D&D - Top 9 of 2009 - #1

The top entry in our countdown is actually a tie (I knew I should have made it a "Top 10!") between two truly awesome campaigns D&D ran in 2009, "Faces Not Numbers" and the "Workforce Business of the Day."

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The first campaign was the brainchild of Jim O'Brien; as the auto industry teetered on the edge of bankruptcy and failure, it didn't appear that TPTB would be looking out for the little guy. Massive plant and dealership closures meant a lot of lost jobs, so Jim and the rest of the guys wanted to force the administration to look at the faces of those affected by the auto industry troubles. "Faces Not Numbers" (inspired by the Bob Seger song, "Feel Like a Number") turned into a massive campaign in which listeners who worked for, had family who worked for, or whose job was somehow connected to the Michigan auto industry sent in photos of themselves for a giant banner which was taken to Washington, DC and unfurled in front of the Capitol Building. Huge props to Stahl's ID Direct for stepping up and making the banner when the original sponsor dropped out. We have available for download audio from April 1 when Jim came up with the original idea (WCSX podcasts - Part 1 and Part 2), another WCSX podcast from May 12 when the guys interviewed Elaine from Stahl's ID Direct and took calls when they realized they'd need volunteers for the "preview" at the Sterling Heights Chrysler plant, an audio clip from the April 24 show when D&D played a clip from WDIV Channel 4, a couple videos from WXYZ Channel 7 (read their article here) and Fox 2, and two YouTube videos (a "D-List" style video from Jeff and Bill about the campaign and a video clip from the Chrysler plant "preview"). You can also grab the entire May 14 show below -- D&D broadcast the show live from Washington, DC, just hours before the official unveiling of the banner.

Here's the show (updated links):

Deminski & Doyle - 2009-05-14 Hour 1
http://sharebee.com/785831cd
***New 2011 mirror link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?kd77k6hjktwy5hn
Filename: 2009-05-14 Hour 1.mp3 Size: 20.62 MB

Deminski & Doyle - 2009-05-14 Hour 2
http://sharebee.com/71fc17e9
***New 2011 mirror link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?k16pv3gbn2ed15x
Filename: 2009-05-14 Hour 2.mp3 Size: 22.06 MB

Deminski & Doyle - 2009-05-14 Hour 3
http://sharebee.com/24f91b06
***New 2011 mirror link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xgpi9xopd0xgcev
Filename: 2009-05-14 Hour 3.mp3 Size: 23.83 MB

***Download a "Faces Not Numbers" PC wallpaper I made...***

BONUS PODCASTS (updated 2011 Mediafire links):

These aren't related to the "Faces Not Numbers" campaign, but here are a handful of podcasts from the other few times D&D interviewed either a politician or a pundit.

1. January 7 - Governor Granholm is once again one of the first interviews D&D got for their new station
2. January 21 - Rep. Gary Peters spoke to D&D about the Obama inauguration
3. June 3 - Left-wing journalist Richard Wolffe called in to speak about his new book, Renegade
4. September 2 - Right-wing former Gov. & DHS Secretary Tom Ridge plugged his new book, Test of Our Times

Speaking of the inauguration, we also have the entire Jan 20 and Jan 21 shows available (with updated 2011 Mediafire links), which include:

(Jan 20) - Highlights from D&D today included a ton of discussion regarding today's mega-event in DC, including clips from Jon Stewart, MLK, and Forest Whitaker, as well as an Inauguration Drinking Game, various Obama songs, and interviews with Roy Gross (local guy from Taylor who joined Obama on his train ride to DC), and Congressman Gary Peters (D-MI, MI-09)...
(Jan 21) - The first D&D show of the President Obama era contained, of course, quite a bit of "Inauguration Recap." Roy Gross from Taylor was interviewed again, and clips from yesterday's TV coverage were played including a final goodbye to Bush, Chief Justice Roberts' Yoda's major Oath of Office fumble, a bit of poetry from civil-rights leader Joseph Lowry, thoughts from Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel, a bit of "My Count--ry 'Tis of Thee" from Aretha Franklin, and an updated view of Dubya from Kayne West. Senator Ted Kennedy's hospital visit was also mentioned...

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The show launched their second giant campaign in July, the "Workforce Business of the Day." This was Jeff's idea; he wanted to give back to the community and local small businesses by giving out a free commercial a day and a grand prize of $20,000 worth of free advertising. Many of the companies selected also had a chance to put a spokesperson on the air with D&D to plug their business alongside the advertisement read by Deminski. Below are several of the many references the show made to the campaign from July to September, and you can download here (updated 2011 Mediafire link) a collection of all the 60-second advertisements Jeff read on the air and a list of the winning companies.

1. July 15 - The initial idea was proposed...
2. July 16 - ...and approved by management...
3. July 17 - ...and the updates continued until the campaign started on...
4. July 27 - ...when the first company was selected, Connie's Children's Shop
5. September 14 - The eventual grand-prize winner, the Java Hutt Cafe, is plugged (also included is a Craigslist "missed connections" segment and a Weird Al song)
6. September 21 - The Java Hutt Cafe is informed of their prize

BONUS PODCASTS:

Another company chosen, Doc Sweets' Candy Company, sent in some free candy to the show, including chocolate-covered crickets. Nicole devoured these and later took part in the "Balut Challenge." (both are updated 2011 Mediafire links)