Tuesday 9 July 2013

Two hundred potential candidates in line for New AM 600 Radio Station



TTP Media may not have finalized plans for a launch date yet of its English news talk radio station at 600 on the AM dial, but that hasn’t stopped the man pegged by Paul Tietolman to run the show from getting ready.

 
Paul Tietolman
“Since January I have been using social media to let Montrealers know there will be a new choice to get their news and to talk about issues of the day on the radio,” says Steve Kowch from his home in Mississauga where he too is waiting for a launch date.


“Two months ago, I reached out on LinkedIn to connect with people in the Montreal area. The results have been overwhelming. More than 1,200 people in Montreal’s English and cultural communities have connected with me on LinkedIn since May.


"My new connections on LinkedIn include young entrepreneurs, college and university grads, actors, entertainers, artists, sales people, office workers, CEOs and moms and dads who are all integrated in Quebec society and are proud to call the Greater Montreal area home.”

 
Steve Kowch
Steve says some are potential contributors to the radio station because of their commitment to Montreal’s English community through their involvement in charities, social services, business or the arts and entertainment scene.


In January, Steve used social media to reach out to people whose dream is to be on the radio to send their resume to steve@kowchmedia.com and tell him what they can bring to the new radio station. So far his inbox has more than 200 potential candidates, including some well known broadcasters who want to work at the new radio station.


“It is amazing the talent out there for not only talk show hosts, but reporters, anchors, producers, sales staff, production and operators,” says Kowch. “It is a gold mine of emerging talent. We will not have a problem of living up to our promises at the CRTC to introduce new and diverse voices on the radio station”


Steve’s latest On The Kowch blog at http://kowchmedia.com/blogs/on-the-kowch provides more information on what the New AM600 – his working title for the new radio station – is going to be all about.


“Choice … this is what it’s all about,” he says. “With the CRTC decision allowing Bell Media to own four of the five English radio stations in Montreal – including the city’s only newstalk station -  the time is right for another English radio station in Montreal with new compelling, opinionated talk show hosts and live local newscasts 24/7.”


To find out what Montrealers want to hear and what they think is missing on Montreal radio, Kowch has launched the montrealneedsam600@gmail.com email address.


“I have a track record in Montreal and Toronto of bringing stations closer to the community by making myself available to listeners to hear what they like and don’t like,"  Kowch says.  "I just want to get the jump on what Montrealers want to hear by providing them a forum to express their opinions before we launch.


“We’re building this station from the ground up. So it is important we get this right before we throw the switch to go on air. What better way to do this, than to ask Montrealers for their input by sending an email with their ideas to montrealneedsam600@gmail.com .”








Monday 8 July 2013

Day camp enjoys a truly multicultural experience



From the files of Rabbi Menachem Posner.

Over 800 Jewish children from all across the Montreal area joined together to laugh and sing with a Mexican comic and enjoy the antics of two French-Canadian acrobats. How’s that for a multicultural experience?


Rabbi Dovid Weinbaum, coordinator of the annual event, explained: “We call it the inter-camp day, and it’s an opportunity for Jewish kids from a rainbow of Jewish day camps to see kids just like them deepening their connection to Judaism and having a blast. With kids from eight camps servicing preschool to pre-teen, we work hard to create a program that is fun, meaningful, and memorable for everyone.”


A special feature of this year’s program was guest comic Rabbi Benny Hershcovich, who also directs the Chabad center in Cabo S. Lucas, Mexico. A quasi-celebrity due to his popular weekly Youtube videos, which blend slapstick humor and fast-paced Torah thoughts, Hershcovich led the children in reciting Torah verses and singing classic Jewish camp songs as well as an original humorous composition.



A Montreal native, Hershcovich says he was in Montreal, “to give my children a dose of Jewish community. Back at in Mexico, they can sometimes think they are the only Jewish kids in the world. Having them spend a month in Montreal every summer is crucial to their identities. An event like this is by far the biggest Jewish gathering they have ever experienced in their lives, so it is really exciting.” 


Hershcovich was followed by Circo Comedia, a globetrotting duo of daredevils, whose frolics ranged from silly to downright frightening at times.


“It was so awesome,” said six-year-old Veronique Levy of Hampstead, QC, a camper at Camp Gan Israel of TMR and VSL, “I got to see my friends who are in other camps. Rabbi Benny was super-funny, and the acrobats—especially the guy in roller-skates—were so crazy!”


But most important according to Weinbaum, was “the fact that hundreds of children gathered together to learn Torah, strengthen their commitment to Judaism and celebrate. This was our largest crowd ever. It was amazing to see the happy children, singing, clapping and dancing to new and old Hebrew tunes.”


The brainchild of Rabbi Moshe & Dina Krasnanski of Chabad of TMR, and Rabbi Schneur & Leah Silberstein of Chabad of VSL, inter-camp day has become a summer highlight for Quebec campers. The over 800 children in attendance represented: Camp Gan Israel branches in Town of Mount Royal (TMR), Ville St. Laurent (VSL), and Dollard; Camp Ohr Menachem in Côte Saint-Luc; Yeshivah Levi Yitzchak, Beth Rivkah Pre-School, and the boys and girls divisions of Camp Geulah in Côte des Neiges.