Valley Free Radio,  WXOJ-LP, began broadcasting in August of 2005 out of the community center in Florence, Massachusetts.  WXOJ operates as a collective, with a consensus-based decision-making process, a nine member board of directors, and several organizational committees. Valley Free Radio broadcasts more than 60 locally-produced shows, as well as Pacifica and other syndicated programming.

Domino Model Proposal:  Connecting Dots, Linking to the Community

Background: Dominoes in Community Life

The Domino Outreach Model takes its name in honor of Puerto Rico’s favorite past time: Dominoes. “El Dominó” is for Puerto Ricans and many Latinos, not simply a game of strategy or just a pastime, but also it is an activity around which community relationships are built and sustained. Dominoes are played in all circles in the Puerto Rican society by people of all ages.  It is primarily known as a family game, since it is learned by children from their fathers, uncles, and grandfathers. Although it is a game usually played at home, it is also played where friends gather. Women play with men and children. It includes everybody.  In Dominoes, it is interesting that one of the team strategies summarizes a community theme: “The best offensive strategy is to defend your partner.”

This game, easy to learn by children yet challenging enough for adults, is an important part in the communal life of many Latin American communities, both abroad and in the USA. It provides the perfect excuse for community members to sit for hours around the tables, combining competition with camaraderie, and it also provides the occasion for sharing information, through word of mouth, about important issues that affect the participants. Around the domino table, the players’ families also interact, cooking, playing music together and just mingling; therefore dominoes becomes a social-familiar event, almost a ritual, in which all become refreshed and spiritually recharged.

VFR and the Domino Model

It must be understood that many of these communities where the Domino is very popular, are underrepresented in the major media such as newspapers, radio, magazine and others. This means that the main source of reliable information necessary for members of these communities will come from their own neighbors, family or friends--in other words, their personal and community networks they trust the most because they know them the best. This way of exchanging information applies to any underrepresented group, not only to people of color.

This proposal to adopt the Domino Outreach Model as VFR’s basic strategy to develop its audiences has been inspired in the ways that the underrepresented communities establish links and relations outside the mainstream. If implemented it will accomplish three things:

1.                        It will allow VFR’s membership—which is part of the larger community—to reach populations that most likely will not be reach through the usual media outlets.

2.                        It will establish a two way relationship with members of the community to gather the information that will allow VFR to stay connected and in tune with the community, and

3.                        It will be able to better fulfill the community’s own expressed needs, and therefore establish the support and resources that VFR will need to stay vital in the long run (sustainability).

Description of the Domino Model

The Domino model is a complex concept that is easy to learn if divided in five separate sections which reflect the main concepts. At first, it may seem difficult to grasp in its totality since it is not the usual way most people operate in the mainstream, nor does it resemble the “regular” outreach techniques. It is hard to explain in short sentences the whole concept, but to give an idea, the titles of the five parts of the concepts are:

1.                        VFR and its Community Context – An explanation of why VFR would benefit from doing outreach based on one to one relationships rather than impersonal “publicity.”

2.                        The Double Role of VFR’s Member’s in the Community – Any VFR member can act as a “two way door,” bringing information from the community and promoting VFR to audiences as appropriate in any interaction.

3.                        Building Relationships: The Right Attitude – How to best approach people to develop respectful long lasting relationships within general and underrepresented communities.

4.                        One to One Outreach: Talk to One, Reach Ten —  A strategy to build audience by identifying leaders of the community you want to reach.

5.                        Targeting Communities Outside your Personal Networks — 1. Tips to venture into groups outside your own familiar networks. 2. Coordinating with people of color in VFR.

Recommendation

The proposal is that VFR require all VFR members to receive the Domino Outreach Model Presentation/training.  It will be left to each member how much time or effort s/he will give to implement any of its parts. Because of differences in lifestyles, personalities, time available and other variables, it is understood that not everybody may be able to actually implement all the skills constantly. This approach is organic. It happens in the supermarket, talking to interested friends, in casual conversations. It does not necessarily imply taking extra time outside of normal activities to actually talk and listen to people in your own networks. (Although if someone feels inclined to do so, it is welcomed.)

The idea is that of approximately 300 members that are registered in VFR, if each could try to develop audiences for the station within their own networks (even one person at a time) and spread the word in friendly networks, the impact of every encounter done with awareness will build up, and with time VFR will become a network of networks. This happens naturally in many communities, and this type of growth is a principle that has proved to be efficient in many community contexts. In fact it was the oldest way to pass information before technological media came about.

With this proposal, I hope that the Domino Model becomes part of the VFR’s organizational culture and that it becomes as natural for members to learn it as it is to learn to operate the radio equipment. Adopting this model could be the difference between doing the same thing other stations do, namely, programming for very limited audiences, or truly linking with diverse audiences.  My suggestion is to take an hour to have the presentation first, and then make a decision about the Proposal for the whole organization. I am available to meet and give the presentation to groups or individuals on request.