Our February 2024 Producer of the Month is responsible for a bilingual radio and video show at Monona Community Media.

Shelene Zárate started “Conectados” in August 2023 with her husband Paul Escalante. Zárate told us the show is fully run by volunteers with the intention of bringing diversity to the City of Monona through interviews that share local information, traditions, and perspectives from other cultures and Latin music. Zárate says she was inspired to start the show to share her language and Mexican culture with the community while learning about the perspectives of the diverse cultures in Monona.

Zárate is pleased to report she has received great response from the community, especially students at Monona Grove High School. They have a couple of student volunteers helping with the show and the MGHS Spanish class students were members of the studio audience at some recordings.

Zárate says when creating your own shows, “it’s important to embrace what’s different and create or support spaces that offer connections between different languages, cultures, music and traditions.”

Shelene would like to share “Conectados” to other communities around the area. “I would love to share more about Conectados and what we are doing to create cultural connections in the area. Nothing makes me more proud than to see my children getting excited when hearing their favorite Spanish songs on their local radio station. Representation is so important!”

“Conectados” airs at noon and 3 PM the third Friday of each month on WVMO-LP in Monona. Monona Community Media Director Will Nimmow said the show can also be found on the their YouTube channel and the on the MononaGo app. If your station is interested in airing “Conectados,” it is also available on the Wisconsin Community Media file sharing site Media Share.

The Wisconsin Community Media Producer of the Month for January is a multi-talented travel writer, TV host, author, public speaker, and “coffee roaster.” Dannelle Gay got started producing and hosting shows at the Sun Prairie Media Center after an appearance on their radio station WLSP-LP when Dannelle was promoting her book “100 Things to Do in Wisconsin Before You Die.” “After chatting for two hours on-air - with both of us having a LOT more to say, Bill [Baker] gave me a tour of the Sun Prairie Media Center and I was hooked!” remembers Dannelle. “I often do videos as a travel creative for social media, website articles, etc., and the idea of making a LONGER series that could help promote destinations in the Midwest? Too fun to resist! I was a member before I left the station.”

Dannelle currently is the CEO of Traveling Cheesehead Productions and produces “The Traveling Cheesehead Visits” TV show. “For my travel TV show, I scout location partnerships, create rough scripts to feature what is fun and trending in that destination, visit and get video, b-roll, and stills, and am the on-air talent. I have done everything from wearing an ugly Christmas sweater and talking about Janesville's Flannel Fest to wearing a T-shirt and rolling around on the World's Largest Ball of Paint in Anderson, Indiana.”

Dannelle has two primary pieces of advice for people either just getting in to the Community Media world or those who have been in it for decades: “Just. Do. It. I see people so wrapped up in perfection that they never ‘do the thing.’ If you are new? Guess what? Your first show may suck. The next one is a little better, and the one after that even better. You will find a rhythm and get better at things like shot angle, editing, things to say or ask, etc. The second bit of advice I have is: Have. Fun. I am going to be riding a parade float at Mardi Gras in Louisiana this February and you bet I will be sporting the Packers Jersey and faithful cheese hat and maybe even a blinking football necklace! I know to have cameras up to get crowd video, will have one on me with my special kind of insanity on air, and will sneak in still photos.”

Dannelle also has a new book coming out in May. “On May 20th, World War II Dispatches to Madison: Letters Home From an Army Air Corps Soldier is out. It is on pre-sale now, everywhere from Amazon to Barnes and Noble online. It is about my father-in-law's time in the service. He was in the European theater, stationed at Mendalshem Royal Air Force Base in England. The book covers his time at multiple bases across the U.S. during training, his time in Europe, and after D-Day, while he waited for his discharge. My FAVORITE thing about this book? We partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project - so I will turn my entire profit over to them. Dad was hesitant to go on the Badger Honor Flight because he said ‘Other guys deserve it more.’ So his story will benefit those same people, the soldiers who he felt were more deserving.”

If your station would like to air Dannelle’s shows, you can reach out to her at DannelleGay@gmail.com.