When we listen to the radio, it’s easy to imagine the host chatting into the microphone and doing … something … on a computer to keep it all moving. However, it takes a whole crowd (working from home, of course; crowds are dangerous!) of knowledgeable, creative people (and some pretty fancy technology) to create each second you hear.
We want to reveal all the human effort that goes into an hour of CKUA programming. Your donations throughout our Fundraisers help support so many different things you may not even know about!
Let’s check out a day in the life of Andrea Sulyma, External Relations Coordinator:
I’m Andrea Sulyma, and I’ve worked at the mighty CKUA since 2018. I started out as the Marketing & Communications Coordinator, and in 2019 my role evolved into my current position as External Relations Coordinator. I coordinate various projects and tasks in the External Relations department. I also manage a number of graphic design projects, creating a visual identity for features, podcasts, ads, the ever-important annual report and more. While no two days are ever the same at CKUA, I am happy to give you a peek behind the curtain of a day in the life of this External Relations Coordinator.
9:00-ish am: I start my day with a strong cup of coffee and contemplate what it would be like to be a morning person. (Would I be more successful? Would I be more productive? Would I invent the next product to revolutionize modern society? I guess I will never know.) I check my email and set out work priorities for the day. Our next Fundraiser is fast approaching, and it requires a visual identity to go along with the campaign slogan, so that’s where I come in.
10:00am: My coffee cup runneth empty; time for a refill. I add a few tracks I heard on Mid-Morning Mojo to my Spotify playlist and get ready to dive into some graphic design work…but wait! A last-minute request just came in from our lovely Community Engagement Manager, Karen Howell. It wouldn’t be a typical day at CKUA without at least one last-minute request.
10:30am: Karen’s request is taken care of: mischief managed!
10:31am to 12:30pm: Now, back to creating those Fundraiser graphic concepts. How can I describe my creative process? Can you know the mighty ocean? Can you lasso a star from the sky? Can you put the wind in your pocket? No! Such is graphic design. I use these two focused hours to ignite some creative magic.
12:30pm: Time for lunch, which typically consists of…more coffee. I often like to walk over to my local little coffee shop and refuel for the afternoon (shout out to the Coffee Bureau! Great coffee and bagels).
1:15-ish pm: Catch up on email (no new last-minute requests) and put some finishing touches on the Fundraiser graphic concept mockups. I am about to send them out for feedback, but then I’m hit by a wave of doubt and uncertainty: are they too weird? Are they too boring? Do they align with the CKUA brand? I decide to hold off sending them out for the moment.
2:00pm: Time to meet with the Sponsorship team. I always look forward to meetings: not only are they essential for cross-department collaboration, but they help keep the day interesting and keep me feeling connected with my colleagues.
3:00pm: Enough dilly-dallying…I cross my fingers and fire off my Fundraiser graphic concepts. While I await feedback, I reassess my to-do list. The deadline to get our pre-show ad to the Calgary Underground Film Festival is nearly here, and Mandy Palubicki, our intrepid Senior Development Officer, needs me to check and make sure the CKUA logo one of our sponsorship partners is using is approved to move forward. These late-afternoon tasks will consume a couple more hours, and before I know it, it’s 5:00pm.
5:00-ish pm: Ads are sent. Logo use is approved. Email is checked one last time. Now, it’s time for happy hour.
Park Power
