The Importance of 100 - Wake Up Winnipeg Celebrates Episode 100
This Friday at 6:00 PM we will be airing a very special edition of Wake Up Winnipeg on UMFM 101.5. Friday's episode will mark the 100th episode of the talk show that was never supposed to happen, and once it started, it wasn't supposed to last.
Two years ago Wake Up Winnipeg started as a side project to The Aimless & Andy Show which also aired on UMFM. The intent was to put together a talk show built specifically around local news and event listings in an effort to show our stations ongoing support to our community, but also as a resource for us to explore a side of radio production that we had not personally explored before.
As a non-Winnipeg Native I started the project in almost a tourist like mind-set. I looked at Winnipeg as if I was just visiting and when I reported, I imagined I was talking to someone who had not ever been through the "The Peg". What I hadn't yet learned or experienced in Winnipeg, I started to explore.
The stories that came out of those opportunities were then shared from a first person point of view. I did this by reaching out to those directly involved in the industry, hipsters, indie kids, those "in the know" and I learned from them by means of interviews with guests and those friends met along the way.
With the launch of our podcast we were able to spread the word of Winnipeg globally and within the first few podcast episodes we had received high fives from countries like The US, The Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and even Latvia. It was comforting to know that our show was serving its purpose to reach out to Winnipeg Fans around the world.
Here we are two years later and we continue to learn more about this city. I am happy to officially call it home and act as a strong advocate for Winnipeg. Our ongoing goal for each episode of Wake Up Winnipeg is to seek out new opportunities, adventures and stories and continue to share to those our friends within the perimeter and those families and fans throughout the world.
As much work as Natty and I put into each episode of Wake Up Winnipeg, a lot of our shows couldn't be done without our supporters. Through these last two years we've had the privilege and honor to work with some wonderful local talents (some of whom have now become friends), and collaborated with those artists traveling through looking for support on their projects. We've teamed up with local organizations to raise awareness and have even given back to the community by means of benefit shows and charity events.
So no matter where in the world you are, or what connection you have with Winnipeg, Paul, Natty and I would like to personally invite you to tune in this Friday at 6:00pm CST as we celebrate our 100th episode with you. During this episode we will recap on some of our favorite moments both on-air and behind the scenes. We'll have a couple of special guests and a few surprises up our sleeves.
Rock and Roll with a Thanks on Top,
Andru Valpy
