Sounding off on SoundOFF

• SoundOff 700 is in the books. It was a lot of fun, though I can't say I want to sit in a dark edit bay and review any more tapes. Challenges for a highlights show after 14 years include tape formats switching many times, hundreds of live shows not being recorded, logged or saved, and there's no way to include everything we'd like.
• In the 24 hours since the show, I've received more feedback than any SoundOff ever, partly because Twitter and Facebook make it so easy to reach me with your thoughts, which is (mostly) a good thing. The most frequent moments you wanted to see but didn't were: 1) The time Andy may or may not have passed gas and made his co-host laugh uncontrollably. 2) The Tiny Ref, and 3) The high school couple who spent their prom night slow-dancing on SoundOff. We'll keep looking.
• A big part of SoundOff's success is strong opinions from the hosts on the hot topics of the week ("I Think", "FaceOff", etc). However, these type segments are quickly dated, and don't work well in a highlights show, so it kind of turns into the funnier moments, which means a lot of Andy and Hassel. Shawn Terrell has filled in many times, and always does good work, but he's rarely in skits.
• SoundOff has had three co-hosts: Round Guy, Andy, and Heather Burnside. Round Guy was prominently featured in our "Early Years" segment, though the video is fading faster than the Cardinals. We had only a couple tapes saved from Heather's months, but she deserves special credit for not only taking on the thankless role of following Andy, and doing it well, but then gracefully exiting without complaint when Andy returned.
• SoundOff started when then news director Al Setka asked me to come up with a show idea to replace the long-running, "Beat the Bear". Al and I decided on SoundOff, synergizing/stealing the name from 1040 WHO's Sound Off (two words), which I was hosting on the radio at the time. Al also hired Andy. After managing us for a few years, he left to run the Great Ape Trust. Yes, it was an easy transition. Our first "congratulations on 700" note came from Al.
• Rod Peterson is now the news director, Dale Woods the GM. We're fortunate they never micromanage the show, and back us when we need it. You can't do the show we do without the support. You wouldn't find it at most stations. Seriously.
• I'm embarrassed at how I laugh like a hyena on-air at times. Take being caught off guard by something funny, and add discomfort to it, and there you have it. Same thing used to happen to me as an altar boy. My parents enjoyed that less.
• Anyway, enough SoundOff talk, save for one final thank you for letting us do something we enjoy so much, and making us feel like you enjoy it too. We appreciate it.