Hey Akron Akronites, welcome once again to a round Akron with Blue Green.

And yes, we have an amazing show ahead of us today.

I'm going to meet up with the social media channel Everyday Akron, and then it's over to the north side of Akron, to the North Side Marketplace.

Then it's off to the summit FM, where I'm going to learn all about the radio station and Studio C sessions.

Now, to kick this show off today I'm going to meet up with Everyday Akron.

Let's go see what Everyday Akron is all about.

- So I'm originally from Beloit, Ohio.

It's a very tiny farm town, maybe an hour away from Akron.

And then I went to the University of Akron for college and just kind of never left.

Well, when I went to UA, I studied digital marketing and public relations, and I interned at the soapbox Derby in Akron and then work there for a few years.

And so I just kind of collected all these skills through marketing, social media, which was really popping off at the time.

And just building communities online, really.

I had seen a few other cities have a similar presence online, where they were allowing just people in the city to take over their social media accounts and just sharing those grassroots stories and I was telling some friends that Akron needed someone to do this, and they turned it back on me and said, “well, why don't you do it?” I said, oh, okay, I will.

I did it on my own for about seven years.

And then last year I got a team of five people and it's been great.

We can do a lot more now.

But the majority of the time, the main aspect have been the takeovers.

We started on Twitter, we're now on Instagram, and each week you can meet a new Akronite.

So someone who lives, works and or plays in Akron, or maybe they moved away and just still have a connection here, and they want to share their side of Akron, and they get the whole week to share whatever they want.

They get to post and stories, really do anything, connect with the community, can comment, reply, do anything they want.

And then now we also have a website with blog posts, guides, guest blog posts.

we do video shoots, we do in-person events to sort of get the online community hanging out in person and meeting everyone, and really just anything else we can come up with.

I always love when people spot the blimp and post about it.

And then the Metroparks get a lot of love, a lot of like local restaurants get a lot of love.

I don't know, it's just like supporting small I think, really.

I think on the whole, we've been really lucky, knock on wood, that everyone has been really positive.

I think they see what we're doing, they understand it and if it's not for them, they just kind of move along.

But every now and then we will get a comment here and there, or someone in the direct message, saying something kind of weird or awkward and, you know, I'll pop in and be like, hey, can we not do this?

Or chill?

Just chill.

In an ideal world, I would love to run every day on full time, like make that my full time job.

A lot of people assume it is, but it's not.

So I would love to do that in order to help Akronites be better connected to the Akron community, be better connected to one another.

Sometimes I think that's lacking just in general.

And if we can be a small part of that, I think that would be amazing.

So if we partner with other organizations, other, you know, social media influencers, maybe support the nonprofits, whatever that really looks like, I think that would be really exciting.

Growing up in a small town, I was a shy, anxious introvert.

I still very much am that.

And I tell people that they cannot believe.

Like if they know me from social media, they cannot believe it.

And I'm like, no, trust me.

Like after this, I'm going to go home and nap for five hours, I think.

But yeah, coming to Akron, I didn't have a goal to like create this thing that, you know, thousands of people follow and pay attention to and really look to for thoughts on, you know, what to do on the weekend or a new small business to support.

I just started it because I saw a couple other cities doing it, and I was like, that's really cool, someone in Akron needs to do this, and now you know, it's not that I want to be like Akron famous, a local celebrity.

People joke that I am like, I don't care.

I'm not looking to like, go out and win awards or get, you know, 100,000 followers and tons of money.

Like, I just want to help.

I just want to help people, you know?

There’s almost 52 different hosts every year.

Almost nearly every takeover You're going to learn something new, like if you think you love Akron and know everything about Akron, someone's going to have a different take on something that you love.

They're going to have that little hidden gem place in their own neighborhood that you never knew about.

And it's not just that they're posting that and it gets tons of engagement for everyday Akron.

I don't care the numbers don't really mean anything but that little hidden gem in some neighborhood you're rarely in.

They're going to get a couple people in the door that week that would never know they were there, and that's money in their pocket that they can, you know, continue to stay in Akron, be in Akron, help our local economy and just be a good neighbor.

So you can go to everydayakron.com to sign up.

you fill out a form.

Just tell us a little bit about yourself, pick the week that you want to host, and then we just go from there.

- Have you ever wanted to go to a place and shop for everything Akron centric?

Well, we got you covered.

I head down to the North Side marketplace and learn all about this unique, Akron centric location.

I always tell people when they're coming to the marketplace, really take your time and explore our whole neighborhood.

We're part of the North Side district.

and we're really proud of that.

That's something we actually run the North Side District page.

We try to collaborate with all the incredible businesses around here from Zeber-Martell’s Art Gallery, Jilly's Music Room, the Northside Cellar that we're right, in front of the, Cuyahoga Valley National Railroad downtown temperance stop.

And so even though you might not see those front parking spaces open, there's parking all around.

Just down under the bridge.

There's parking on behind our building in that Cuyahoga Valley railroad station.

There's tons of parking open, Come for the marketplace but really explore our whole neighborhood.

if you have to walk a little bit, don't be afraid.

If you have someone with you that needs some accommodation, you can drop them right up front our sidewalk there, find a space, and then come and join them.

The buildings have kind of been part of the Akron landscape here since 2007, even though the marketplace didn't actually come around until about 2017.

But it's a really neat, mixed use facility that the Testa family created.

We've got our market here on this main floor as well as Dante Boccuzzi is right next door, but then above us we've got some really cool, unique lofts, apartments.

It's truly mixed use living, right here at the edge of the city, or edge of downtown, I should say.

As soon as you walk into Northside Marketplace here, you're greeted with a lot.

Our central checkout is right there in the front.

You walk into generally our food court area, but in total we have 140 unique entrepreneurs within this space.

At our core, even though we're a mixed use market, we're an entrepreneur co-op.

So everybody has a spot for their business, mostly retail businesses, whether that be a 13 inch cube all the way up to about 1000ft².

People can really sell their product, express what they need to share their story and why they're in business and whatever space feels right for that.

We really pride ourselves on being a curated marketplace, and what that means is not that I tell the vendors that come in, you can only sell this thing out of your product line.

But with 140 folks.

For instance, if we had 40 candle vendors, that wouldn't be good for any of them, right?

And so we really try to feature unique up and coming businesses, new concepts or unique industries that aren't already represented in our vendor mix.

And so in that I really, sort of extend us to, a gift shop set up.

We have lots of artisan practicing artists, but not everything has to be made.

We have folks that curate different products and collections and bring them together, people that have their things manufactured for them.

Anything that you need that's really Akron centric.

perfect gift for someone.

something just unique for your home.

This is probably a place that you're going to find it.

You're on all the social media platforms, but really our website, northsidemarketplace.com, is really the spot that we encourage people to go to fill out, prospective vendor applications, even if you're having awesome business.

But that product's already represented here.

We build out a waitlist, we keep track of those people.

And so we really try to fit everybody in, not just when it's the right time for the marketplace, but when it's the right time for your business.

So I always encourage everybody to apply if you think this could be a good fit, if nothing else, I love to have folks come in for a tour with me, learn a little bit about the market and all of our incredible vendors, because really, at our core, we're trying to showcase the wonderful folks that are here.

Also, just through our website, we have an event rental section and this is such a cool space.

I really encourage there always being something happening here.

One really fun thing, every Thursday a local group comes in and plays, a Smash Brothers Melee tournament.

So these guys bring in old tube TVs, these converted Wiis, and they're here from like seven to midnight.

folks come from Pittsburgh and Columbus.

Cleveland, all over, to Akron to play together.

And it's just a fun tournament.

So that's one example.

we have birthday party, baby shower, semi-private event, fundraisers.

I usually try to keep those rental costs super affordable because when people come into the marketplace, when guest, participants, not only are they getting to see our space, maybe for the first time, but they're also learning about those individual vendors.

They'll purchase a cookie, the order a cup of coffee, check out the restaurants.

It's really a win win for everybody.

I always like to say my life motto and kind of our mantra here for the marketplace is a rising tide lifts all boats.

And so when someone comes in for one of our vendors, it helps all the vendors out.

I always like to say that we really want to be and are a community hub.

Here at Northside Marketplace.

You can come in the morning for a work meeting, meet coworkers in this professional environment, but it's also a spot that you should feel more than comfortable bringing your kids to hang out.

Having them color.

Play a board game.

You can do some shopping.

You can hang out all day, get a tattoo if you want, get a cocktail at the bar, and then enjoy the awesome nightlife scene that we have here in the Northside District and downtown Akron in general.

So no matter what you're looking for, what kind of group you have, if you're looking to show off Akron, show off your neighbors and community members, I think we're really the best place to do it all under one roof.

You ever want to know what it's like to be a DJ?

Or maybe the general manager of a radio station Well I, head over to The Summit FM to see what they're all about.

- I've just always been a radio fan from like age 5 or 6 growing up, and so I just pursued it.

early on, I just kind of decided I wanted to talk on the radio and pick the songs, like, that's what I've always wanted to do.

I think I have an unusual voice, and I'm so animated and excited, and I hear it all the time, and it's pretty much authentic.

But I don't think I have a radio voice like the announcer back in the day, you know?

But maybe that's what's unique about what we do and being a music presenter like we do on The Summit.

I started doing internship type things in high school, growing up in Minnesota and just being a radio nerd and a music nerd.

It really all started in, something we did called Shadow Day when I was in ninth grade, and it was arranged that I could go to a modern rock station in the Twin Cities.

It doesn't exist anymore, but it was KJ 104 and they played, all the early alternative, like Soup Dragons and R.E.M.

and Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Material Issue and a lot of the stuff the Summit came up playing in their early days, actually.

So I started there through a high school work experience project, and that led to them inviting me back as a volunteer, you know, just to help out at the station on days off and whatnot.

I was only 15 at the time, so I didn't even drive yet.

But I just started hanging out at the station and never left.

I mean, that's really where it came from.

Was just, starting as an intern.

And then eventually someone let me on the air in the overnight show back when overnights were always live, you know, and we just kind of went from there mostly doing radio station stuff.

Although later I started deejaying like weddings and like birthday parties and stuff like that.

I've never actually done club deejaying, but I think that would be so fun.

- My family's in the restaurant business and has been now for 90 years in the Merriman Valley, so I grew up in the restaurant business and I was in the kitchen running, the restaurant as a 19 year old running the kitchen.

And I found this little radio station, in 1988, and you had to run the antenna up the hood of the, restaurant backdrop just to get the signal.

We had terrible signal, and I just loved the music.

It spoke to me.

I just loved the people.

Made a phone call and said to Bill Gruber, who was the program director at the time, who had started in 1986.

I said, I've got a truck, and I've got access to food.

I'd like to bring you guys some food or if you need something moved, I want to help this radio station in any way I can.

And he said, we'll come down to visit.

So I went down and it's led to, a friendship.

we shared 16 years here together at the radio station.

I mean, who retires in radio?

Bill was able to establish his career here for 30 years, and he really was the, the visionary at a time when stations were changing formats and being sold.

Here we are, this independent public radio station owned by an urban public school district finding its way.

So my role was volunteer, just passionate supporter of the station.

Spent years at Fox 8.

And 24 years ago I got an email from Bill that said, do you want to be my boss?

So that was in 2000.

And so I came here in 2000 at GM, and we've been doing our thing, our thing, being music and community, deeply invested in the community and play a huge variety of music that we're really deeply proud of.

I kind of knew that Akron was a good music city.

I knew Devo and Black Keys and The Pretenders.

What I didn't know was like the next tier deeper, like Stiff Records and Tin Huey and the Bizarre O's and all of that.

Now I've gotten to know those guys after being here for a while, and what a what a proud music history.

Just all of Northeast Ohio is in general, but just kind of learning.

I think the biggest surprise has been I am just floored at how many current active bands there are of every genre you can think of, and the quality of original music coming out of this area is so cool.

I mean, we had a lot of good local bands when I was in Charlottesville or when I was in Madison, but this is like three or 4 or 5 times as many active bands.

And then since The Summit, also broadcasts in Youngstown and Athens, too.

So we've gotten to know kind of the music scenes in those areas and just Cleveland in general, Columbus.

It's a ton of music in Ohio.

I would say we're probably on par with the best music scenes of the whole country, really.

and that's not just just hyping it up.

Like there's so much good music out there.

The nice thing for this station is the listeners support it.

Like our type of music, people are into supporting and hearing independent bands, local artists on the rise, and that that's probably the biggest connection we get when people actually become members.

The biggest comment is, well, you guys actually play local music.

You play someone I work with, or you play my, cousin's band or my, boyfriend's band or whatever it is.

So I think it's great.

It's kind of a circular community.

Next up, we're back at Summit FM to get a behind the scenes of the Studio C Sessions, which airs on PBS Western Reserve.

Let's go see what Studio C Sessions.

is all about.

- Built in 1986.

Graduated from Kent State University.

He's a Pittsburgh guy.

He was working at WKSU you at the time and this position came available at this radio station.

Keep in mind that, you know, in 1955, public radio stations, anything left of 92 on the radio dial, is public radio.

So meaning we don't play commercials we’re supported by the community We're noncommercial.

That's noncommercial Public radio's bandwidth.

Bill just, you know, got this job at this little quirky Akron Public Schools radio station that had evolved from the 1950s of being a little radios inside all the classrooms.

To the 60s, kind of the same thing.

Then they went to film strips and kind of got rid of radio.

So the mid 80s Bill lands this job and he decides to make it a music station, kind of a top 40 alternative station that kind of found its groove and 88, 89 and filled a real niche.

We went into more of an adult alternative genre.

It's about 15,000 radio stations in the country.

There's about 80 doing what we do.

So a very small percentage are all music.

No news, no sports, no politics, no controversy, not a lot of drama.

It's really about the music.

And Bill's vision was to play music that people typically didn't hear on other stations, or maybe they forgot about or, you know, maybe they play seven rolling Stone songs.

We have 70.

I had a lot of donors that would have gladly hung their name on the sign out front, and there was no way I wasn't going to name this facility after Bill Cooper.

So hence the William S Gruber Studios is where we set.

You know, bands don't sell physical merchandise.

The way they make a living is to perform out and do live shows.

So we were getting like 60, 70 of these artists a year that would come to our radio station, perform for our members.

We've recorded it and I was like, this content's good.

And these artists are I mean, we're getting A level artists, David Gray, Fitz and The Tantrums These rising stars.

And I called Trina Cutter and said, I've got some really good content and I'd love to share it with you.

And just like your niche, that is so important.

it's a partnership.

This partnership is pretty unique.

and for the bands, you know, picture us in a band, we come to this radio station, we get an audience.

Every single one of these are sold out.

We've got a waiting list of 30 or 40 people.

we can fit about 60 or 70 people in here.

So they get a live audience, they sell merch, they're on YouTube, they're on Western Reserve PBS, they're on the radio.

They're on social media.

6/7 different check boxes for a band to come through Akron, Ohio.

Most come through, and I give a credit to Brad Savage and Chad Miller.

They make great connections with these bands and so we're proud to share the content with Western Reserve PBS.

And I can tell you from our research, we we've seen no other station doing this partnering with their local PBS station and sharing content.

- It all has to do with industry contacts.

And music director Chad Miller and I frequently go to the different, radio industry conferences, and we meet artist representatives, you know, artist management, sometimes the artists themselves are there or like the record label promo people and so forth, and we kind of build and maintain relationships with them, and then it's just getting in front of them.

When those artists are touring into Ohio and making a proposal, you know, sending we have kind of a stock message email that we send out or phone calls or whatever it is that are like, Hey, your band such and so are playing at the Beachland or playing at Musica or playing at the Agora.

And here's what Studio C is all about.

It's for members only, and we'd love to have you come in and do a four song, five song performance and interview for our members.

So really it's a lot of just staying top of mind when they come through our region of northeast Ohio.

We want to try and invite them to Studio C. That's the secret sauce for the Studio C sessions TV show, and we cut up the songs and put them on our social media platforms individually.

then it's a radio show too, and we even always invite the bands to set up in the lobby and sell their merch, you know, to sell CDs and LPs and shirts, and people love to get them signed and get photos at the end of the sessions.

But the room isn't huge.

I mean, we only fit about 50 or 60 people in here, so it's a small enough manageable event that we can usually get most of the artists in and out in about two hours, a little over two hours.

if we're hustling, you know, and it works out great.

It's a nice promo stop for them.

In addition to just doing the concert in the Akron or Cleveland or Youngstown or Kent Stage or wherever they might be in our area.

Oh, and I should say the routing helps that we are around several major metro areas, you know, being proximity wise to Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Columbus and even Detroit in some instances.

Sometimes that helps to convince them, oh, a little side trip to Akron.

We're going to be going right through there on I-76.

Let's stop by this cool radio station.

- A key part of this whole arrangement is the Akron Public Schools, college to career academies are located inside Ellet Community Learning Center right next to us.

So we have students that are interested in marketing and communications right at our fingertips.

So we've had dozens of kids through the program.

We teach them about videotaping these artists, editing, producing, writing.

But I like the soft skills that are involved here.

When members come in, donors looking them in the eye, shaking their hand, asking if they want a water or a coffee, or helping the bands load in and out, writing public service announcements and just being in a professional work environment.

I just am so happy that these students are getting the experience from the radio station, and that's really an important place beside being financially independent.

We're still a partner and we respect that, and that's certainly an important piece of this whole thing.

Thank you once again for watching this episode of Around Akron with Blue Green.

Now, if you have any questions or any comments, you can catch me on social media.

Thank you and have an amazing day.

Now to kick this messing up left right.

Good bloopers.

(laughs)