President’s Report 2022
12 June 2022
Good Afternoon.
The time period in review is 1 September 2020 to August 31, 2021, as well as an update as to where we stand now.
Board Meetings:
The Directors met as a Board only 4 times during the fiscal year:
October 17, 2020.
February 12, 2021
June 30, 2021
and March 29, 2021, which was a special planning session in order to discuss a CIDI Business Plan proposed by the former host of the Luminaries, David James.
In addition, CIDI held its Annual General Meeting on April 25, 2021.
Fund Raising Activities:
Due to Covid we held no public meetings or fund-raising events. Instead we were obliged to set out clear health guidelines and procedures in house in order to protect staff and volunteers.
Investments:
It has been a very good year for CIDI. As our Treasurer Mr. Bushenbaum has reported once again our income exceeded our expenditures. We were able to spend some of these profits on major upgrades to our studio, our equipment and our capabilities. In the words of Kelsey Renaud who was given the mandate to make such important improvements best suited to our needs, and I quote
“For major upgrades CIDI, with the help of the MCCQ (Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Quebec)
Installed a new bigger storage server for archiving audio and video footage
Updated our studio mixers and microphones to improve the sound quality of our productions
Created a new video studio to allow the recording of our YouTube content
The studio setup can also easily be packed and brought out on location if needed
Purchased an all in one recorder/microphone for our reporters out on location
Purchased a new mixer for bigger on location event recordings (example brome fair)
Replaced the broadcasting computer (the old one is currently being stored safely and kept as a backup)
We’ve purchased 5 different computers to:
Update old hardware in the studios
Install in the new video studio
Replace our administration computer (the old computer is still being used to work from home)
Allow our editors to have the tools to work from home during the pandemic
Just want to say that this was the wish list, and we bought it all.
Minor upgrades:
Installed a conference TV in the office for presentations and zoom meetings
Installed a new uninterrupted power supply for our network which gives us email notifications if we lose power, improving our response time
Purchased 2 new cleaning robots to mop and vacuum to keep the office and studio space clean more regularly, which reduced our cleaning expenses.”
I say money well spent.
Our Programing:
The Technicians, without whom we could not operate:
Kelsey Renault, Yvon Grondin, Jean Landry, Ben McAuley, & Donald Finigan who record and edit all of our local shows. Thank you. We also have Daniel Coulombe from CJMQ who produces a local show from Sherbrooke every Friday for both CJMQ and CIDI. One can listen to our Taylor McClure ‘s report from Brome Missisquoi just before 5:00.
Donald Finigan also ensures that all the shows and the playlists are in good order, and so much more.
With our brand-new video studio capabilities our staff (Kelsey Renault, Keegan Gagnon, Cody Pomkoski, and Adam Forino) created two successful video programs, the Song of the Week (9 episodes) and The Artist of the Week (30 episodes). All these short films are now available on our web site www.cidi991.com and on the CIDI YOUTUBE channel. This has been a superb example of how CIDI can highlight the artistic talent in our community. This project was fun to make for the artists as well as the staff. Truly CIDI being who we are. This project has been made possible by the Community Media Strategic Support Fund offered jointly by the Official Language Minority Community Media Consortium and the Government of Canada. Their crucial support is very much appreciated. We would also like to thank our Vice-President, Michele Bazin, for her role in obtaining the grant. Our grant has now come to an end, but the content remains, as does the technology and the expertise.
I strongly suggest to all that we drive viewers to these videos on our website and our YOUTUBE channel.
With our new technical abilities CIDI was able to partner with the Sutton Jazz Festival for 10 weeks of outdoor performances. CIDI plans to be even more visible at the Festival this year, with our new CIDI event tent, complete with banners and T-shirts and logos.
It is with great pleasure that CIDI has become the Official Media Sponsor and active participant in the TOURS Des ARTS.
Our partnership with the Town of Brome Lake improves every year, as we are called upon to provide outdoor music for numerous events.
More partnerships are in the works.
In 2018, thanks to a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada, we started up a three-year pilot project to establish a local weekly news department at CIDI. Executive Producer and Host Holly Bailey got the project up and running.
And thank you Holly Bailey for continuing once again to bring CIDI into the local elementary school population with the student generated radio project KIDCITIZEN.
Last year, we received an even more generous grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada. We developed two new versions of the interview show; both under the guidance of Holly Mueller and Gillian McCormack.
This is when we are really proud of what we do. Holly Mueller was a joy to work with. She did the job given to her by the CRFC very well and was able to parlay her experience at CIDI into obtaining new employment at CBC Radio in Sherbrooke. Young people gaining job experience at CIDI. This truly is who we are.
This year the Community Radio Fund of Canada has once again generously provided a new grant allowing us to hire Taylor McClure as our resident Journalist. Taylor comes to us with more experience and talent than a small station such as us could hope for.
To repeat; these initiatives have been made possible through grants provided by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the organization mandated to financially support campus and community radio stations in Canada. We are truly grateful for their generous support.
CIDI would also like to acknowledge our gratitude to the Minister of Culture and Communication of Quebec for their consistent, generous and sustaining support over many years, of which we are so appreciative. We would also like to acknowledge our gratitude to Young Canada Works which helped us pay the salary of 4 freshly or soon to be graduated students (Alexis-Adam-Ben and Alie)
And now Our Wonderful Hosts:
Yvon Grondin and the Ivan Hour
Donald Finigan and the State of Independence
Ask the Pastor with Tim Wiebe and Brent Robillard
The Townshippers now brought to us by Cisco Armstrong and Nikki Moar. Formally hosted by long term supporters Maggie Severs and Lisa Payne.
Jim Ferrier with the Bulletin Board
Ralph Bushenbaum and the Burning Bush From the Hall of Flame (638 shows aired and counting. Only Jim Ferrier’s Bulletin Board can claim seniority)
My Kind of Jazz by the late great Davis Joachim
Bee Santori with On The Air with Grampa Bob
Townships Tidbits with Taylor McClure
Country et Société with Jacques Marchand
Cultivating Community with Shelley Mizener
Bad to the Barn and Show Franco with Alexis Lefebvre.
The Friday Drive with Daniel Coulombe and Taylor McClure
The Lunch Break brought to us by Kelsey Renault.
And finally, The Classical Music of the World brought to us by Karen Kaderavek who just celebrated her 100th show last week!
Sixteen original Shows every week! More than twice as many original shows than the year before. I am not sure if I can adequately express how proud we as a board are of the quality of the content of these original shows. Some entertaining and fun. Some informative and inspiring. Some as good a quality as one might find anywhere on the fanciest dial.
For example:
Alexis Lefebvre created a country and western playlist so exciting that we keep repeating the all too few episodes over and over again because we just love listening to his music and his enthusiasm. Alexis is now working at very good job with CBC French Language in Alberta. CIDI provided this wonderfully talented young man a stepping stone to a possible new future. This is again one of those moments when the board is truly proud of what we do.
We would also like to recognize a former member of our board, Gillian McCormack, for hosting The Art of Gardening. Gillian’s show last year highlighted innovative gardens of the Townships, offered practical advice from local garden designers, and reflected on gardening in general. The Board of Directors would like to thank Gillian for her valuable contributions as a host and most of all as a wise and steady hand during her tenure on the board of CIDI.
I would like to now recognize three more crucial members of CIDI, who, along with Kelsey and his team, are now the heart and soul and the smooth-running engine which CIDI has become.
Angela Jette is our administration. She runs the office with efficiency and grace. We could not ask for more. Well actually that not strictly true. We will soon be asking Angela to take on a larger role in the coming years.
Alexandra Bonneville is our Programmer. Tireless, dedicated to detail, a brilliant computer whiz, a quiet power behind the curtain.
And given that we were all rightly concerned that the fate of the station often rested on Alie’s overworked shoulders, we hired an assistant. On the advice of Elaine Rogers, we hired Tony Mason, who is an experienced commercial artist. Therefore, in addition to backing up the programming responsibilities, Tony has brought a new consistency to our branding. We are grateful for his skills in better crafting our media presence and our web site. Next year we will talk more on web site.
The man most responsible for the coordination of all of our successes is Kelsey Renault! Thank you, Kelsey, for all you have done.
We have a great team. They play well with each other.
However, all good teams suffer losses. Last AGM we mourned the loss of Nick and Hans and Davis. On January 14th, 2022 we lost another dear CIDI friend. David Chapman was an excellent professional photographer. On the CIDI web site one can see multiple photographic images of our Eastern Townships, all of which David donated to CIDI at no charge. David Chapman was also an early supporter of our station, and the host of a long running rock and roll show on CIDI back in the early days. David’s wonderfully large photograph of a maple sugarbush hangs on the wall of our CIDI office as a reminder of his talent and his love for CIDI.
Transmission Tower:
In September 2019 lightning fried our transmitter. In April 2022 our antenna suffered a fatal mechanical failure. Therefore, our Tower is out of service, and we are now once again reduced to a minimal broadcast signal from our original transmitter on the roof of our offices in Knowlton as well as our on line capabilities. Last time we had an insurance policy, and support from the MCCQ (Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec). This time we did have a plan in place.
The largest problem over the history of CIDI Radio has been the interference caused by our sister station CFNJ-FM in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, which also broadcasts on the 99.1 frequency. Our transmission signal has always been too weak, and theirs too strong. Listeners are constantly frustrated; be they at home or in their car. Advertisers are more reluctant because of the spotty coverage. Numerous parts of our community have been unable to hear us. The need to solve this crucial problem had become our most important priority. In May 2021 the board hired the firm Octave Communications to carry out a review of what was needed. By March 2022 Octave had completed the technical studies, and we voted to proceed. In May we were able to order the new antenna. We expect delivery end of July, with installation in early August. In June Octave Communications submitted our application to the CRTC requesting authority to increase the strength of our broadcast signal. If the CRTC agrees to fast track our application then we might have a decision by September. If not, we might need to wait from 8 to 12 months. One way or other we are hopeful that they might rule favorably.
Therefore, we expect CIDI to be back up and running at our previous strength of 1400 Watts augmented with a much-improved broadcast tower by August.
Therefore, we are hopeful that the CRTC will approve an increase of our broadcast signal from 1400 Watts to 2000 Watts sometime in the next 12 months.
Let us review.
As I stated in the previous President’s report, we have vision. We have financial resources. We have steadily improving technology. We have excellent staff. Our future now rests in the good graces of the CRTC. Hope springs eternal.
I personally would like to thank the current Board of Directors for their thoughtful determination to make this wonderful Station a growing success. Job well done.
And finally, I would again like to express our special gratitude to our Vice President Michèle Bazin, as well as our newest board member, Anne Stairs, and Tony Mason, who are working so hard to raise the grants upon which we so depend. We really could not do this without you.
This concludes the President’s report.
Brian Herman
President/ CIDI