There are reportings of Twinkie shortages from coast-to-coast. Get your hands on some and give them out as Hostess shuts things down. The game is called “It’s In a Twinkie”. Grab the list of ingredients of a Twinkie here (there are 37 of them). You name the preservative. If the listener correctly guesses whether it’s in an actual Twinkie, they win one of the last ones available.
Need a last minute Thanksgiving Day idea? “Pass the Gravy” is where you have two teams of two people. Each team has a balloon filled with gravy. Much like the egg toss we did as kids, each team “passes” the gravy back and forth. With each successful toss, you separate them further. The first team to drop their balloon loses. Because this is visual, gather a fun crowd to watch and we get to hear their reactions as it unfolds.
Every show needs some evergreen games to play. Ask for three guys to call – you need one married, one single, and one gay guy. The show gets to ask one question of each guy (not pertaining to their relationship status) and then must figure out which guy is married, which one is single and straight, and who the gay dude is. If you miss any of them, they each get a prize.
The over-riding vibe is that most people want the election to be over. It will be this week, when on Wednesday we all go back to our normal lives. Lots of people have de-friended people on Facebook because they posted so much political stuff. A smart Wednesday feature is to put someone on with a person they de-friended, explore why, remind them that the presidential race has been decided, and then get them to re-friend each other on Facebook.
With the World Series about to wrap up, winning sports teams always celebrate with a champagne bath. Kevin, Virginia, and Jason, WILD 95.5, West Palm came up with a great idea while wondering what it would be like for a regular worker in the real world to be celebrated for something great they did at work with a champagne bath, too. Let a boss show their appreciation for great work by an employee by helping them give one to a worker on your show.
Remember that your listeners moods are different on Friday morning. All they’re thinking about on the way to work is how to get through the day to get to the weekend. That’s why it’d be smart to have a Friday feature called, “Hey, Can We Come?” Do the simple break asking listeners what one big thing they’re doing that weekend they’re most looking forward to. Then, choose one caller and ask if you can tag along.
With Halloween just a couple weeks away, here’s an easy one. Find someone on your show (or in the building) who hates haunted houses. Open the phones for listeners to tell you about local haunted houses and take that person on a tour. Of course you’ll record it for the show and videotape it for web content!
With Halloween a few short weeks away, how about calling your local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital and trick-or-treating with the kids? Normally we suggest fun ideas here, but as we get close to the holiday season, it’s time to do some community service work. Call your local CMN Hospital, find out the do’s and don’ts, and go visit the kids, recording the visit to air on your show the week of Halloween!
The very beginning of an interview is the critical moment listeners decide if it’ll be meaningful and entertaining. If you open in a broad, accessible way, there’s a greater chance listeners will stay through it. Which is why, at the beginning of every interview you could do something quirky. Like let listeners guess what the celebrity ate for breakfast that morning, then make that your very first question when the interview starts.
The next time you have concert tickets to give out, do this fun thing Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA did. It’s called “Sing the Mystery Song”. You guys place a hit record in a sealed envelope done by the artist. Don’t tell listeners what it is. Tell them to call and the moment you answer, they must start singing any song recorded by the artist. If the song they’re singing is the one you chose and is in the envelope, they win the tickets.