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10/18/2006 Archived Entry: "Raymond at the Pledge Drive"

Raymond Chen went with some friends to answer phones at the recent KUOW pledge drive, and describes the experience for us. "Here's sort of how the evening goes: You'll be sitting there at the table chatting with your friends, and then a phone rings and the conversation instantly stops while somebody took a call. By the time the call is over, everybody had forgotten what they had been talking about and a new conversation starts up. There were a lot of conversations that just ended abruptly and were never resumed. Great for people with short attention spans. When the volunteer coordinator announces, 'Pledge break in two minutes,' it means things are going to get exciting soon. The calls arrive in waves. The moment the pledge telephone number is announced, the phones start ringing. A few minutes after the pledge break ends, the phones quiet down. (That's the best time to go for a bathroom break.)"

Raymond was volunteering during the Saturday night show, The Swing Years and Beyond. I think the phone answering might be more hectic at busier times like during Prairie Home Companion or All Things Considered.

The non-USA commenters naturally didn't know what "pledge drive" means.

(tags: RaymondChen, KUOW, PledgeDrive, NPR)