You're Better Than That

At YWCA Charleston, we're really lucky to have awesome partners and donors. One of those is LM Communications - the radio company who manages Rock 105 and The Mix 100.9. Soon after their general manager, Dotsy Klei, came on board in 2013, she got the stations involved with promoting Girls Night Out, and then engaged in the deeper mission work: eliminating domestic violence.

About a year ago, Rock 105 launched a campaign in partnership with YWCA Charleston - "You're Better Than That" - which messages to the men in their audience and encourages them to treat their wives, girlfriends, partners with love and respect, and to seek help if they have ever perpetrated abuse. We wanted to get a little behind the scenes info from their team on why they created the campaign, which is why they GNO. The rest of the story comes from Klei.

When I arrived in town in the spring on 2013, I quickly heard about GNO and what a fabulous event it was. I met with pk [then YWCA Communications Director] and we talked about how LM Communications could help and we joined in the fun. This was the first year it was held at Yeager. After experiencing all the pre-event work and promotion (yes, I stuffed goody bags and provided tee shirts) as well as a wonderful event (but boy oh boy did my feet hurt), I wondered if there was a better way for the YWCA and the Resolve Family Abuse Program to utilize the exposure on WKLC/Rock 105. To be candid, while we have plenty of women listening, our sweet spot is Men 25-54 and our overall appeal is male. It seemed that the message behind “party with a purpose” and the $125 price tag wasn’t the right fit … but we wanted to help.

My background includes over ten years on a board of a large social service organization, Talbert House, in Cincinnati. The core mission behind Talbert House is connecting individuals one at a time. They focused on mental illness, addiction, homelessness and helping adults move from prison back into society. Fatherhood and Veteran issues were, as expected, top of mind. I believe that broadcasters have a responsibility to give back to our community. By our very nature, we are here to entertain and inform – every day. With over three decades of experience in broadcasting and marketing, I’ve learned that partnerships work best when the mission fits well with the station.

So, we’ll say observing the promotion, process and event raised questions in my mind about how WKLC could be of greater support to the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program.

That led me to Deb [YWCA Charleston's Chief Executive Officer] and we began our journey … We met, she took me on tours, I spoke with employees, we went to the courthouse and met with a judge. After that time (over a year) I penned a general overview about my ideas and Deb and I met with pk for her polish. That led us to the concept of “You’re Better Than That” and a long term plan to educate the public, provide information in a confidential manner and work to elevate the awareness and our tolerance for such behavior.

Our initial phase is education and exposure. We’ll rely on the huge reach of WKLC and our 37 year heritage of rock in Charleston, Huntington, Ashland and Ironton to drive the message that domestic violence is abuse and we are all better than that.

To check out the different radio spots, go to the campaign homepage OR tune it to catch them air on Rock 105.

On behalf of survivors, we are so thankful for their commitment!