I'll be on the radio Sunday, Dec. 26. Please call and help me out!! (Live on realaudio 9:00 a.m. CST)

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I would also appreciate suggestions for discussion, with links, if possible. I have not really kept current with the issues for about four months, so I am reading up today.

This will be on WLS AM in Chicago, with Deborah Rowe. She starts at 9:00 a.m. with two other guests: Ken Larson, who is an emergency services manager from Georgia, and Professor Ray Wright. Deborah is fairly GI, but not an overt doomer.

My (other) nom de plume is Kirsten, because I get really nervous doing this.

Please be kind and gentle!!! I'll be focusing on just getting the words out. Thanks in advance for any suggestions...

Here is the link for realaudio.

http://www.wlsam.com/listenlive.asp

The phone number for the show is 312-591-8900.

-- mabel (mabel_louise@yahoo.com), December 24, 1999

Answers

Your going on the radio and you haven't been keeping up for FOUR months????

Don't bother...

-- (need@info.radio), December 24, 1999.


Dear Need,

I had researched Y2K for about FOUR months straight, from Dec. '98 to April, averaging ten hours per day.

I also kept fairly current over the summer.

Please refer to paragraph five above, and any brilliant thoughts would be immensely appreciated!!!

-- mabel (mabel_louise@yahoo.com), December 24, 1999.


Mabel Louise is a well-recognized person on this forum. Good luck, Mabel!

By all means, sysops, delete Hayley Mills.

-- (TrollPatrol@sheesh.now), December 24, 1999.


mabel: You may want to mention how many city/state/government "Y2K bunker" stories are hitting the mainstream press of late. I mean, it sure strikes me as being odd that the very politicians that are assuring us that Y2K is no biggie are THEMSELVES descending into a well protected and well stocked habitat prior to Y2K.

Hayley: Do you like to mudwrestle?

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), December 24, 1999.

I'll vouch for Mabel.....I heard her on Deborah's show, some months ago. She did an excellent job of describing some of the potential pitfalls of Y2K. She was the only guest, during that particular show- was very professional. I know she would appreciate ideas any of us have to let the public know there is more to Y2K than what the media feeds us. Deborah has been reading a lot about Y2K, and is very insightful and willing to listen....she's been doing these Y2K specials on a monthly basis, and this month, more often.

-- Jo Ann (MaJo@Michiana.com), December 24, 1999.


Go Mabel! I'll be listening in .... good luck!

Deb has been trying to do a Y2K show once a month at least from what I recall. I give her a lot of credit. She's done much more than any other "mainstream" talk show host at WLS or too many other clear channel AM talk radio stations.

She sounds like she's much more GI than she lets on. I hope she (and you!) know how much of a service you're doing.

break a leg......

L

-- Big89fan (windy@city.com), December 24, 1999.


You go girl!

I think a concise mention of streamlined preparations: water, beans, rice, some candles and some way to keep warm might be a genuine contribution once you've opened their minds to the unthinkable.

If you can clearly get across the concept of the Domino Effect of cascading failures of interconnected systems - and then proceed to explain how much oil we import (roughly 60%) and from which unprepared countries it comes from (Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, etc.) they can begin to connect the dots and see how this can EASILY snowball into a catastrophe with economic and social ramifications.

Good luck. Every little bit helps...

-- Sara Nealy (keithn@aloha.net), December 24, 1999.


Mabel...go luck to you.

I work at a talk radio radio so FWIW here's my tips:

I don't know if you've been on a radio program before, but don't worry it's a piece of cake if you remember a few things:

- Think about 5 points you'd like to leave the audience with. Prepare a case for each point. Anticipate that you'll be able to make 1 or 2.

i.e. "Think of preparations as insurance ... you wouldn't feel foolish about having fire insurance for your house." Or, "The Secretary of Education has said that they expect 1000 schools to have serious problems for y2k. Think about what that will mean for the pay your teachers get....the bus drivers... or the safety of your kids.

Whatever you decide are your points, keep it simple and short. If Deborah wants elaboration, you can be prepared to do that. Have a link or two available for people who want more info....

-If you're going to be live in studio ... bring your materials with you. It's radio...no one will think you are cheating if you have notes to refer to. If you're on the phone, you could be on the phone and have the internet up at the same time if you need to double check something (and if you have 2 phone lines).

- Have a glass of water nearby. If you're talking for any length of time, you'll get thirsty.

- Reiterate that you are not trying to start a panic or freak people out but that you are interested in giving people information so they can make a good decision. If you are wrong, no harm no foul. If, however, Koskinen or Commonwealth Edison's PR person is wrong, there will be hell to pay.

- Be aware of the time as you get to the top and bottom of the hour. If you have an important point to make, don't wait until then when the show breaks away for news and lengthy commercials. You're time will be cut short or the thought will be lost during the length break.

- If the host or guest asks you a question you don't want to/can't answer you can say, "I don't know." It's okay. Really. We'd rather hear that than BS.

- Also (here's a sneaky spin doctor technique I hate to recommend but it does work)....you don't have to answer every question asked of you in the way the host wants you to. For example, "Tell us Mabel, we know that planes won't fall from the sky...why are you worried they will?"

Don't say, "Well, you're right. I guess I'll go home and cry."

You could say, "Well, you'r probably right, Deborah, but I don't know that for sure. No one does. What we DO know is...." and then you go on to make one of your 5 important points. You control the direction of the information. The host can ask you questions all day about everything under the sun....but you can always say, "Well, sure, Deborah, but what we DO know is..." and make your point(s).

- Make the host feel good (they'll give you more air time that way and they won't cut you off as quickly) by saying things like, "Well that's a very important point." Or, "I'm really glad you brought that up," OR, "You know, Deborah, most people don't catch that." Flattery _does_ get you somewhere.

- If you'll be on the phone, make sure you are in a quiet room so you can hear the callers and the host clearly. Make sure you don't have a phone with call waiting...or make sure you have it shut off.

- have someone tape the show for you so you can hear it back later. You'll be amazed how good you really did. (trust me!)

- Relax and have a good time! It should be fun....

Mucho good luck....you'll do great....

-- Lara (nprbuff@hotmail.com), December 24, 1999.


Mabel,

Just some random tips...

In therapy we call it "framing"...structure your show from the get go for callers that have "good tips" for coping with a loss of any service (verses pollys wanting to erase your air time by redirecting your agenda to perpetuate the hoax myth).

Ask for any creative stories people heard from family that survived the great depression or WWII rationing (make sure these images are in person's minds).

The .gov panel will probably wanna placate persons, so be prepared to humiliate panel as irresponsible infront of your viewers, otherwise your city would be better off if you had no show at all.

I'd suggest you start and end your show by repeating a specific prep list. Info retention is an inverted bell curve, with the last 2 minutes of your broadcast remembered the best, the first 2 remembered well, and everything in the middle tends to blur. You can save some lives by repeating items on a list of preps.

Repetition is the basis of learning. Water, gallon a day per person. Water, gallon a day. Water, gallon a day till city turns tap back on or charity is doled out.

Pour rain water, etc., thru a coffee filter then boil 10-15min. City water, if still on, may be contaminated. Boil till you get a public announcement assuring it's safe (otherwise babies will be the first to die, from dehydration probably secondary to diarhea, ask "do you wanna take that chance? Of course not!").

Avoid posing general questions that get polly callers. It's too late to waste time debating if y2k is real, you need to pass on the life saving info to folks who are listening, and plant seeds in folks who are DWGI so they at least may adopt your game plan to some extent when things start to escalate.

Ask specific questions only like "How many gallons of water are you storing" "What are you planning to do if you lose power and heat for over 2 weeks? 2 days?" "How are you planning to address special medical concerns of family members?"...

If a polly calls anyway, just say "well, perhaps you and your family are willing to take that chance, but this show is devoted to the persons who would rather not take that chance" then hang up and make fun of caller (public humiliation is the strongest form of social control, so this will cut down on more time wasting polly callers).

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 25, 1999.


So much for manners!!

Yes, Deborah has read a lot because I've sent her reams.

The other guests will begin at 9:00, and I'll join at 10:00, until noon.

Thanks for the great suggestions.

It would be great if some GI's could call and make some hard-hitting points...

-- mabel (mabel_louise@yahoo.com), December 25, 1999.



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