Until very recently, I thought that a radio station was simply something you turned on with a switch, provided you had good batteries. I figured a radio station got out and about as an occasional event to give away bumper stickers.

The Flaps Jacks and Forties was a great idea to me! It was a way the station said thanks for listening and the free breakfast was greatly appreciated. Now I keep an ear out for them and so far have attended four, even taking off of work to attend. It would be odd for most to perceive drinking at 6:00am, but really for the longest time, that was an end of a shift for me. Also these events are one of the few times that I step out to such places; I enjoy the good nature and atmosphere of these remote broadcasts..

They even offer a vacation; that occurs during the college spring break season; known as, "The Spring Fling." You can purchase tickets to be part of the 98ROCK group; which are held down south in resorts, in such places as the Bahamas and Mexico. While there, they broadcast their shows; which can be entertaining as they report back to the listeners of what's going on.

Whether it is hearing the cajoling of the host and the complaining of Josh who is about to go down a water slide for the first time; or some sort of impromptu frat style stunt organized with the show and either a comedian or attending listener, is a blast. My favorite segment hear is the, "That Guy Awards," which was awarded on a daily basis to a person with a misadventure or misbehavior.

What I didn't really know was; just how many events that 98ROCK hosts or sponsors, how many at one time, or what was required in the sponsorship. 98ROCK sponsored the stage at the beer Garden for the Fells Point Festival; from there they broadcasted, but were also doing remote broadcasts from two other events of a different venue. I found out that radio is not a 9-5 job for most of the staff.

The personalities also regularly make themselves available for appearances. In fact when a listener showed up at the building where the studios are located; it lead to an on air discussion whether or not the show should grant permission to see the studios.  They decided not to, but they talked with the listener over the phone and on the air as it became an impromptu listener clinic on the best way to meet the personalities and hosts. Mickey mentioned that they should go to the sponsored events for the particular personality that they wanted to meet.

At the place they would have time to talk and get to know them better without interfering with their jobs. Other than that, just be a normal human being and enjoy yourself. He also stated that it would also be fulfilling the purpose that they are there for why the personality was there in the first place.

Radio waves are invisible, so of course they sponsor these events to be more physically visible and get their name out within different markets, but as a result they provide us with additional service and benefit well beyond the air waves. Sponsorship also goes far beyond a simple exchange of the station using the airwaves for the event in exchange for being visible at the event. There are the costs of the sponsorship that runs into the thousands and my pay upwards of $15,000 to offset the stage and sound rental as well, providing the entertainment that we hear.

They are also proud sponsors of The Towson Arts Festival, The Virgin [Mobile] Fest, as well many, many others throughout the year. They also have had a hand in The Red Bull Flutag, that was held at the Baltimore Inner Harbor in October 2006. Flutag is an event where homemade aircraft are built to certain guidelines, then with a human occupant, launched off of a floating platform 30 feet high.

98ROCK also had an entry in the event called the, "Flying V Guitar." Most of the entries crashed and burned right off of the ramp, but a record distance was set by one entry accomplishing 82ft in flight. After Flutag, I will never again consider the Inner Harbor crowded as there were over 70,000 people in attendance. I was on board the U.S.S. Constellation when that ship fired their cannon at a Naval Reserve entry.

Considering 98 is a rock station, there is no ending to the number of concerts that they sponsor. The additional benefit for the listener is that the sponsored event also gets much more airtime for the artist and the show, not only the music, but with interviews and on air appearances. I enjoyed this immensely with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. They also had a personality do the Emceeing.

One of the things that came as a shock to me is when 98ROCK started to broadcast the Baltimore Orioles games. That was the one thing that I would never expect that rock station to do. Though the Orioles broadcasting was short lived, they did pick up the Baltimore Ravens a little while later. WBAL seemed to always have the teams on the AM side, but not really keeping track of the teams, a lot is lost to me.

When 98ROCk also aired the Ravens programming it added to me a sense of appreciation for having a major sports team. The cover the training camps and interview players who seem to feel freer at discussing personal aspects of the sports and their lives, the cheerleaders and players make regular appearances on their show as well.

Unlike other FM stations, they have been able to maintain that FM element that they are well known for. Mickey and their sports guy, Keith Mills will be in a sports discussion and then Josh will ask a quirky offbeat question or asked them what they had for breakfast. Mickey was a judge at one of the cheerleader try outs, when one of the women auditioning for her routine, had her bust inserts fly out and stick to the floor like boneless chicken breasts. It was hilarious to hear Mickey explaining the modesty required, not to burst out laughing or exclaiming the psychically transmitted dread that the poor woman had.

Another aspect of going beyond the airwaves is in promotions and the various contests. Too numerous to describe as used in the contests, are both items and services; such as providing tickets for the concerts. With online sales, concerts can sell out within minutes and the only way to obtain them with through the contests. Usually stations have sections of seats reserved for this. At the Beer and Bacons it is not uncommon to have people that attended the various concerts, meet each other and talk again.

A good way radio can help out with charities is simply giving them a few minutes on the airwaves to announce a fundraiser or charitable event and 98ROCK helps out in this capacity a lot, but they also get involved as well. One event that they have been a sponsor of for a long time is The Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge, which benefits The Maryland Special Olympics.

This is also one that Hearst-Argyle has a hand in, as WBAL Radio and TV also play a large role in. Over the years the radio has figured prominently in this, as they do on air fundraising and develop plunge teams. The Polar Bear Plunge occurs in January on the Chesapeake Bay at Sandy Point State Park. The plunge has gotten so big that there are now two times for people to dunk themselves in the icy water. 98ROCK also has a large amount of employees that superplunge; as they plunge into the Chesapeake Bay every hour for a twenty four hour period.

The stations enthusiasm can be particularly felt and admired and the station lent its support in many ways; they upended their programming, so for a price, the listener could choose any song to be played in the rotation. They had several donor levels: the least amount would purchase a song that is in their normal rotation; and it would go up in price if it was one not played, but in their library; outside of their genre of music and if it was a local band CD. It was fun to listen to the station that day and one never knew what to expect.

They also asked guests if they wanted to contribute and many did so handsomely. In one case, they asked Larry The Cable Guy and without hesitation stated that he would donate $15,000, but there was a bit of a listener challenge in it. Everyone broke up laughing, expecting the joke. I saw in our shop eyes darting about with sayings like, "No Way!" and "He's got to be joking!"

For once Larry had to state that he was serious and explained why. He felt that the people of Baltimore and the 98ROCK listeners really contributed to his success and he wanted to return some of that success, back in a way that the listeners would appreciate. It was so unbelievable that he had to say, "This ain't Russia, ya know."

When I originally asked Sarah to help me out with some of my questions, it had to be put off as she had to work on the details for a dinner fundraiser, before her trip to Ireland. This dinner included a silent auction and had items that many advertisers donated, including an autographed guitar.

One person that has a talent for unique fundraising is Amelia. When she heard that the Maryland Zoo at Baltimore was having financial difficulty, she wanted to do something about it. At the time, the Baltimore Zoo had a budget shortfall of over a million dollars and would have to lay off 20 employees, while transferring 400 animals to other zoos.

Amelia decided to aid them in their fundraising in a novel way. She stayed at the zoo, living in on of the zoos cages and planned to remain there until she raised $20,000.00. Citizens and listeners could visit to see her and the funds were raised. 98ROCK has a hand in sponsoring another fundraiser event, The Brew At The Zoo, where one can sample a plethora of beers and enjoy entertainment. The Baltimore Zoo also makes periodic appearances on the Morning Show.

Amelia also has done a couple of other novel fundraisers; she had her upper torso scanned by Direct Dimensions, Inc, which then developed an accurate bust of her bust that was auctioned on eBay and benefited the Maryland Zoo at Baltimore. Those puppies netted the zoo over $7,000.

Not too many people would consider the charitable nature of motorcyclists or their gangs, but there is also, Amelia's Ace of Hearts Ride to benefit the, Susan G Komen foundation of Maryland; they seek a cure for breast cancer. In addition to the ride, they held a raffle for a motorcycle painted pink and with a Breast Cancer Awareness motif and also auctioned off a Craftsman tool box painted with freehand pinstriping by Kobbie.

Many people that wouldn't normally be consider a contributors to charitable causes were exposed to the joy of giving. The is the Rock and Recovery fund that 98ROCK supported and very often to gain admittance to the Christmas Beer and Bacon required one to bring an, in the package toy to benefit the Marine's, Toys for Tots Campaign.

98ROCK also reaches beyond its airwaves in another respect; its investment in technology. I remember when a host on 98ROCK announced that they now have a fax line for the studio. I thought that was the craziest thing that they, especially being a radio station could do.

After all, my employer outright stated that our company will never have one, as did about 90% of the businesses. I could understand AM radio deciding it add one to their studio though. Still unheard of for a household, within the year, our company added a fax and dedicated fax line as many customers demanded that convenience and my bosses were hoping that it added proof against the customers claim on jobs that were printed with errors.

Since I worked at night, I did enjoy listening to AM talk shows and sending them a fax about my view on the subject as I wasn't able to call in and wait. Unfortunately one host unknown to myself; sent a reply that that bosses read in the morning...

They were also right up there in establishing themselves on the internet and that aspect of the radio station also grew with the technology, long before I felt that I should be on the internet which was around the year 1998. At that time most people were using phone lines and data moved so slowly that it was basically used for Emails and occasional looks at preferred sites which were more basic in appearance. Only companies had the funds to us the T1 technologies.

It was a combination of both increasing the speed at which data flowed and for the computers; screen resolution and color availability, data storage capacity, internal memory capacity and also the CPU speed that made sites much more enjoyable not only to view, but navigate through.

Clicking on the 98ROCK website has pages for all of the shows, including being able to not only stream the broadcast, but to see it in real times as well. Also after the show to be able to view video clips or go to links to view what was discussed earlier. The site also has up and coming events, as well video clips and photographs from past events. Also as a service, one is able to email much of the staff, look into career opportunities or link to one of the hosts, group of friends.

It is not uncommon for a show like Mickey, Amelia and Spiegel to receive upwards of 2,500 Emails during a show. In 98ROCK's advertising information about the internet, they state that they receive a monthly average of 1,500,000 views. It is a convenient way, mush as I do with my writing, to provide friends across the country with various opportunities to visually check out what you had mentioned and allow them a chance to hear the shows.

In addition, to 98ROCK's own site, they have spots on MySpace and just recently, many of the personalities can be Twittered. Rest assured, there will be more.

Much of this technology lived in the studio long past its prime of use. The studio fax became an encumbrance, an eyesore and bane of existence for the hosts. I will never forget a late night host talking and then hearing that z-z-z of the fax and an exclamation of, "Something's coming over the fax, it still works." He read what he could from it and stated that he doesn't think anyone is maintaining it anymore.

The fax technology of the future then became a conversation of what should be passed. Leading a personality to say, "If you are still trying to send faxes, perhaps it is best to get a life or at least try a computer. Finally permission was given to remove the fax from the studio and during the Morning show, ushered upstairs to the roof of the building and thrown off.

Another crossing communications revolution is with cell phones, making it easier to call the studios and becoming an ever larger element is text messaging. The Mickey, Amelia and Siegel show have segments and bits based around text messages, such as Hate Texts and capping of their show by reading Neglected Texts.

Not all technology installed has worked out very well at first; such as when CD players were introduced. I remember how the stations both heralded and demonstrated them. I was in Providence, Rhode Island at the time and the disk jockey touted how great they were and popped the bad boy in and it sounded like an old and mossy 78. Then, "Ops, I seemed to have laid it down on a dusty shelf before I put it in." There was also the studio terror of them skipping out of control. One easily knew when the disk jockey fell asleep.

With more creative resourcefulness and engineering, all of these developed into superior products that also came down in price. Now, while I still prefer the CD it is rare for one to be played in the studio as everything is now a file in a computer.

The greatest personal invention to me was the radio made with digital components. In working in a print shop where the presses are located at street level in the basement, it was maddening to have the incoming radio signal coming in and out, interfered with machine RF interference, overlaid with other transmissions or having your ears blown out by someone with a CB radio.

The digitalization allowed for more items to be included in the personal radios such as more powerful amplifies, that pulled in the signal better, filters and a better equalization. Not only the engineering amazed me, but how the adaption of technologies from other facets of communications technology entered in to improve a long enjoyed product.

Now the radio stations themselves are going digital, in addition to the technology itself, it is also in the handling of the formatting. In 2006 the entire Hearst-Argyle complex was upgraded to digital and 98ROCK's studios were redesigned and renovated. The now have their analog signal and also three digital channels which are carried within their frequency.

On the digital side there is HD-1, 2 and 3. 98 HD-1 contains the programming that is currently what can be heard over the air. HD-2 is known as, "Classic 98ROCK," and HD-3 is Indie 97.9 which plays a more independent interpretation of rock and plays unsigned artists as well. All three channels combine to make 98 a more rounded and broad rock station. The 2nd and 3rd channels are generally programmed to run automatically, having hosts only at certain times.

Dave Hill the program director is very positive about digital radio, quoting in a Baltimore Sunpaper's article titled, "Crossed Signals" and written by Criss Kaltenbach that ran September 2, 2008: "We're seeing real growth with those stations. Every two or three months, we double our listeners again. Dave Hill also explains what he finds as two advantages for HD radio: 1) The sound quality is much better and the radio station has much better flexibility at offering rock and roll in the Baltimore market for its listeners.

One does need a HD radio receiver to use the digital benefits. At this time, they are available for home and car use. While car manufactures tend to push satellite radio, HD receivers are an option for a car purchase. Tuners in a car can be replaced. HD broadcasts can reach over 80% of this nation's population. I believe that HD radio will become much more popular when the technology is incorporated into personal radios that one can walk around with; something that I look forward to.

The government's desire to reallocate the frequencies used for broadcasting television; acted as a catalyst for HD-TV. They actually switched their broadcasting back to the UHF spectrum. In a sense it speeded up the need to change, but also burdened or forced the viewers to have to adapt or not be able to watch it. With not this type of change for the radio side of life, I believe it will be more convenient and less expense for a change that can be incorporated, like replacing a radio that has stopped working.

I believe that 98ROCK has become the enjoyable entity that it is because of a dynamic and hard working staff; personalities that have been there for a long time, that is mixed with new talent that comes aboard; the fact it is owned by a large corporation that allows it to function, independently more like a family station; it's resources and quick use of technology.

Also, they are not so concerned with market trends that they are constantly trying to go with the latest gimmick or change format. They have appreciation for who they are with an appreciation for the past, respect of the listener's desires and optimism for the future. They not only benefit the listeners, but also the community, while providing a source of character.

Rock on!