Anne Frankenburg, Patron & Former General Manager
It was a financially and culturally challenging time at 3MBS when I came in as General Manager in 2012. There had been a lot of leadership changes and there were significant morale issues. People were concerned about the financial position and there really needed to be a turnaround in how the station was functioning.
Sally Hutchison was an amazing volunteer coordinator at the time, her husband Alan was Chairman of the Board and they were both very helpful in trying to steer the organisation out of that really challenging time. Between the pair of them they were just about running the place at one point.
One of the challenges in a community organisation like 3MBS is how are volunteer voices are heard and yet staff are respected for their expertise. This is a really live dynamic in any community radio station. Any change that you introduce needs to be socialised. You need to give people a voice and you always need to be testing your ideas and bringing people along with you. You need to work harder with communication with volunteers as people are giving their time, so their views and feelings need to be respected. I used to send a weekly email to volunteers and made sure I went to the Wednesday cake session. Everyone was also conscious of turning the financial situation around—it was a team effort.
A very important part of my vision for 3MBS was understanding the importance of the station to so many people. This came home to me during one Radiothon, as this fellow rang in and said he was 'sorry he didn’t have much money to give but he wanted to tell us that he was in an aged care home, and he did not have much control over his life and finances, but 3MBS kept him sane'. That was a poignant and motivating conversation for me. It showed me that this work that we do is not frivolous. To many people it’s very important.