ACRAs Finalists Fever – #17

Let’s Roll Out the Red Carpet….The ACRAs Finalists Fever – counting down the days to the big event on Saturday night!

Now we feature Matt Frost, Rachel Hall, Sam Mellor & Nathan Russell, Jane Mackinlay, Rachael O’Kane-Edney & Drew Chapman

Let’s Roll Out the Red Carpet….The ACRAs Finalists Fever – counting down the days to the big event on October 10 by profiling the finalists across all categories. You can get involved by emailing us here.

BEST SALES PROMOTION

BCF: Whip Out A Dad Joke; Matt Frost, Rachel Hall, Sam Mellor & Nathan Russell, Nova 106.9, Brisbane QLD, Nova Entertainment M

How did you both wind up in radio…

We’ve been in radio a while now.. Nathan Russell is the longest serving radiohead at 16years (Nova for 10 of them). Matt Frost has been in media for about 12years total, Nova for the past 6. Rachel Hall has been in media for just over 3 years, 2 of them at Nova. And Sam Mellor’s been at Nova for 4 years, but has been in media forever – we’re pretty sure he tried to book a Full Page Colour on the back of the tablets Moses brought down from the mountain.  

Best Sale Promo.. tell us about it…

Whip Out A Dad Joke is a Father’s Day campaign we built with BCF. Wippa was just about to become a Dad, and it seemed appropriate to source as many bad Dad jokes as possible to prepare him for fatherhood. Everyone has a Dad joke right? By the end, thousands of people had “whipped out a Dad joke” and Wippa shared some of the best & worst ones on-air with each of the local Nova Brekky teams. The campaign was booked incredibly late, and was quite a challenge to get up and running in an extremely constrained timeframe when we had to cover on-air, digital and video elements. It was worth it though – BCF loved it. Whip Out A Dad Joke fit their brand tone perfectly and it led to them working with Nova again for Father’s Day this year which says a lot. 

The speech you don’t get to do…

We’d say congratulations to all the other finalists, thanks to CRA for the recognition, thanks to BCF for agreeing that the concept was a winner, and thanks to Wippa & Lisa for timing the pregnancy so well. It was a campaign 9 months in the making (not really).

BEST NEWCOMER ON-AIR

Jane Mackinlay; 3HA, Hamilton VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C

Tell us about your career in radio…

I started my career in radio in Feb 2014, working as a creative writer at SCA in Albury, I then was offered a position at 3HA MixxFM in Hamilton as an announcer, I started on the AM station and then after about a month or so I moved over to the FM stream doing mornings, in July I began co-hosting the network nights program ‘The Nitemix hot 30’.

Best part of your job..

The best part of my job is that sometimes I have to pinch myself, I can’t believe that I get paid to have so much fun, be creative and talk and laugh everyday! It doesn’t feel like ‘work’… most of the time!

Tell us about your entry..

My entry for best newcomer on air is made up of a few bits and pieces of my first 4 weeks in FM radio, I just wanted to get my personality across in my entry and demonstrate my enthusiasm for radio.

You get the ACRA… your speech

I would probably just thank all of the wonderful people, particularly the guys here at 3HA Mixx FM in Hamilton, who have helped me along my radio journey and who have been patient with me while I learn!
 

BEST STATION PROMOTION

UHF Wedding; Rachael O’Kane-Edney & Drew Chapman, River 949, Ipswich QLD, Grant Broadcasters P

Give us a quick snapshot of your radio backgrounds… 

Drew has been living and breathing the radio industry since 1999 from being an announcer to Music Director to Assistant Program Director to Program Director, he’d done it all.

Rachael has been working in Promotions since 2011 and will keep searching for unique promotional opportunities that haven’t been done in radio before.

Tell us about your entry for Best Promotion..

If you put it out there on radio, you kind of need to follow through with what you say and in this case ‘where did you meet your partner’ escalated to ‘well let’s marry you the way you met’ and that of course was on UHF Radio. It was great to receive so much input from current clients who all pitched in the make our couple’s UHF Wedding day unforgettable. From flowers, to make up, to the Celebrant, to the cake, to vintage trucks, to the Bride’s helicopter arrival, to the ceremony and the reception, it all came together and the couples were able to say ‘I Do’ the way they first ever met, on UHF Radio.

Here’s your moment… the speech.. go..

You’ll have to wait to hear it until we’re up on stage on Saturday October 10th at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre!

Are You an ACRAs Finalist?

If you’re a finalist in Metropolitan, Non-Metropolitan, Provincial or Country drop us a line and we’ll shine the spotlight on you. Email Blair  here.