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Whether you prefer the casual feel of Friday s New Attitudes
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Or the traditional setting of Saturday's Masterworks
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VSO open*) its 65th Anniversary( f c M o n
Tickets on sale now from VSO Ticketline (864-5741. ext. 12) or the Flynn Theatre Box Office (863-5966). FREE "Musically Speaking" program both evenings.
RADIO ROULETTE: Plenty of Vermonters choose to wake up to the a.m. antics of "Corm and the Coach" on Champ 101.3 FM. After all, its one of the top-rated morning shows in the Burlington market. But over the past few weeks, a record number of listeners have been forced to come home to the fast-talking trio — whether or not they want to. The local radio act is promoting its "Rocking Roulette" cash giveaway in a prerecorded message that has been left on answering machines all over Chittenden County. Welcome to the brave new world of automated telemarketing. Instead of intimate words from family and friends, your answering machine plays back Steve Cormier, Tom Brennan and Lana Wilder at their most obnoxious. If a live voice answers the phone, the listener hears only a click. Although she won't say how much audio junk mail can be distributed in a single day, Champs General Manager Karen Marshall describes the new telemarketing technique as "cutting-edge, innovative and fast." The goal, she says, "is to let people know there is a contest going on, and that they can win $10,000 $15,000, even $25,000 dollars on Champ." She describes the high-stakes game as "Powerball on radio." The trouble here is the station may be gambling with its own good will — and an eight-year-old law that prohibits solicitation using pre-recorded voices. Alerted by several complaints to the Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program, Assistant A.G. Jay Ashman is trying to determine whether the dialing-for-dollars strategy violates the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. "It probably turns off a lot of people and devalues the station," Ashman says. But its legality "gets down to the question of whether or not the phone call was a solicited advertisement." The law defines that as "any material advertising the commercial availability or quality of any property, goods or services which is transmitted to any person without that person's prior express invitation or permission." Champ claims the commercial is cool, because it is not selling anything — the promo simply encourages listeners to tune in to a giveaway. But ears equal money for a radio station that lives and dies by its ratings. You can bet Champ, which has changed ownership four times in the past year and a half, is not giving away big bucks out of the goodness of its heart. Nor, detractors say, is the station being entirely honest about the odds of winning. Although it appears to be local, this contest is anything but. "Anytime you hear a contest on another radio station and they want you to call a special "1-800" number, that means that all the stations they own, all over the country, are playing the same contest at the same time," a voice explains in a counter-commercial running on 95XXX, locally owned by Paul Goldman. "And if you call, you're competing with millions of people. They don't tell you you've got a better chance of getting struck by lightning," the commercial continues. Jay Williams, who owns W1ZN and The Buzz in Burlington, ran similar "educational" promos at his radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts, where a competing station was pulling a similar thing. "At best, it is deceitful," says Williams. "People want to believe, they should believe, they have a fair chance of winning. It's like saying you are the Vermont Lottery when you are the Tri-State Megabucks." Once considered a big bad out-of-state owner, Williams looks like the boy next door next to Goliath Clear Channel, which now owns 830 radio stations across the country, soon to be including Champ, KIX Country and Star 92.9, a.k.a. WEZF. "The combined power of collective contesting," as Marshall calls it, does result in bigger booty. But at what price? "Promotions should be fun, but contests should be honest," Williams says. "Not giving it away to people who listen to your radio station is the same as not giving it away at all." IN BRIEF: Nectar's doesn't take credit cards — not even from Harrison Ford. When the fun-loving star of What Lies Beneath found himself out of money at the end of a night of carousing in Burlington, he preferred the plastic. No go. Word has it one of his "body guards" coughed up the cash. No confirmation on how Harrison got home, though. Although he recently bought a place in Westport, New York, the star is back in Hollywood, along with the whole DreamWorks production. Vermont Film Commissioner Loranne Tlirgeon reports the film crew is building a replica of the home they constructed in Vermont, as well as a portion of the Champlain Bridge in sunny Cal. . . . Ever leave the theater feeling you missed something? The Burlington Free Press recommends that next time you go, "direct your attention to what happens on stage." You know, that open space with no seats on it and curtains hanging on either side? On Friday, the Gannett-owned daily moved beyond ethical instruction in "Shades of Gray" to deliver a valuable lesson in Culture 101. Covering the "behavior and lingo" for classical concerts, theater and ballet, its "stepping out" primer and accompanying culture "quiz" defined such arcane terms as tutu — the "teeny, fluffy skirt worn by the ballerina." Tragedy is "a serious play that ends unhappily." And, best of all, irony — "the difference between what might be expected and what actually happens." As in, say, having your daily newspaper insult your intelligence? . . . Beth Haggait wants your dirty laundry, and she'll hand wash it for you, too. Her new art installation, scheduled for the first six days of November in the Living/Learning Gallery at the University of Vermont, aims to turn a "common chore into art." Haggart, who has exhibited extensively in New York City and recently returned from a Peace Corps stint in Africa, hopes to have her hands full — in a bucket of soapy water. A grungy garment gets you into "Washing" and a room criss-crossed with clotheslines — and guarantees you'll be part of the show. (Z) *
Friday, October 22, 8:00 pm Flynn Theatre, Burlington
NEW
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SOLUTIONS;!
VSO's 1999/2000 New Attitudes Series is sponsored fay generous gifts from: The Untilhac Foundation, David and Brianne Chase and WCAX. Media Sponsors: Seven Days and The Point Masterworks media sponsor: WCVT FM. The VSO's <999/2000 Season is co-sponsored by VPR.
SEVEN DAYS
: *t,L CLASSICAL *Lit t « * T I M B .
CHARGE YOUR TICKETS BY PHONE - 864-5741 X12
Win FREE TICKETS to Friday's new attitudes , Concert! ICLASSICAL MUSIC WITH A TWISTi FIND THE HORN HIDDEN IN THIS ISSUE OF SEVEN DAYS... THE 1ST FOUR PEOPLE WHO DO AND CALL 864-5741 XI2, WIN A FREE PAIR OF TICKETS!
Woodbury College
Mediation/Conflict Management Program Free Intro Session: November 17,9:30 am to I pm
Call 1-800-639-6039
W o o d b u r y College Montpelier, Vermont
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55EX FALL i (RAFT1H0W '99 400 ARTISANS FEATURING TRADITIONAL, CONTEMPORARY & COUNTRY CRAFTS, FINE ART & GOURMET SPECIALTIES
OCTOBER 22, 23 & 24
FRI. 12-8 • SAT 9-6 • S U N 10-5 CHAMPLAIN VALLEY EXPOSITION • ROUTE 15/PEARL STREET • ESSEX JUNCTION, VT demonstrations, live entertainment and good food % craft raffle to benefit "Make-a-Wish" Foundation of VT i { Admission: Regular 12 free • free parking and on-site shuttle bus! DIRECTIONS From$5, I-89:Seniors $4 • Children underMCAXSouth: Use exit 12 or 15 • North: Use exit 16 or Rt. 2A
FREE RE-ADMITTANCE ON ADDITIONAL SHOW DAYS
Times
ADMISSION REDEEMABLE WITH MINIMUM PURCHASES FROM PARTICIPATING 'DOLLAR VALUE DAY' EXHIBITORS Discount admission coupons available at: Hannafords Supermarkets in VT& Pittsburgh * Ben Franklins • Selected Brooks Drug Stores
E-mail: vcwsallv
october 20, 1999
SEVEN DAYS
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