94% of its revenues come from over the air broadcasts.
After a snappy presentation that veered from print to radio to internet, Dave took fifteen minutes of audience questions. The discussion was spirited and covered topics as varied as “on demand” programming, podcasts, satellite radio, APM/MPR content via various apps (but, unfortunately, no Pandora or IHeartRadio yet).
Dan McKeown thanked David Kansas, and made a donation in his name to the Read with Me program of the Saint Paul Public Library. He also reminded all to please complete the survey on Club volunteer activities to help leadership focus volunteer efforts for the coming year.
** At or about this time, apparently through moderately clenched teeth, President Dan acknowledged your Scribe’s “service” for the day. Then again, your
Scribe has new contact lenses, so maybe his teeth were not clenched.
Joe Beckman
Scribe
Special guest Jon Bon Jovi had to cancel at the last minute, so in President Dan invited JERRY FALETTI to lead everyone in singing America the Beautiful. He filled in wonderfully, and DOUG HARTFORD did a fine job of tickling the ivories.
Chuck Graham delivered the invocation, focusing on the survivors and first responders to yesterday’s natural disaster in Moore, Oklahoma. Carolyn Brusseau followed up with a memorial for Gage N. (“no middle initial,” seriously!) Colby, DDS. Even your Scribe does not make light of these sort of things folks, so keep them all in your prayers.
Jill Petzel introduced the week’s guests, including Joachim Neugart, a visiting Rotarian who is the director of Neuss Chamber Orchestra! St. Paul is quite a distance from the Rhineland to travel for lunch, so we hope he deemed the green bean/carrot vegetable combo worth the trip. (Seriously, though, the orchestra is currently on tour in the US, and Joachim apparently on a tour of US Rotary Clubs.)
President Dan** thanked MIKE HERNANDEZ and Ed Coleman for their service as door greeters. Ed later introduced Mike as Club 10’s newest Rotarian. Welcome, Mike!It is “birthday week,” and Rotarians Doug Hartford, Jim Field, Chuck Graham, Bill Kansas, Jill Petzel, Jim Delamater and Sarah Kolar were acknowledged. Jerry Faletti and Doug Hartford reprised their musical turn to lead a rousing stanza of
Next, Jim Delamater gave a preview of the upcoming Fellowship Day at White Bear Lake Country Club. You can sign up here, or contact Sherry. The afternoon begins with a lunch buffet at 12:00 p.m. After that, in addition to the golf, tennis and biking options available in past years, there will be a motorcycle tour and a card games. The afternoon will end with a cash bar beginning at 5:30, and dinner/awards at 7:00 p.m.
President Dan moved for the passage of a bylaw change previously disseminated to all Club members. The change permits some flexibility with regard to the changing of the guard (which occurs in July each year) and is as follows:
Section 4, Term. The installation of officers and directors shall take place the last scheduled meeting in June or the first scheduled meeting in July, and they shall serve for the ensuing year or until their successors are elected and installed. Directors shall serve for a term of two (2) years.
Sarah Kolar led a lively round of “happy dollars.” Michael-jon Pease stole the show by kicking in 100 times the typical Happy Dollar contribution in honor of receiving the right to marry in Minnesota last week! Happy Dollars this week also included also a raft of end of the academic year gratitude for the academic performance of children from high school to medical school. Your Scribe is suitably intimidated, and resolves to hire Pig Latin, Origami and Rubix Cube tutors for his children this summer.
CAROLYN BRUSSEAU introduced our speaker. Dave Kansas is Senior Vice President of Content and Chief Operating Officer for American Public Media. Based in Saint Paul, he is the senior executive overseeing all content, including regional and national programming. He also oversees the operations of American Public Media, including its multi-state station networks in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota Public Radio) and Florida (Classical South Florida). Before that, Dave was with Wall Street Journal.
Dave, a native of St. Paul, recounted his adventures in print media that have literally moved him across the globe. He returned home to the challenge of transitioning his media savvy to radio, which is (of course) much more than what we all remember from the days of the battery operated transistor or for some, the shoulder mounted Boom‑box!
American Public Media (which we in St. Paul may be inclined to refer to as “MPR”) is actually one of the largest suppliers of classical music to radio stations across the country. Although the internet requires that APM/MPR add a meaningful visual component to an historically audio medium, its bread and butter remains the airwaves: roughly 94% of its revenues come from over the air broadcasts.
After a snappy presentation that veered from print to radio to internet, Dave took fifteen minutes of audience questions. The discussion was spirited and covered topics as varied as “on demand” programming, podcasts, satellite radio, APM/MPR content via various apps (but, unfortunately, no Pandora or IHeartRadio yet).
Dan McKeown thanked David Kansas, and made a donation in his name to the Read with Me program of the Saint Paul Public Library. He also reminded all to please complete the survey on Club volunteer activities to help leadership focus volunteer efforts for the coming year.
** At or about this time, apparently through moderately clenched teeth, President Dan acknowledged your Scribe’s “service” for the day. Then again, your
Scribe has new contact lenses, so maybe his teeth were not clenched. Joe Beckman
Scribe