CJSW’s The Sounds of Radiotown funding drive to support independent radio and connect the Calgary community
By Hannah Caparino, October 20 2024—
The University of Calgary’s independent radio station, CJSW 90.9 FM, will be hosting a funding drive called The Sounds of Radiotown from Oct. 18-25. The funding drive will involve events and programming that will be based on the theme of living in the city and will reflect how the community can continue to support the independent station. CJSW’s station manager, Adam Kamis, sat down with The Gauntlet to discuss the goals of this year’s fundraiser, student involvement and future goals and opportunities after the fundraiser.
“The CJSW funding drive is our annual ask to our donors, listeners, and community to ensure that we have funding to continue operations for another year. [It] is critical for us to get the money to pay for … all the things it takes to make a modern media outlet like CJSW work,” said Kamis.
Aside from operational goals, CJSW has become a station that has the ability to showcase local bands by providing the space and equipment to host live performances. Kamis mentioned how the funding drive is essential in providing the resources for local bands to show off their sound.
“We host anywhere from 100-130 artists every year for live performance on radio … It’s something that has been allowed to continue through funding drive support,” said Kamis.
One of the main ways that CJSW will engage with audiences is to host activities and events across the city, including hosting trivia nights, karaoke nights and throwing the annual Halloween party in downtown. Not only does CJSW promote its independent status and its mission to highlight independent voices, but by hosting in-person events, the station can continue to reach out to the wider Calgary area and emphasize its gratitude.
“It’s a way to call in our community because our community appreciates how important it is to have an independent voice,” Kamis said. “Our theme of the 2024 funding drive is Sounds of Radiotown and we really wanted to emphasize our love of this community and how privileged we feel to be able to serve our community of listeners.”
Another form of outreach that was implemented was trying to engage with all undergrad students at UofC. CJSW is volunteer-driven and aims to welcome all students to the space. Through radio programming, podcast development, hosting radio shows, learning about live performance, and developing new skills, the volunteer program at CJSW can continue promoting new ideas and concepts through the involvement of undergrad students.
One of the perks of supporting and getting connected with CJSW is being offered the CJSW Friends Card. The card offers discounts for multiple businesses throughout Calgary and can be used for the entire year.
“We want to give it to every UCalgary undergrad we can because it’s a fantastic pass for some of the best in local businesses … but it’s a means of saying thank you for the continuous support that UCalgary students have given CJSW,” Kamis said. “Our doors are always open to welcome new folks, so please come by and grab a Friends Card and maybe you wanna be a part of this cool little thing called CJSW!”
Students can also have the opportunity to help CJSW and their funding drive through donating, sharing and listening to the many programs that are on the air. After the events of the funding drive, Kamis outlined his goals for the coming months and discussed how CJSW has the ability to call attention to issues that affect students at the university and beyond.
“The funding drive is so critical to our continuing existence and is underpinned by the fact that we want to always have the capacity and accessibility to welcome UCalgary students into the fold as both volunteers and programmers, but also as listeners and supporters,” he said.
Kamis hopes that the future of CJSW’s operations will work towards increasing their visual presence on different media outlets in order to make CJSW more accessible to all listeners. Accessibility can allow diverse voices to be featured on the air and podcasts that directly influence students.
“We need the support of our community to ensure that the work happens, so we hope that everyone this year wants to hear more ‘Sounds of Radiotown’ and support the CJSW funding drive,” he said.
More information can be found on the CJSW website. To donate online, you can check here or call (403)-220-5000.